Underneath the ice, something stirred...

Having started the week with white-stuff a'plenty.....

...it was nice to see a thaw revealing some greenery again as the week went on. The snow is great and very pretty but this is 'England's Green and Pleasant Land' and our 'greenness' is what makes Kent  special.

By Wednesday, the countryside was looking like this..... 

As the thaw took hold things began to melt quite fast-at the bottom of the garden (or 'yard' if you're in the U.S.) there's an old butlers sink that doubles as a little pond. It's not much, but holds just enough water to encourage a few extra bugs and insects into the garden.

I lifted a slab of ice that covered the entire water surface from the sink and I guess was around 40mm thick to discover underneath a few bits of debris that had I suppose been in the water, but had now become stuck to the ice.

Amongst these I was very surprised to find something moving. I grabbed my camera and once I got the macro on this tiny, dark object, I could see that it was a damselfly nymph...

I hadn't realised that there were damselflies in the pond until now but even more amazing was that this little one survived the ice.

The other thing I spotted was this tiny creature...

I am fairly sure this is a water flea (Daphnia?) I wouldn't want to attempt a closer identity than this because, for instance, if it is Daphnia, this genus alone contains 150 species.

My first flying insect of the year appeared on the window one morning after heavy rain. I think it's a midge of some kind?

Having found the damselfly nymph I decided to check out the water barrel in another corner of the garden. This is a good spot for finding springtails and I wondered how they had survived. They ought to have done well as they can cope with very low temperatures.

I was expecting to find the usual globular springtails, but actually only spotted this one which I think is probably Vertagopus arboreus...

Vertagopus arboreus?

Out in the field I have struggled to find much of interest through the recent bad weather but there are signs of spring now and just today I saw a number of green leaf buds on trees.

I was also really pleased when I spotted this wild daffodil close to opening already...

It seemed to me that there must be a connection between finding this first daffodil of the year on the very day that would have been the birthday of a good friend I lost a year ago, called 'Daph'.

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On one recent outing, I did come across these little eggs... 

I thought maybe these were snail eggs at first. I was basing it mainly on their resemblance (although obviously smaller) to my African Land Snails. The other thought was possibly slug? I dismissed that idea because I have found slug eggs before and they have always been transparent.

Having had my curiosity aroused I decided to take a few home to observe. I didn't have long to wait because a few days later I was wishing that I hadn't dismissed slugs so quickly...

O.K. so my initial guess at an identity proved to be wrong but I now think that perhaps slug eggs are transparent until they are close to hatching when the colour of the slug becomes visible. If that's a load of falafel, then I would like to submit to the court that my second guess was right!

Of the few evergreen trees I noticed that there seem to be a large number of Holly that have been affected by the holly leaf miner...

The story of the little leaf miner is quite complicated but I've added a small diagram below showing the basics, then I'll add a link to a full explanation at the bottom of this blog post should you want to explore it further.

Ah, you see...I may be getting older but I'm not getting senile yet! If I add the link here, you'll be off to read that instead of completing my blog entry won't you.

In the same woods as I found the holly, I saw this very strange tree. I have added a version of this to my flickr page but it's one that I've added a sort of HDR effect to, this one is the original...

It looks a bit gruesome don't you think? As if it's been mortally wounded.

By way of compensation, I'll end this update with a 'pretty in pink' photo! This is a horned tree hopper that I photographed last summer in amongst the pink willow-herb flowers...

That's it then, until the next update.....

Link to the leaf miner life cycle in full

From eggs to...well, eggs!

I did promise to keep you updated on the news of my 'gals' (Giant African Land Snails) and I have to report that, despite an anxious wait, like a parent-to-be, not one of the eggs have yet produced baby snails.
It's now just a touch over 3 weeks and so, I suppose there's a little time yet before we can say for sure that they've failed.In fact, one care-sheet I have obtained states anything between 2-6 weeks to hatch. I'll let you know if anything exciting does occur over the next few days.

I did however manage a short little video showing how these creatures move around. Shot through the glass of the tank, it shows one of the snails climbing the side by means of this undulating/rippling movement.
(Apologies for the noisy kids in the background, I forgot to remove the sound before uploading the video)

Click arrow to begin video

Whilst on the subject of molluscs-this year may have been awful for butterflies and some bugs and insects but slugs and snails seem to be the winners regarding conditions needed for reproduction and even survival.

Arion ater/hortensis

Now here's the thing-I thought I knew exactly the species of slug that I found in huge numbers in the garden following recent rain. It's the large red slug-Arion ater isn't it? I checked my reference book and read the following: Large Red Slug- Widespread and common throughout Britain, especially in gardens.Orange-red in colour. Yep! That fits. 

End of story? Oh no! Double check with the Internet now just to be sure...............Erm....err... "Computer says no"

"What?"........  Arion ater: The European Black Slug..."Ugggh!" Two closely-related species are Arion rufus and Arion lusitanicus,and they can only be told apart from A.ater by dissection. "Riiiiiiiight!"  Best read on then and see if there's a logical explanation? There was...

As its common name suggests, it is usually black in colour, although considerable variation does exist, ranging from chestnut brown and orange to pale grey or cream. In general, slugs in northern England and Scotland are jet black, while in the south of England the orange forms appear to be more common - the colour variation is thought to be due to differences in ambient temperatures.

Phew!

A closer look-have you had your tea?

Having cleared that up, I now have to consider that these may well not be ater at all but hortensis? Why so? Because after further research, it does seem to fit the description/photos better.....

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As we edge ever closer to September,we are fast approaching what I like to refer to as 'spider-time'. That time of year when spiders not only seem to come into their own, but also, into the house!

Misumena vatia

The one pictured above is unlikely to do so though-Misumena vatia or as it's sometimes referred to 'The Goldenrod Crab Spider' is a flower loving spider with the ability to change colour to some degree, depending on the flower it's sitting on. Although it looks hard as nails in this photo, it's actually not a macho male but a pretty little female. 

Click on any photo for a larger view

House Spider

The house spider (Tegenaria species) on the other hand, would hardly dare to live anywhere else given its name? I think it's probably safe to say that these     spiders are actually living with us all year round. It's just that now they are fully grown making them more obvious ,and now is also mating time- therefore you're more likely to spot one stuck in the bath where it has fallen whilst actively seeking a partner to mate with-well, we've all done that at sometime or other?

Araneus diadematus

And so, if the tegenaria species of spider live in the house, where then do we think the araneus species, or 'Garden Spiders' live? Would you like to phone a friend? Oh, you'd like to use your 50/50? O.K. Computer, take away two of the choices please....."

The thing about being called garden spiders though is that they don't actually know they're supposed to stay in the garden, how could they? They don't read!

And so, the one report I've read of somebody being bitten by one. Yes, that's right...bitten by one, reads: Bite report-on the arm,while in bed.Felt nausea,the arm swelled badly for 3 days.

Yet another sure sign that the year is disappearing fast is the emergence of the dock bug nymphs. I usually manage to spot the early instars and if I'm really lucky a first instar-however, this year, I seem to have missed those but did find what I reckon is probably a 2nd or 3rd instar...

Coreus marginatus-A Dock Bug nymph

I also came across the eggs on one of my recent walks-I think these will be green shield-bug eggs but I'm not sure they are going to emerge now. I have checked them for several days and there has been no change and to me they just don't look right. No doubt I'll be proved wrong but I'll be sure to admit it if I am, so watch this space.

Bug eggs

We seem to have come full circle now, starting with eggs and ending with eggs. That must be as good a place as any to call time on this particular entry.

I have a couple of interesting things lined up for future entries and so I'll do my level best to be back really soon.

Until then next time then...