Elephants and Leopards in my tent...

I like to get news headlines on my phone to try and keep up with what's happening in the world. I also get a few notifications from websites of interest. I've discovered though that it's probably not a great idea to just read the headline and nothing else. Here's an example that arrived a few days ago...

Could easily be misconstrued don't you think? When I clicked on that line of text however, all became clear...

Some newspaper headlines do make me chuckle on the other hand...

Enough of this malarkey,

What's this then JJ?

 Another of your tenuous clues to summat or other? 

Nope! One hundred and seventy is actually the number of moths I found in my moth trap one morning recently. Well, very close to 170. Hard to say exactly because I had a few escapees as always. I didn't know that the trap contained quite as many insects; this is what I saw when I peered in to it...

I wanted to have a go at photographing every moth: just phone grabs mostly, but how to go about it without having some escape each time I opened the trap to remove one? This was the solution I came up with...

Yes, I got out the old festival, pop-up tent and set about emptying the trap inside so that any escapees would be easy to re-capture. If you know of a better way (and I am sure there are plenty) to empty a trap, I would love to hear from you.

Here are the photos that I did manage. They won't win any photography competitions but I did spend way too long doing this. about four and a half hours actually, and by the end, just wanted my life back!

I haven't got around to identifying all of them yet. I doubt I ever will, moths are tricky at the best of times. I have managed a few though:

38 x Grass moths

6 x Common Footman

1 x Buff Footman

1 x Leopard moth

1 x Dark Arches

2 x Buff Tip

1 x Elephant Hawk moth

1 x Buff Arches

1 x Small Magpie

2 x Clouded Border

1 x Rosy Footman

1 x Lead-coloured Drab

1 x Spectacle

2 x Riband Wave

1 x Plain Wave

5 x Small Scallop

2 x Heart & Dart

2 x Gold Fringe

Still with me? Oh I am pleased: I nearly dozed off myself writing those out. How about some better photographs of the stars of this particular night. In fact, let's begin with what must surely be the star...

Meet if you will Deilephila elpenor, the Elephant Hawk-moth...

He looks kinda angry in this picture huh? I say 'he', I think it is male; females are a little less bright (no jokes please).

This species is nocturnal and of course feeds at night. That means choosing flowers that open or produce some nectar at night. The Elephant Hawk-moth has incredibly sensitive eyes that allow it to have night vision. In fact it was one of the first species in which nocturnal colour vision was recorded.

How can I follow that? Well, can't top it for colour and beauty, but what about the antennae on this next guy!

This one is Lymantria monacha, Black Arches.

In this species the males are actually smaller than the females, but have these large, feathery antennae. Notice the tell-tale splash of pink above the eye. There is usually pink somewhere, more often on the abdomen. Of course we cannot see the abdomen in this photo and so there may well be pink present.

Anything else JJ?

'Mais bien sur mon ami'

(I think that means, mines been sore Monday Amy!)

'Phalera bucephala' or the Buff-tip Moth.

The Buff-tip camouflage technique, is to resemble a broken twig of the silver birch tree.

Do you have a buff-tip missus? Ooops! Sorry, sometimes I have delusions of grandeur and just for a second or two, think I am Donald J. Trump. Let's get back to the job in hand? No...I am not still being Trump!

We have had some really interesting moths already, I hope you agree: but this next one must have one of the coolest names. This is 'Miltochrista miniata' more commonly known as the Rosy Footman...

One more? Certainly...

This is rather a brightly coloured specimen, but I think it is 'Agapeta hamana'.

It may look large in my photo but is actually only about 20mm long. It doesn't seem to have a common name; so I'll give it one...Wayne!

Hello, I'm Wayne...


One more and then we can all go home and have tea...

The aptly named Leopard Moth - Zeuzera pyrina

There were also a couple of non-moth critters in the trap...

Probably Rhagonycha fulva - A soldier Beetle

An Ichneumon Parasitic Wasp

Notice how all of these insects are covered in moth scales: moths tend to loose scales readily.

An Orange Ladybird (16-Spot) - Halyzia 16-guttata

And finally, this amazingly small beetle. About the size of an average Springtail, so no more than 2mm at a guess.

This little beetle belongs to the Aderidae family. There are only three species in the UK apparently: I believe this to be 'Aderus populneus'.

There is actually a lot more I could add to this blog but I don't want to impose on your time too much, so will save for the next one.

