Style,grace and class.....Not!

Phew! Finally made it back here to update. Life gets in the way sometimes...so unfair!

At the closing of my last update I hinted that I'd been lucky enough to witness another 'first' regards invertebrates moulting. This time it was, well let me show you a photograph, maybe you will recognise the individual?

Click any photo for a larger view

A bit unfair I suppose because it is kinda contorted here as it struggles to free itself from the exoskeleton, but it is actually a speckled bush cricket...

I guess I watched for around 15 minutes and it still wasn't completely free of its old 'skin'...so vulnerable for such a long time.

Back in June whilst visiting Blean Woods near Canterbury, I spotted what I thought were emperor moth eggs-the only doubt in my mind came from the fact that they were on grass and I know that bramble is the main food-plant for emperors...

I took a few home to observe and meantime had another look at emperor eggs to see if these were a match...

I found these on the internet and they look a good match to me.

The only thing to do was to wait for the caterpillars to emerge, offer them both grass and bramble and see which they preferred?

It was quite a wait! Like a pregnant father I paced up and down for the next 15 days-slightly melodramatic? Possibly, but I had started to think that nothing was ever going to happen. But then...

Hmmm...looking very like emperor caterpillars aside from being a tad more hairy, or possibly just that the hairs seem a bit long? Once they'd demolished the shells, I added fresh bramble and grass and waited...

I guess you'd call the result inconclusive! Some headed for the grass, others the bramble and each tucked into their chosen meal. Perhaps the first moult would prove conclusive?

Well certainly with that orange banding starting to appear, they are looking less emperor-like, but what could they be?

They continued to feed and grow well and by the time of their last moult I finally realised that what I had were not emperor moth caterpillars at all but fox moth.

A new one on me, I hadn't seen either the moth or larvae before but they are impressive caterpillars, being about equal in proportion, but slightly slimmer, than the emperors...

The amount of butterflies and caterpillars I have been sighting has definitely increased dramatically of late, after what has been another poor year to date, at least locally. On a wander around farmland the other day, I saw these small tortoiseshell caterpillars...

By the way, as they approach pupating, caterpillars increase their intake quite markedly and here's a little video of one of my poplar hawk moth cats doing just that. This is real time..it's also a bit shaky as it was hand-held by...my shaky hand...

Just a reminder that this won't show in the e.mailed version of my blog

Now as often happens, I have been preoccupied with leafhoppers of late, just because I found an interesting one whilst looking for something else and that started me searching for more...and more...and...well, you get the picture? And if you haven't got the picture yet-here it is...

I couldn't offer an identity for this tiny nymph but, it's kind of cute, especially so when you consider the next photo...

I had to get the macro lens on this one as they are so small, I suppose it was about 3mm or so but once I had,I could see the huge hole in its abdomen, or perhaps more accurately, where its abdomen had been?

 Gruesome enough, but then...I was sure I could see movement inside! I waited a while and checked again-holy smoke! (apologies for all the exclamation marks) There was something and like a scene from Alien, it began to emerge (Don't use another exclamation mark John....don't...don't...just don't!.........Bugger!) What crawled out of the hopper was this...

What is it? No idea would be the closest I could get at present. It sort of looks like a dayglo hoverfly larva but, as 80's songstress Toyah once sang...'It's a mystery' for now at least.

Vying for the title of brightest addition to this blog update is this next little hopper nymph...

At least I can i.d. this one though; it's a rhododendron hopper. They turn this bright yellow colour at about the third moult, having previously been off white...

The adult is quite colourful too...

Erm...this is a bit out of sync should have added it when I was talking about parasites but anyhow; is this perhaps another, or even the same type of parasite still inside a hopper?

I may be at risk of repeating myself here but this kind of thing is what keeps me so interested and enthralled by nature. This year is the first time I have found/seen anything like this and each year brings something new. As somebody once said...'No man can be truly called an entomologist, the subject is too vast', or something similar to those words and the point is that there will always be a surprise around the corner as long as I keep looking.

Now...what this entry needs to really complete it with style, grace and class is a picture of some caterpillar poo...

You'll thank me one day you know? The next time you're at a dinner party and the conversation turns to invertebrate feces, you will be without doubt the only guest who can offer to identify caterpillar poo. Just to ensure that should that fact not be sufficient for folks to think you're some kind of oracle, you could quickly add that the poop of the alder moth (for that's what this is) is....groovy! 


Until the next time...

Autumn takes hold...

Various events have kept me away from photography for a couple of weeks, and when I did manage to have a scout around the local woods and fields, I was struck by just how quickly things have moved towards autumn now.

Butterfly and dragonfly numbers have reduced significantly since I last found time to have a wander but there are still invertebrates to be found...

A shot that illustrates the autumnal feel nicely to begin with. This dock bug was the only one that I came across on this particular day. At this time of year they tend to congregate before hibernating and can be found in quite large numbers, usually on...you've guessed it-dock!

CLICK ANY PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW

A Hazel Leaf-roller Weevil (Apoderus coryli)

I wasn't expecting to see this leaf-roller weevil amongst the few hazel leaves left on the trees. These are one of the first species I look for when the new leaves appear in early spring and to see one this late is quite unusual.
Having said that, in mild winters, I have found them in November.
   

Carabid Beetle (Possibly Leistus)

This great looking metallic beetle was out and about the same day as the weevil and positioned itself at the top of the stem just long enough for a couple of nice clear shots.

A Garden Tiger Moth Larva (Arctia caja)

My next find was this caterpillar. I think this is the garden tiger moth larva. It was quite fast and I did wonder, as it was close to the ground if it was looking for somewhere to pupate.

I found a secluded spot where there was still some scabious in flower and as you'd expect, it was attracting a few insects...

