Eggs for breakfast...

I feel that I need to start this update with an apology. In my last update I stated that the Red-legged Shieldbug I found was the first mid instar for this year. In fact, I had found and featured one just a couple of updates previously. Ooops! Memory may be worse than anticipated.

I can now advance this story though, because recently I found three final instar nymphs...

It's amazing how your mind works isn't it. Well, it's amazing how mine works at all! But somehow my mind went from three little nymphs, to three little maids, which led me to Hinge & Bracket. You won't remember them of course: Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket were elderly, intellectual female musicians who played and sang songs to comic effect back in the day. Anyhow, I interviewed them once for a radio show and they were actually 2 guys. Problem for me was that they were in character, but not in costume; quite confusing.

I digress! Back to the business in hand. There seem to have been an inordinate amount of aphids this year. The garden has been full of greenfly, Whitefly, Blackfly, pick a colour fly: but they haven't had it all their own way...

Emerging ladybird larvae

The Blackfly were decimating my cherry tree and so when I spotted this group of emerging ladybird larvae, I released them onto the tree. They love aphids and within a few days were having their fill.

Eventually these youngsters will grow into something like this...

Although not with a face full of pollen hopefully!

Ladybird larvae are voracious feeders and it's not just aphids they will eat. I know they prey on most soft-bodied insects; but what I witnessed in this next photo was another first for me...

Yes, this ladybird larva is actually having eggs for breakfast...ladybird eggs!

I think this one is the dreaded Harlequin larva, which will indeed eat other larvae and eggs.

Of course insects preying on each other is part of nature's cycle and happens all the time. A couple more examples...

A tiny Cucumber spider makes a meal out of a fly, and a wasp has caterpillar for lunch. Actually, the wasp could be parasitising the caterpillar I suppose.

It's not just dog-eat-dog in the natural world though: there is lo♥e too. I know this might look like a double-ended, two-headed moth, but actually this is boisterous convivial fun - they are busy making whoopee.

When it's like these of course...

I've written about it here many times now. Bugs moult to allow themselves to grow, and these pictures (above) are of the discarded 'skins' of hoppers. Even though I have seen probably hundreds of these over the years. it still amazes me how a bug extracts itself and leaves the 'exuvia' so complete. These always look like the ghosts of  bugs to me.

What about these two bugs: do you think they look similar? Both found on grass. Maybe they are the same species, but the one on the left is a juvenile? 

Well I can tell you that the species is Leptopterna dolbrata and they are both adult. 

The one on the left is actually a female though. Notice how the males are always macropterus (fully winged) whilst females are brachypterous, or partly-winged. That's pronounced as brak-ip-ter-us by the way. 

Whereas this, is a pronounced limp!

And so I guess I will end this update with what was not only the highlight of my week, but possibly THE best find I have ever made? A morning spent at the beautiful coastal resort of Tankerton in Kent was not only good for the soul, but also provided an unexpected delight...

Some of the beautiful beach huts at Tankerton

I was walking one of the paths above these huts when something flew (and I use the word flew, loosely) past me at head height. It was dark, huge and ungainly. I could be heard saying out-loud..."What the f..." erm, I mean.... "Crikey, I wonder what on earth this might be?" I tracked it to a private garden where it, well to say landed is being kind: it kinda crashed into some low growing foliage where it bumbled around for a few seconds before taking to the tree tops, never to be seen again.

What was it? My first EVER sighting of a wild Stag Beetle, that's all!

A male too. Only males have the large 'antlers' which they use for fighting other males. But yes, in all of my years on this earth, this is the very first time I have seen one of these rare British beetles up close in the wild. I may have seen them as a kid I suppose, but even with my memory, I surely would remember such a striking encounter?

I would have loved to spend more time in its company, and possibly get clearer photos but it wasn't to be and the episode was still enough for me to keep mumbling for the rest of the day..."I just saw a stag beetle!"

No it's not a vice ring!

Well you never can tell what's around the corner can you. I fully expected to be back here sooner than this; in fact I did attempt to update the blog, but was thwarted.

Self pity isn't a great attribute, and so this is just by way of an explanation of enforced changes, rather than anything else. My right eye has been affected by something called a Weiss Ring which is a form of PVD (Posterior Vitreous Detachment) which has left me with this view out of that eye...

It is there all of the time but floating around, and working at the computer is quite difficult. I am told that it is permanent, although in time my brain will learn to ignore it. That could take anything from 3 months to in excess of a year.

And so meantime, I am going to have to update less often, or possibly make the updates shorter. You see....there's always an upside eh! It might be a good thing to abridge these entries, I do tend to write a tome when a quick résumé with a few pictures would suffice.

Okay then, without further ado, let's crack on. Who needs perfect vision anyhow, I only need to be able to see as far as next year for 2020 vision!

After beautiful February turned into mad March, the weather finally relented, and the first signs I had of an impending spring were these  bees that were crawling around on the forest rides a few days ago. They might be Tawny Mining Bees, but equally well may not. My ID skills for bees are not great with 2 eyes! Come to think of it, they don't look at all tawny do they.

If I was excited to find those, and I was: I was apoplectic when I spotted this next one...