Possibly more exciting than anything exciting could be...

When Conservative leader and by default, next British Prime Minister hopeful Boris Johnson announced that he was planning to introduce syntax legislation, I thought to myself it was a bit outside of his remit, but great. At last somebody was standing up for correct use of grammar!

I soon realised that it was nothing of the sort; it was in fact a 'Sin-tax'. That turned out to be something completely different to what I had envisioned too!

I've had a couple of exciting finds since I last updated the blog but will just tease you with that thought for now. Just like those Sheffield steel workers promised in 'that' film though, you will get the full Monty in the fullness of time.

When I found this set of bug eggs recently, I thought that the presence of the wasp meant they were yet another clutch that had been parasitised. And yet, they still looked okay to me. Perhaps it was only just happening? I took them home with me to observe and record progress. 

The next day there was little change, as you might expect; perhaps a tad darker?

Three days after finding them, the photograph I took had me feeling quite positive about the outcome. You can definitely see little eye spots appearing now...

My enthusiasm was short lived: this is the next photo. Another 2 days had passed since the last picture and things are literally looking darker...

This was not good news. It seems that my initial reaction had been correct. That was confirmed when 4 days later I shot this last image.  Lots of these tiny (approx 2mm) wasps emerged en-mass from the eggs. 

                                             


What puzzles me about all this is that I have observed this behaviour before but the eggs did not get to the stage of showing the red/orange eye spots that suggest the correct occupants are developing as they should. Previously, the eye spots have always been dark, indicating the presence of wasps from the get-go.
Here is a set from a 2016 find...

 I guess I need to spend time identifying the wasp and reading up on its behaviour.

A more upbeat story to tell now: the Woundwort Shieldbugs in the garden have fared much better. Here they are developing well and once again, you can already see the red eyes...

Soon after that picture was taken they began to emerge. Notice how the freshly emerged ones are very pale in colour and do have those bright-red eyes. The two at the bottom of the photo have been out a little longer and have already begun to darken.

This next photograph was taken 3 and a bit hours later...

If you are curious as to the actual size of these eggs, then this phone grab might help to give you some idea...

I know! Not great is it. 

Before we all get egg-bound, I suppose I should reveal my, what was it I called them, oh yes, 'exciting finds'. Well you could at least try to fain interest! Here look...it is interesting...

Yes, two nice finds from my moth trap: especially pleased to have the Privet Hawk-moth (on the left here) and it's always good to see the Elephant Hawk-moth too. I have had the pink visitors before, but the big Privet moth is a first for me. 

Every bit as exciting, in fact possibly more so for me, was this next discovery...

Even though the excellent UK Butterflies website says this: The butterfly is found in unimproved grassland where the grass may grow up to 0.5m tall. The largest colonies are found on downland but even small strips of grassland, such as a road verge, field margins, woodland clearings and disused railway lines can contain smaller colonies. I was still quite shocked to discover a small colony in the fields right behind my house recently. 

I have lived locally for over 30 years now and never have I seen a single Marbled White in this part of Kent; let alone so close to home. Such impressive and beautifully marked butterflies...

I can only assume that the red fescue grass that has been allowed to grow wild recently has attracted them. We do have a smattering of Yorkshire fog here in Kent too. In case you have been wondering what Yorkshire fog looks like, and I realise that you probably haven't, but just try faking it so as to humour me eh?

Yorkshire fog grass

Did I say a couple of exciting finds? Well I meant three: and so without further ado, 'cos let's face it, who wants an excess of ado? No, we mustn't get delayed by ado.

I didn't see any of these Tortoise bugs for years, but now I seem to find them every summer. I thought I had found a couple more recently; this is one...

And at first glance I assumed this was another...

The colour of Tortoise bugs is quite variable, and I have seen plenty that were this colour. Yet something didn't seem to fit: it was smaller and that pale stripe down the centre had me wondering if it could be a different species altogether.

Neottiglossa pusilla - a Small Grass Shieldbug

Yes, another first for me. I have not seen one of these before and even better, it was in the very same field where I discovered the Marbled Whites. Perfect.

Working on the principle that too much excitement is bad for you, and if it isn't it certainly is for me; I think I will get my coat. One last picture? Your wish is my command: how about the first Skipper butterfly I photographed this year...

With those black antennae, I think this could well be an Essex Skipper. If not, then this is...