"The most dangerous caterpillar species in Britain!"

Yes, it was Saturday December 18th 2010 when I wrote the following words in my first ever blog post: "In the beginning: I'm making a start on this new blog today. It's cold and snowy in Kent, with little to offer in the way of interesting, outdoor macro subjects to photograph".

And today July 12th 2017 I am here writing my 200th update. According to statistics, most people quit blogging within the first three months (you spend time working on something without a reward, the harder it is to continue doing it). For me the truth is that I love doing these updates and would probably continue even if they weren't being read. Thankfully, due to some loyal followers, my little blog continues to be accessed in at least a dozen countries, with UK, USA, Netherlands, China and Belgium being the top 5 regards amount of views. 

A sample of just some of the bugs and insects that I have featured here over the past seven years...

What have I got that is special for this update? How about...

 "The most dangerous caterpillar species in Britain!"

That is how I have seen the caterpillar of the puss moth (Cerura vinula) described. The puss moth is quite an easy moth to identify and inhabits wooded, or lightly wooded areas where there is plenty of willow or poplar. Here's a recently emerged adult moth that I photographed in 2015...

But it's the larvae that interest me most. As with all larvae, they are predated by many other creatures. In order to protect themselves, they have the ability to spray formic acid at their attacker! 

A Puss Moth Larva - Cerura vinula

Formic acid is interesting in itself and gets its name from the Latin name for ant "Formica". There is a little video of wood ants spraying the acid, it's on YouTube if you feel like having a look. Formic acid is actually found in the bites and stings of many insects, including bees and ants. It is also a contributing factor when you get stung by nettles. It's used by farmers to preserve animal feed, bee-keepers use it as pesticide against the deadly Varroa mite and if all that leaves you wanting more, then I can tell you that it is used in the treatment of warts and as a toilet bowl cleaner.

I'm starting to feel a tad guilty now, because the other day I had to rescue yet another bee from the bird bath. I really don't know why, or how they get into the water, but once in, they seldom get out...

This one however lived to see another day and once dry, flew off seemingly unharmed by its dunking. I think this is probably a wool-carder bee. 

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I have been having a few early morning walks whilst this hot weather has been with us. I tried a few evening ones too, but the mosquitoes gave me such a hard time that I soon stopped those. In a local, uncut meadow, I found this large beetle. Unfortunately it was quite low down in the grasses and even so, the light wind was enough to make it almost impossible to get a perfectly focused picture...

This is most likely Nicrophorus investigator. There are other similar beetles but I think judging by its size and the reddish antennae tips (that you cannot see well here because of the movement) it seems to fit. As always, there are mites attached. This is the beetle that uses carrion to house its young.

In the same woods that I found the puss moth larva, I also spotted this fabulous grasshopper nymph. Possibly a field grasshopper but wouldn't put my house on it...that would flatten it for sure!

I was pleased with those two finds but ecstatic over the next: a species of butterfly that I have never seen before, let alone photographed. It was in woods that I know well too and have surveyed for insects in the past. There was another survey in about 2010 I think, and this butterfly was definitely not on their list either. It's the beautiful purple hairstreak...

A Purple Hairstreak - Favonius quercus

The UK Butterflies website says this about it: "It is often difficult to locate, due to its habit of flying in the tree canopy, where it feeds on honeydew. However, the adults are occasionally seen basking at lower levels, on various small trees, shrubs and bracken". It's the side of the wings that you can't see here that have the purple colour, although not as much in the males as females. 

One day whilst out walking without the camera, I managed to capture these 2 pictures of a brimstone butterfly with my phone...

When I found this crab spider, its face was still covered in the remains of its dinner (been there!)

And this is what it had just been dining on...

The crab spider here is Misumena vatia: It's the same spider that in a recent BBC 4 programme about life in our back gardens, Chris Packham

said could change colour to match the background. He didn't mention that it is only the mature females that have this ability; and that the colour changes are restricted to white, yellow and green(ish). 

Well I have lots more that I could share, but I think there is more than enough here for one update, so I shall save it for next time. Instead I will leave you with a few shots of something that has not featured much at all in the updates...until now: it's the humble garden snail...

Puss as in pussy cat, not pus as in that 'orrible stuff that oozes out of an abscess...

Towards the back end of last year there was a programme of cutting back the overgrown edges to the rides in our local woods...

A rainy day for the workmen in Comfort's Wood

This left a lot of debris lying around, especially the large stalks of the hedge(?) parsley and just to the left in this picture, I found what I knew was a moth cocoon on the ground. It looked like it might be a Puss Moth but I wasn't sure. Anyhow, I rescued it and nurtured it through the winter until on the 27th of April this year, the adult moth emerged...

