Bluebells and weevils...

Well this on-off spring continues to frustrate, but we are turning a corner now, I just hope that there is something  encouraging up around the bend to quote CCR. Not sure about the 'rising wind' in that song though-but 'fix your mind on a crystal day' sounds good to me.

My local woods are turning from a dull moth to a colourful butterfly, if you know what I mean? Winter's drab, pensioner beige's are being replaced by spring's zestful primary colours and soft pastels that can only mean the spring flowers are bursting into life...

If only the skies were as blue as the first of the bluebells. To be fair, they have been on some days; just not enough days. It's not only the bluebells that are blue though. Look at this cracking little weevil I found on the newly emerged hazel leaves the other day...

Involvulus caeruleus 

I think this may be a weevil called Involvulus caeruleus because...that's what I think it is. And I actually found one in the same woods and on the very same date in 2015. 

The difference in colour between these two photographs is almost entirely caused by using flash on the first image; whereas the bottom one was taken using just natural light. Which ties in nicely with this next subject...

When I spotted my first Orange-tip butterfly of the year recently, I was keen to get a shot of it but only had the extreme macro lens with the big diffuser attached to the camera. That's the photo at the bottom of the two pictures above; yes there's quite a lot of nice detail, as you would expect, but the flash fall-off results in that dark background. 

And so on this occasion the only other option was to grab a phone shot, which is the top photo here. For me the phone pic wins hands down. Makes ya wonder sometimes eh? Why lug all this heavy kit around!

Wood anemone

There are carpets of Wood Anemone across local woodland now and I really should try to find out just what creature likes to bite holes out of the flowers. 

I did find this information about the herbal uses (or not) of these plants: 

Medicinal use of Wood Anemone: 

The leaves are antirheumatic, rubefacient and tonic. The plant is sometimes used externally as a counter-irritant in the treatment of rheumatism. The herb is gathered in spring before the plant comes into flower. Various parts of this herb used to be recommended for a variety of complaints such as headaches and gout, though the plant is virtually not used nowadays. A homeopathic remedy has been made from the leaves.

I have to say that I had no idea what rubefacients were. Here's the answer for me and any other dim-witted folk though: Topical rubefacients cause irritation and reddening of the skin, due to increased blood flow. They are used in the treatment of pain in various musculoskeletal conditions. S'pose you knew that?

Here's my Brexit find...

IN, OUT...IN, OUT...

I think this is probably a larva of the longhorn beetle Rhagium mordax. If those silly nomenclaturists haven't changed its name that is! Did I just invent that word nomenclaturists? Well you know what I mean, the people who name these critters.

This is encouraging: on a recent walk I found good numbers of ladybirds and even better, all but one were our native 7-spot species. The errant blighter was a Harlequin or Asian ladybird. The 7-spot is on the left of the pictures below. Notice how much more white there is on the Harlequin. A good clue when trying to identify them. 

Having said that; it is not an altogether reliable aid to identity. Take a look at this 10-spot ladybird in my next pictures...

Very similar patterning on the pronotum, that area right behind the head. But, this particular beetle, even though it doesn't look it in my macro images, is actually a bit under half the size of the other ladybirds. So in this instance, size does matter.

I can't tell you the trouble I have had trying to bring this update to you: well, I could but it would bore the a*** off ya! Damned internet. Been up and down faster than a fiddler's elbow.

And so I shall quit whilst I am ahead and leave you with this photograph of a Bee-fly. These are cunning little parasites that flick their eggs (in flight) towards the entrance of underground nests of solitary bees and wasps. Then when the larvae emerge from the eggs, they feed on the grubs within the nest. Nice huh!

Oh! By the way, this half and half vegetable kinda sums up my mood. Can you guess?

'Something nice'...twice!

Just when I was starting to think that it was all over for this year and my aching feet that have already been stuffed into wellies for too long, and the inevitable cake of mud that returns with me from my daily walks is telling me that escape from winter isn't an option,the same thing that happens most years, surprised me yet again.

Why does it surprise me? Because my memory would rival a goldfish for longevity. And what is it that occurred? Merely the appearance of what I like to refer to as 'something nice'...

Click on any photo for a larger view

Pogonocherus hispidus-A Longhorn Beetle

Of course, 'something nice' is what I'm always hoping to find but when something nice turns up at this end of the season, it gives me that kind of 'perhaps it's not all over just yet' feeling and encourages me to search with renewed vigour,at least until either I realise it was just a 'one off' or maybe the weather intervenes.

I have come across this beautiful little beetle before but usually in the springtime. I understand that some of this species overwinter as adults though and I do recall once spotting one in February.

It isn't easy to get an idea of size from these photos but body length is only around 5-7mm.

The patterns on the insect are said to be an attempt at mimicking bird droppings as a means of camouflage.

These beetles also rejoice in the name of 'Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Beetles' If you take a look at the closer shot below, you will see the two thorn-like projections at the end of the abdomen that give it this name.

This beetle turns up fairly frequently across England and Wales. The much rarer P.fasciculatus is a notable B. species and can be distinguished by the lack of thorn-like projections.

There is yet another very similar beetle with a similar name too-this one is 'Pogonocherus hispidulus' and although it can easily be mistaken for the same beetle, it has much more white on the abdomen and also a white patch on the antennae.

Here's one that I photographed a while ago, for comparison...

And so to quote a line from a song that I can't remember the title of (see what I mean about my memory)..."This is where the story ends"-well, actually, no.

Because, no sooner had one 'something nice' come along, than I was gifted with a second...

This large female Ichneumon wasp was sitting on some fence netting and she was unusually cooperative.

The term 'Ichneumon Wasp' is used rather loosely to refer to wasps in the family Ichneumonidae. There is actually a genus called ichneumon but it is not easy to distinguish from related genera.

Identification of these wasps can be a real challenge with approaching 3,000 U.K. species and little information available.

I did find a check-list of British species at the Biological Records Centre when trying to identify this one but it runs to 162 pages and is just a list of names with no pictures to help.

Dr Gavin Broad of The Natural History Museum said this : 

"There are some ichneumons that can be readily identified from photos, such as Amblyteles armatorius, or Ichneumon suspiciosus. Ophion obscuratus is a wasp often photographed and easily recognised (its main confusion species is very rare and can almost always be readily discounted). Some of the larger Tryphoninae can be fairly easily identified and many of the larger Ichneumoninae can be recognised on colour pattern, if one is familiar with the species [that's quite a big 'if'!].

"It is also worth noting that Chinery's photographic guide has a page of ichneumonids entirely incorrectly named."

Here's a different species of parasitic wasp that I photographed a couple of years ago (might even be 3 years ago...memory!)

A colourful image to end on-here's a juvenile pill millipede that I discovered under a dis-guarded piece of red plastic...

Until then next time then...