A new species for the North East

At first sight you wouldn't think it was a ladybird, only 2mm long, dark and hairy.  Once I spotted it I knew I didn't know what it was.  I have seen all but one of the ladybird species recorded in the North East and I knew this wasn't the missing one.  It was tapped from a mature oak in my garden and peering at it in the net through a hand lens I could see it was black with an orange front and orange legs.

Being at home I could bring it in for a better look and more photos but for a while I still didn't recognise it.  There are quite a few rather similar micro ladybirds (also known as inconspicuous ladybirds), all small and tending to be black with orange/red markings but this didn't seem to fit with any of them, partly because most are black underneath.

Eventually the penny dropped and I realised this was Rhyzobius lophanthae, not at all something I was expecting to find.  Also known as the Bristly Ladybird it is originally from Australia and was imported to Europe to control scale insects in horticulture.

Rhyzobius lophanthae was first reported in the UK in 2013 and is now found across the southern half of the country.  This map from iRecord shows the nearest records to mine are 150km south in Beverley and Leeds - all from last year or this.  (The large concentration of reports from Shropshire probably reflects the diligence, enthusiasm and expertise of Maria Justamond who is the county recorder there.  She also wrote the book on UK micro ladybirds and validates ladybird submissions to iRecord.)

Despite its Australian origins Rhyzobius lophanthae was first described in California by a local entomologist who thought it was native.  In fact it was introduced there in the 1890s so clearly people in Australia and the US knew about it earlier.  One puzzle is how mine got here.  It obviously can't be the only one north of Leeds but being only 2mm long and inconspicuous it might easily be overlooked.  I expect this is part of its range expansion, perhaps encouraged by climate change.  I'll be looking a bit harder in the garden now, hoping to turn up something else new.

The new kids on the block on RoeDeerCam

I started targeting the Roe Deer with my cameras only in mid July, when the kids were several weeks old and already big enough to follow their mother around.  It has taken a while to work out where they go and where best to position the cameras but recently there have been some good recordings.  Roe does usually have one or two young, with twins being common, but the first video from mid July shows a singleton.  It still has some of its camouflage and is still interested in suckling.

The next video shows twins with their mother.  Most of the videos are like this as most of the time the deer just wander about, browsing as they go.

At this age they stay close to their mother but mid July to mid August sees the rut and the kids can get caught up in the action.  In the next video one twin stayed with its mother as she was pursued by a buck but the other one got left behind.  You can hear it squeaking as it calls for its mother.  It must then have caught sight of her across the water and decided to take a short cut.

The next episode was curious.  A kid appeared to be alone although I expect the mother wasn't far away.  The buck watched as the kid jumped the stream and then followed it.  When the kid turned and approached the buck (possibly its father, who knows) it was butted away but the camera didn't see what happened after.

The last video, from earlier this week, shows a young male kid with his mother and a second doe, possibly an aunt or an older sister.  You can see the little bumps on his forehead, starting to grow the pedicles which will be where his antlers are joined to his skull.  I read in John Halliday's book For the Love of the Roe that these little bumps start to grow at three months of age.  They will drop off in February and his first single-pointed antlers will then start to grow.  Roe bucks shed and regrow their antlers each year and it will be three years before he is a six-pointer.

A ladybird life cycle

It takes a year to go round but I found every stage of the 2-spot ladybird's life cycle all together last month. I think this isn't turning out to be the best year for ladybirds - drought means drier plants, fewer aphids and less for larvae to eat - but these were doing well in an aphid-infested elder bush.  In truth the eggs aren't identifiable to species but I think they were probably from 2-spots because everything else was.

These are 2-spot larvae.

And a pre-pupa, a larva getting ready to pupate.

Then a pupa.

And an adult.

There were at least half a dozen pupae.  I brought them home to observe emergence as part of a study of parasitism organised by the UK Ladybird Survey.  The survey is looking at the prevalence of parasitic wasps and flies targeting ladybirds.  Over the next six days all six emerged and all were 2-spot ladybirds form typica, so no parasitism of these.  Here is one just emerging.  The pronotum has its full colour but the elytra (wing cases) are pale.

Soon after emerging the ladybird extends its wings so they can expand and harden to turn transparent.  Once that has happened they are folded under the elytra until the ladybird flies.

Over several hours the colours start to develop.

