I found an old lady hiding in the wardrobe

Having never seen this moth before, I have now found a second one within a few weeks hiding in the house.  It is an Old Lady (Mormo maura), this one in much better condition than the first.  It is quite large for a moth and the UK Moth website says it "hides by day in old buildings and sheds" although I am not sure how it made its way to my bedroom.  It doesn't come to light and is said to be local rather than common, although there are quite a few records from around Newcastle. As is the way, it agreed to pose for a photo before being released.

Making a meal of it

I knew that larger dragonflies hunt smaller dragonflies but I have never seen it before.  It is now towards the end of the season for emperor dragonflies but they were still very active earlier this week.  While I was watching a male on patrol he suddenly dived into the reeds and there was a clattering of wings.  I thought at first he had found a female, which he had in a way, but not of the same species.  This was an ovipositing female common darter and was about to become lunch. He flew away from the water with his prize and I ran round the pond to find him.

He then flew a short distance away, right beside a path, so I followed.  I watched as he was devouring his catch until someone else came along and he flew off.

Most times emperor dragonflies catch smaller insect prey and eat it on the wing.  A catch of this size means he has to perch to eat.  It has been a very good season for emperors and they are still active in late August (and still hungry).  Later I saw an ovipositing female so they are not done yet either.  She had very blue colouration on the abdomen (unlike the normal green).  I think this is a colour variation rather than a sign of advanced maturity.

More news from the bee house

A third species of bee has moved into my new bee house this summer.  After the red mason bees and a blue mason bee, two female common yellow-face bees (Hylaeus communis) built their nests in 4mm holes.  These bees are tiny, around 6mm long, and are black and shiny rather than hairy because they carry pollen in a crop, not on their bodies like most bees.  The cell walls in the nest are made of a waterproof cellophane-like material, secreted from the bee's Dufour's gland (close to the sting) and applied with its tongue.

I first noticed them on 12th July but both were already hard at work so they must have begun a few days before.  Here is one of them with one cell complete and busy marking out the next one. (For an explanation of the mud wall at the back see below.)

Here is the other one, marking out cell walls with cellophane.

The next day I found another Hylaeus communis nest in the old bee house.  All the holes there are 8mm and must seem cavernous for this tiny bee.  She had also been hard at work for several days and was stacking her cells on top of and beside each other.

Each cell contains a porridge of pollen and nectar to sustain the growing larva.  Here you can see an egg in the front cell.  The egg is quite big compared with the size of the bee.

Here the eggs have hatched and the larvae are already well grown.

Here is the bee in the old bee house, hard at work on another cell wall.

  

She eventually ran out of steam (or eggs) after building about a dozen cells but sat around for a long time afterwards, tinkering with the last cell wall.  I last saw her on 10th August, over a month after she arrived.

A few days before the Hylaeus bees arrived something else (presumably a couple of solitary wasps) had built a few nest cells in the 4mm holes and then disappeared before the nests were complete.  The cells were separated by mud walls and provisioned with tiny paralysed grubs but I never saw what had put them there.  This is on the west side, with red mason nests above and below.

And this is on the east with what I presume is a tiny egg on the window in each cell.

A third wasp nest has only three completed cells but was sealed with mud at the entrance so that wasp thought its work was complete.  Only a couple of the wasp cells look viable but it will be interesting to see what emerges next summer.  Whatever it is may have to wait until the Hylaeus bees emerge as they are blocking the exit.

Solitary bees and wasps are targets for all sorts of parasitoids.  I noticed this female parasitoid wasp, Gasteruption jaculator, sniffing around but didn't see it enter any of the nests.

And this is a kleptoparasitic ruby-tailed wasp, Chrysis spp.

I already have plans for another bee house for next year, offering even more luxurious accommodation for all sorts of solitary bees and wasps. 

Black beauties

The two black dragonflies found locally* are the UK's longest (golden-ringed dragonfly) and the smallest (black darter).  In June I was pleased to take part in a bioblitz at the Hepple Estate in Northumberland.  My job was to survey dragonflies and the first one I found was a male golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii).

Last week I went back for a second survey with Mary Gough, the estate's conservation manager. This time we found an ovipositing female golden-ringed dragonfly.  It was very difficult to get an action photo in the reeds but fortunately the dragonfly settled for a short while to get its breath back.  You can see its wings are frayed from bashing against the reeds.

We were also pleased to see both male and female black darters (Sympetrum danae) but so far we don't have evidence of breeding there.  This is a younger mature male

and an older male, almost completely black.

The only glimpse we had of a female.

Also last week I made my regular August trip to Cragside in Northumberland and the black darters were everywhere.  These are males.

This is a teneral female

and a more mature female, although she still has white wing spots.

And a mating pair.  This female has black wing spots.

* Three other predominantly UK black dragonflies are white-faced darter, northern emerald and common clubtail but they are not found in this region.

Catching up with moths

I don't think I am cut out for serious moth trapping.  It is a fairly addictive pastime but there are so many that I can't put a name to that I am scared of putting the trap out again for fear of increasing the backlog.  And I don't like to ask for advice too often, although when I do it is freely given.  First here are a few moths from a couple of sessions in Gosforth Nature Reserve with the NHSN Moth Group.

Best of the lot was a Scarce Silver-lines, recorded on only nine previous occasions in Northumberland, all from in or around Newcastle.

This is an Iron Prominent,

Marbled Beauty,

and Miller.

Next some of those from my garden moth trap.

Buff-tip,

Green Pug,

Blood-vein,

Middle-barred Minor,

Tawny-barred Angle (thanks to Stewart Sexton for the i.d.),

Shoulder-striped Wainscot,

Map-winged Swift,

Drinker,

Beautiful Snout, a moth with only two records in Northumberland,

Barred Yellow,

Swallow-tailed Moth,

Clouded Border,

Common White Wave,

and a rather battered moth that took shelter in my study on the hottest day of the year, an Old Lady.

The trap is going out again tonight and I'll post any new findings (if I can work out what they are). Here is the Drinker again.