I think this large hoverfly is probably Sericomyia silentis. It seems to be quite distinctive and although if the books are to be believed, this is around May-September, as we've already established, timings are all over the place this year again.

Both it's size and the habitat seem to fit as does the wing veneration from what I can make out.

Another hoverfly found on the same scabious plants was this Helophilus species one. Not exactly sure from this shot if it is H.pendulus or H.hybridus? Actually, scrap that! I think looking at the face, it may well be H.trivittatus? (Where's my pal Tim Ransom when I need him?)

There were also a good number of bees taking advantage of the late flowers too.

When I saw this couple of rhododendron hoppers in cop, pictured below, it crossed my mind that this behaviour is usually to be seen in spring-what then would be the purpose of mating this late in the year? Surely no young would result and so perhaps it was just for pleasure? I know...my brain works in very strange ways sometimes.

Graphocephala fennahi

Of course the changing season has meant that we are now getting much damper conditions and that is just perfect for the fungi.....

I do spend a lot of time contemplating just how amazing and beautiful nature is, of course to portray it in such a one dimensional way is wrong on so many counts:nature is a tough environment where survival of the fittest still rules.

We all probably know that butterflies for instance are short lived, but it's still upsetting to see such a beautiful insect reduced to how I found the one in my next photograph...

This red admiral had lost most of its wings to what I guess must have been bird attacks. A very sad sight, especially bearing in mind that these are one of the species that can overwinter. It was amazingly still alive (just) at this point but there was nothing I could do to help, other than putting it out of its misery-and I couldn't bring myself to do that.

To complete this update I think I'll share a photo of another of nature's inventions that appear in all kinds of forms and manifestations at this time of year-these are the galls that are usually the work of tiny wasps and are to be found on all manner of trees and shrubs. This one I'm calling a marble gall. I have no idea if that is its correct title, it seems to fit though!

I suppose I should add that I found this one on oak. Now you're going to tell me it's actually called an 'oak gall' aren't you?

Until the next time then...


All photos taken using Canon 40d-Canon 100mm Macro and natural light, with the exception of the rhododendron hoppers where I added fill flash.

Return of the frost...

There is a quote that uses the analogy of painting styles to describe the seasons, I can't remember it word perfect but it's along the lines of, winter being an etching, spring a watercolour, summer an oil painting but autumn a mosaic of them all.

Click on any picture for a larger view

Well, that was the premise behind these shots.I purposely took them out of focus to give an impressionistic vision of Autumn. Rubbish? Probably, but it pleased me so indulge me?

Autumn is just beginning to come alive though and we've been lucky enough to have quite a few clear, sunny days. The two shots above were taken directly behind our house using the little Lumix camera that I've started to carry with me more often now that the colder weather is here.The colours are a bit over saturated but I kinda don't mind too much.

It's also been possible to get a good daytime view of the moon lately.

Whilst I don't seem to have had a great deal of spare time to go bug-hunting recently, it's also true that there are considerably fewer around to see anyhow.

On fine days I still spot the occasional butterfly and as usual there are caterpillars around if you look in the right places.

These two pictures are examples of recent finds that illustrate perfectly how the variation in form, size and colour can make caterpillar/larvae identification tricky. The top one of the two above probably would be most people's idea of a caterpillar when in fact it isn't a caterpillar at all. Whereas, the second photo possibly isn't how you would expect a caterpillar to look and yet this one actually is a small copper butterfly caterpillar.

In case you're wondering...the top one is a sawfly larva.

One creature that will be around throughout this winter however bad the weather gets is the springtail or collembola. These hardy little things can sometimes be seen crawling around on the fresh snow or ice.If you do fancy looking for these yourself, I ought to warn you that the one I've photographed here is one of the largest of the species but even this one is only around 5mm or so.

A Springtail

We have already had a few overnight frosts in this corner of Kent; not hard frosts but enough to turn the grass white and to have to scrape the car windscreen. There's little doubt that the harsh temperatures will have already been responsible for the demise of a good number of our insects. Dragonflies are one species that are not safe in the cold.

A common darter dragonfly

When I spotted something moving on a small piece of wood laying in a crop field whilst out walking recently, it shocked me to find that it was actually the common darter dragonfly shown above. It was soaking up the last of the day's sunshine and was fairly slow to the point where I was able to get a few shots before it moved off. A nice sighting so late in the year and especially so following the frosts.

A couple of days later I was walking the dog on one of my regular routes when I thought I'd check some rhododendron bushes beside a local pond to see if there was any sign of bug life. I'd seen the spectacular rhododendron hoppers there earlier in the year but couldn't imagine that these tiny things would have survived the recent frosts; once again I was proved wrong when not only did I find one but counted at least a dozen on different bushes.

Rhododendron leafhoppers

Speaking of hoppers, whilst walking at the edge of a ploughed field I heard the unmistakable sound of a grasshopper but couldn't actually seen one. I did spot it eventually even though it was well camouflaged. I'm unsure of just which particular grasshopper this is but here's the photo anyway...

Squashbugs are mainly confined to the south of the country and of the 10 species, only two are classified as common. The one that I see most often is Coreus marginatus, the 'Dock Bug'. They feed mainly on fruits and seeds and also possess stink glands and it's for this reason they are sometimes also called 'Stinkbugs'

Coreus marginatus

These bugs can when threatened emit a foul smelling odour from the stink gland that is meant to deter any would be predators.

A closer look at the stink gland

The last photograph in this blog entry is of a little weevil that I found running around on the edge of a cattle trough. It's usually to be found on dock plants, hence it's name of 'rumix'.

Apion frumentarium (Red rumix weevil)

That's about all for now but I'll be back with another update soon. This strange year for insects isn't over yet and there are still some nice finds to be had if the weather continues to be kind.

Until the next time then...