A few creepy-crawlies

This blog has been overrun by weasels and shrews in recent weeks so invertebrates have barely had a look in.  OtterCam, WaterShrewCam and WeaselCam are quiet at the moment so I have a chance to post a few odds and ends I have come across recently, while looking for something else (usually dragonflies or ladybirds).

The first is a mite, Anystis baccarum, also known as the whirligig mite.  It is a predator of aphids and is available as a biological control for aphid infestations in apple orchards.  This one was munching on an aphid on a gravestone.  The mite is 1.5mm across.

Next a tiny beetle that should be in the list of things that are not ladybirds.  It is Sphaeroderma rubidum, a leaf beetle about 2.5mm long.  It feeds on the leaves of thistles and knapweed.  It overwinters as a larva so this adult won't survive for long.

Another beetle, a Rosemary Beetle, this one about 8mm long.  Although its scientific name is Chrysolina americana it comes for the Mediterranean.  It first arrived in the UK in 1994 and is now widespread.  The larvae feed on rosemary, lavender and thyme.

And a Grey Dagger Moth caterpillar (the head end is to the right).  It overwinters as a pupa so this one won't be a moth until next year.

I have seen a Grey Dagger in my trap before.  While the adult moth is indistinguishable from the Dark Dagger, the caterpillars are similar but not identical.

I expect we'll be back to trail cameras next time.

Early season moths

I haven't previously put out my moth trap this early in the year but there are moths around so I decided to try last weekend.  I caught six moths, much easier to process than the dozens that appear at the height of the summer.  There were three Hebrew Characters,

 two Common Quakers,

and an unidentified micro moth.

The biggest surprise was a black sexton beetle (Nicrophorus humator).  It is the first beetle that has appeared in the moth trap.  It is very large and very smelly!  It uses its magnificent antennae to detect dead animals on which to lay its eggs.

Out and about in May

The blog has been overrun in recent weeks by badgers, foxes and bees.  I have managed to get out for a walk for a few times so here is a summary of some of the things I saw last month in two local nature reserves, Weetslade Country Park and Banks' Pond.  First some dragonflies.

A male large red damselfly.

A male azure damselfly.

A teneral common blue damselfly showing almost no colour.

A male blue-tailed damselfly.

A four-spotted chaser.  I saw three at Weetslade but one was eaten by a reed bunting as I watched, so that was down to two.

A female broad-bodied chaser.

I found this unusual-looking bumblebee.  It is a hill cuckoo bumblebee (Bombus rupestris), also known as a red-tailed cuckoo bumblebee.  It is a social parasite of the red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius).  It is a rare sighting for the county and probably only the fourth in recent times.  Note the very dark wings and the lack of a pollen basket on the tibia of the hind leg.

This is a red-headed cardinal beetle.

A female orange tip butterfly on Lady's smock, a favourite flower.

I heard singing from the reeds and was trying to decide whether it was a reed warbler or a sedge warbler when I caught sight of it.  It is a sedge warbler.

I have seen quite a few dingy skippers.  I don't know if they are more common this year or if I am better at recognising them.

I'll return to both reserves once or twice a month to keep an eye on the wildlife and post anything interesting here. Gosforth Nature Reserve reopened this week so I shall add that to the rota for June.

A walk round the pond - Week 26

The rain in recent weeks has been good for nature generally but hasn't been great for insects.  Fine weather over the past three days has encouraged much more activity.  A new species this week was the emerald damselfly.

Another new finding was a single teneral female common darter

I also saw a single immature male broad-bodied chaser.  I have still never seen a mature male here.

Several male emperors were on patrol but they were too busy to stop for a photo.  The only one I saw at rest was right across the far side.

I also saw one female ovipositing, a bit too far away for my lens.  I may be tempted to take the big lens next week.

There were four-spotted chasers a-plenty, enjoying the sunshine.

There were a lot more blue-tailed damselflies this week.

Large red damselflies were still around.

There were dozens of azure damselflies (this is a female)

and common blue damselflies.

The sunshine brought out lots of butterflies.  There were still plenty of painted ladies, common blues and large skippers.  New this week were meadow browns

and ringlets.

Some cinnabar moths now look a bit faded

but the five-spot burnets are fresh

Here's moth I don't think I have seen before.  I had to look it up - it is a latticed heath (Chiasmia clathrata).

An insect I haven't noticed here before is a red and black froghopper, also known as a black and red froghopper (Cercopis vulnerata).

I definitely haven't seen this beauty before.  It is a golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle (Agapanthia villosoviridescens).  It is not rare although (until now) it has not been recorded on iRecord in Northumberland.

I found a pure white orchid.  Having consulted the Natural History Museum's Orchid Identification Guide, my best guess is that it is white form of the common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).

A walk round the pond - Week 23

At last!  Some dragonflies.  As I started walking back to leave yesterday morning I saw something flying ahead of me, just above the reeds.  Its silver wings were glinting in the sunshine as it dropped down into the reeds.  When I caught up I couldn't see anything at first and then I spotted this.

It is a teneral male emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator) which had just made its maiden flight.  It was sunning itself as its wings continued to harden.

After a while it flew a few metres farther from the water to rest in the grass.  The abdomen will turn bright blue as it matures.

You can see how well it is camouflaged, useful as at this stage it isn't a strong flier.

This is just about as far north as the emperor gets.  Here is the distribution map on iRecord for the past 10 years.

The emperor wasn't the only new dragonfly of the week.  Four weeks later than last year I finally saw a four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata).  There were only three, whereas by this time last year there were probably a couple of dozen flying around.  I don't know why the delay as the other species have emerged on time - the emperor was on precisely the same date as I first saw one last year.

There were many dozens of blue damselflies this week, mostly common blues.

These azure damselflies came to grief in an old spider's web.

These two were also being harassed by another male.

There were still plenty of large red damselflies.

But only occasional blue-tailed damselflies.

Butterflies this week included common blue,

dingy skipper,

and small copper.

A couple of other interesting insects I saw were this ichneumonid, one of the 2500 UK species,

and a beautiful bejewelled beetle, one of the 4000 UK species.

Plenty of warblers were still singing including blackcaps, chiffchaffs, common whitethroats and willow warblers.  All were typically shy but I did spot a willow warbler.

Long-tailed tits are much more obliging.  There was a large tribe in the hedges, with many young fledglings.

This is a youngster (R) with an adult (L).

Next week I hope to see more chasers and an emperor on patrol.