Sure enough, it was a Puss Moth and what looked to be a beautiful male judging by the antennae size...

It was such a rare treat to be able to see the abdomen markings which once the wings are fully inflated of course, you can't see, as they are held across the abdomen unless the moth is flying...

I was intrigued to see how the wings gradually inflated over a period of about three hours,from first emergence to ready to fly. These really are beautiful moths and so impressive when in pristine condition like this. 

The yellow tint to the wings disappeared as they inflated further and dried...

There's a head and eyes in there somewhere!

And so that was the emergence of the Puss Moth. I know that I don't usually dedicate a whole update to just one subject, but this was such a fantastic thing to witness and I wanted to share my experience through these photographs.

Until the next time...

To quote the Fab Four, 'I Should Have Known Better'...

I love it when nature overrules me and makes me look like a numpty. It happened twice this week too. The first time I had been having a conversation with a friend about spider parasites (as you do) and said that, I had found lots of spiders over the years with wasp larva parasites and they were always sited behind the head, where it was impossible for the spider to reach or remove them. 
Blow me down, if I didn't find one myself a couple of days later and it was in a slightly different spot...

This spider was tiny, here's a photo that should give you a better idea...

I'm not exactly sure of the species of this little one, other than, I thought it looked quite similar to this next one that I photographed in a different location, about a week ago. I had considered that it might be Araneidae and in particular, Araniella opisthographa but it's quite variable in colour. It could be a different species altogether of course...

You'll be wanting to hear about my second faux pas no doubt? Oh it was nothing really, other than another of those coincidences that often happen with Mother Nature. I commented on a friend's photograph of a dock bug that I saw on an online photo site and said something about the fact that I still hadn't seen one this year. Shortly after, I found one. Of all possible places, on the wall of the house...

Coreus marginatus-A Dock Bug

These are really commonplace locally and probably by the end of the season, I shall be ignoring them altogether, but it's always exciting to see my first of the year. This one did provide a couple of interesting asides too. Have a look at the following picture and see if you know what the odd looking white 'spot' is...

A closer look shows more detail and also makes me think that those holes must be spiracles used for breathing and I hadn't noticed them in this location on dock bugs before...

This last shot shows the little projections between the antennae that can be used to separate this bug from similar species...

I have been lucky enough to find a couple of cool beetles since my last update. I'll share my favourite in a bit, but this was a neat find as well I thought; it's one of those ladybirds that isn't a ladybird at all...

Endomychus coccineus-A False Ladybird Beetle

Often mistaken for a ladybird, but the red colour is a bluff, to deter predators by trying to look like a nasty tasting ladybird. You might recall that one year I found the striking larvae of this little beetle?

False Ladybird Larva

False Ladybird Pupa

I said that the false ladybird beetle was small, and at around 5-6mm I guess it is, but you can half that for this next critter. Once again it's a beetle-although not the one I have already teased you with, no this time it is a weevil...

A tiny weevil-possibly Nedyus species?

Last year I had some larvae of the puss moth and they were amazing to rear and observe...

A Puss Moth Caterpillar-Cerura vinula

well two days ago one of the adult moths emerged...

A Puss Moth-Cerura vinula

This picture shows the moth with the pupal case that it emerged from...

It spent the day with me whilst it recovered from eclosion and dried its wings etc. Then on what was a fairly warm spring evening, I carefully placed it into the garden in a sheltered spot to allow it to gain its freedom. The following morning it had gone.

And here's that other beetle I mentioned earlier in this update. It's a longhorn that I only found for the first time last year and so that makes this one just my second sighting. Rahgium mordax is usually the first longhorn I find, making this a nice early sighting of R.bifisciatum. Actually R.mordax likes hawthorn, and that's where I spotted my beetle (I think) and so for a moment, assumed it was that one, as they are fairly similar in appearance....at a glance...wearing dark glasses...facing the other way...with your eyes shut!

Rhagium bifisciatum-The Two-banded Longhorn Beetle

And a closer look at this impressive beetle...

Just time for a couple of oddities that you might be able to help with? First up is this, well...pupal case I suppose? But what might have emerged from it? The only clues I can offer are that it was located at the base of a large, old oak tree and there were Andrena species bees and bee-flies present....

Then there are these little white larvae that I spotted under bark in a damp area of woodland...

Not too much detail on these as it was a 'snap' with the pocket camera but I haven't found a match yet.

That about wraps up this update. Back soon with another.

Until the next time...