The new adults were released and will hibernate over winter, and mate and lay eggs next spring and summer - the cycle will then be complete.

Staking a claim on RoebuckCam

The rut may be over but the bucks are still putting themselves about.  Although the young buck is not old enough or strong enough to hold a territory he is still keen to make his mark.  The first video shows him scent-marking.  He has glands between his hooves that leave a scent when he paws the ground and scent glands on his neck and cheeks and at the base of his antlers which he rubs on the tree.

As you saw, he ran off at the end, perhaps aware that the dominant buck was nearby (and followed him a couple of minutes later).  The older buck returned after 20 minutes to check out the younger one's message.  He's a full "six-pointer", probably 3-5 years old and in his prime.  It is interesting that he didn't attempt to leave his own scent, something an otter would always do.

Here's another video of the older buck, this time running and barking an alarm call.  I didn't see what had spooked him because nothing else appeared on the camera.

Until recently I didn't think much of roe deer as subjects for trail cameras as all they ever seemed to do was wander past, occasionally stopping to nibble the vegetation (the twins a few years ago were a notable exception).  The last few weeks have proved me wrong and have produced some memorable videos of more interesting behaviour.  Let's hope the deer can keep up the interest as we move away from the rut.

The buck stops here

The roe buck has been busy with the rut in the past few weeks but he now looks as though he is due a rest.  Although the cameras have been in the same positions for a few weeks he looked a bit suspicious at first when he saw this one.

After standing for a few minutes he decided it was safe enough to lie down and was flicking his ears as he was bothered by flies.

Most of the time was just chewing the cud.

At one stage he was so relaxed he fell asleep, although his ears show he was still alert.

He also had time for a bit of grooming.

Eventually it was time to move on, almost an hour after he lay down.

He was back the next day but didn't have time to stop.

News from StoatCam

If like me you have a couple of dozen wood mice and voles in the freezer and have been wondering what to do with them, this may be the answer.  Since the excitement of seeing ten stoats in the garden a few weeks ago the cameras have been picking up only one at a time, although not always the same individual.  I noticed they have a particular liking for a space under a stack of large paving stones leaning against a sycamore at the end of the wall and were using it as a larder.  On one occasion a stoat went off to fetch a chunk of something, either rabbit or squirrel, and took it into the larder.  Three hours later it (or another stoat) returned and took the prize off elsewhere.

I had seen similar activity there as well so I put in a frozen vole and a couple of days later a stoat found it.  It brought the vole out and then returned to see if there was another one.  I think because stoats (and weasels) are used to raiding small mammal nests and bird nests they are always hopeful there will be more than one item of food.  This time there wasn't so it took the vole back in and either ate it there or took it out the back door as it didn't reappear.

Expecting this might become a habit I put in a mouse but no stoat returned.  Instead a magpie found the mouse and it certainly remembered and came back several times to see if I had left another one, which I hadn't.

Stoat sightings are intermittent at the moment but here's an example of what the cameras do see.

One of the cameras in the new wetland in Gosforth Nature Reserve is also seeing a stoat regularly although it is suspicious of the camera and doesn't hang around.  It is only a mile away so it could be one of the recently dispersed youngsters from here.

Close Encounter

I had gone looking for an 11-spot ladybird so I had only a camera with a 90mm macro lens. When I first saw the kestrel sitting on a fence post I assumed I wouldn't be able to get a worthwhile photo but as I moved closer the bird didn't react.  It kept looking up at me but most of the time it was scanning the ground.

Eventually I was standing only one fencepost away, a distance of about 2m, and I was able to take these photos using the ladybird lens.

I thought the bird was looking for small mammals, although there probably wouldn't be any in the parched grass, but then it suddenly dived towards me and caught and ate a black beetle right at my feet, too quick and too close for a photo.  In the time I was watching it caught half a dozen beetles, each time returning to a fence post and each time allowing me to move close again.  I even had time to record some video.  The video has a different aspect ratio from the photos so I found I was too close and had to move back to get the bird in the frame.

You'll see my reactions aren't quite as quick as those of a kestrel!  It is also better at hunting beetles than I am as I never did find the ladybird.

Eventually, after about half an hour, some people came along with a dog and the bird was gone in a flash.  I don't know why it was so comfortable with me standing so close but I felt enormously privileged.