I think this is one of the Nomada species of Bee. I discovered it sleeping on the needles of a pine tree. You can see how it has its mandibles clamped to the needle. Fabulous eyes these have eh. 

I also spotted this bug exuvia the same day. I have been trying to work out what it might have belonged to, and more to the point, how on earth has something so delicate survived the winter?

Bug exuvia (disguarded skin)

The butterflies are back too: I have seen Brimstone, Red Admiral, Peacock and Comma already...

A Comma Butterfly

That's all for now, back as soon as I can

 

A neglected Kentish orchard...

Immediately behind our house is an area of land that was once a thriving apple orchard, but has now been neglected for a number of years.

As nature reclaims the orchard, the habitat is gradually improving for insects and bugs. Until such time as the land is needed it makes for a great hunting ground, right on my doorstep.

I thought that I'd dedicate this blog entry entirely to creatures that I've found in this area in the past few days. Armed with my pith helmet and machete I ventured into the jungle...

This sawfly larva seems to be around in good numbers and I did find quite a few in a fairly small area of the old orchard.

I'm never sure on identity with these sawflies and so won't even attempt a guess here but I can show you another example of the same species-this one has some little hitch-hikers in the form of mites...

The next find was this very cool hopper. I think this one might be Aphrodes bifasciatus but once again not completely sure, as it's a variable species-I think it's safe to say that it's Aphrodes species though.

This species belongs to the cicadellidae family of leafhoppers.They feed by sucking plant sap from grass, shrubs or trees. This one was under 5mm in length.

My plant knowledge is pretty bad but I'm confident that this hopper is on Ribwort Plantain, there, that's left myself open to correction!

    

A couple more views

Each time I walk this particular area my footsteps are accompanied by the sound of crickets/grasshoppers calling but for some reason I've not got around to trying to photograph any-until now that is...

Roesel's Bush-cricket

I caught this one in full sun and it was quite lively, staying in one spot just long enough for a snap. It is Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii) a cricket that is separated from the similar Bog-Bush cricket by the pale yellow, or green border that edges the pronotum.

The song consists of long bursts of sound, said to resemble a dentist's drill.

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGE VIEW

I'd have to say that this little grasshopper pictured above was something of a star find for me. Not because it is anything special by way of rarity or form but just that I was amazed by the facial markings that appeared when I put the macro lens on it. I've said it many times now but this is what makes macro photography so special for me-the unexpected detail revealed through the lens.

It'd be obvious to choose the mottled grasshopper as an identity for this one but in truth, I have no idea which species it is! It was only around 10-15mm and found in an area of long grass beside water.

Edit: Since posting this image I've been told by a flickr contact that it's actually a cricket rather than grasshopper and could even be the same species as the one in the first picture (Thanks Neil) and so probably best to ignore what I've written about a possible identity!

The water  is actually a small pond and the pond is home to a host of insects and bugs. The dragonflies that I've seen in reasonable numbers previously, have been hit badly by our awful weather this year and numbers are way below what I would expect.

There have been some though as this empty larval skin shows. I spotted this prehistoric looking thing whilst searching for damselflies at the water's edge.

If the dragonfly skin looks like a monster to you then here's something I found that demonstrates the other extreme. The world must look like a pretty big place to this little turtle bug I spotted...

A Turtle Bug- Podops inuncta

Leptopterna dolabrata

Leptopterna dolobrata is a common species of large grass bug (Miridae) and the males are always fully-winged but females are usually partly-winged, as in the photo of a female above.

I said that the grasshopper/cricket was a star find for me and it was, but I was equally excited by another stellar spot-this time a beetle. Not just any old beetle though, oh, no!

This stunning creature is a beetle from the Buprestidae family. Known as jewel beetles for obvious reasons, sometimes also as metallic wood-boring beetles. I don't find these too often, I think this may only be the third in all the time I've been bug-hunting and so it was quite a treat.

CLICK ANY PICTURE FOR LARGE VIEW

Butterfly sightings in the old orchard have been limited to mostly meadow brown and ringlet. A few small skippers have begun to appear though and I also spotted a couple of comma's on nettle. I once overheard two gents discussing species and heard one say "Oh no, I don't like skippers, they're not a pretty butterfly" well, firstly to me that sounds a ridiculous statement, and secondly, I don't agree-I think they are very nice and I love the subtle colours.

This fly, pictured above is not the sharpest of images but was taken very early one morning in the orchard. I was trying to get some natural light shots hand-held but the light was poor and even dragging every drop of light I could into the camera, it still required a low shutter speed. It was windy too and has made me decide that before I attempt a similar excursion, I must get a device to hold foliage steady for me.

Anyhow, I wanted to include this one as it's quite an interesting looking fly and has great eye colour.  I think these are marsh flies.

Sometimes you have to look underneath leaves to find insects and bugs and that's how I came to find this strange looking critter. It was underneath a willow leaf.

I have seen something similar to this with ladybirds where the ladybird has been attacked by a parasite-I'm pretty sure that this is an aphid that has suffered a similar fate.

On that final gruesome note, I'll put an end to this update. Quite a lot of finds then for a small area that I didn't really spend much time in. I may add to this at a later date with an update of anything else of interest that turns up.

Until the next time...