Among a whole bunch of moths, which are going to take me a while to sort out, this amazing Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi). The main flying season is May-July, so this one is a little late, or maybe it’s from a second generation. This hawk-moth is one of the commonest in UK, but very spectacular.
Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi, #663)
Monday night was my best night’s trapping for quite some time, including five new species. The Brimstone Moth was not new, but the light drew in several of these and I didn’t get a photo the previous time I recorded them. Scalloped Oak, Single-dotted Wave, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Straw Underwing and Turnip Moth were all new, reflecting a shift in the season and new generations of these moths appearing. I caught several Shuttle-shape Darts, Straw Underwings and also Riband Waves, plus individuals of several other species.
Two new species this weekend. The small shield bug, about the size of a ladybird, is a Woundwort Shieldbug (Eysarcoris venustissimus, #655) found on Hedge Woundwort which grows as a weed quite plentifully around the garden. The fly Suillia variegata (#656) is usually found around decaying stuff; it’s wings are often more marked than this with a black bar and white tips, but the markings are there on some photos, as are the hairs on the wing edge that distinguish this family of flies (Heleomyzidae ).
Here’s a nice pair of “beautiful” micro moths. On the left a Marbled Beauty (Bryophila domestica, #652), caught last week in the moth trap. This species is camouflaged to hide up on a lichen covered wall;its caterpillars are lichenivores, feeding on lichens, usually on rocks. On the right a Beautiful Plume Moth (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla, #222) that appeared from some garden waste I was clearing out.
Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana) has two, sometimes three generations in each summer - these two are presumably getting busy making the second generation. The sawflies like our Dog Rose, and there are often a few caterpillars there. The female lays her eggs into the fine stems at the outside of the bush, using her saw-like ovipositor. The caterpillar hatch together and as a family group set about eating all the leaves in the area.
I risked life and limb hanging out of my upstairs window to snap this blood-sucking horsefly that landed on the outside of the glass. It is a Band-Eyed Brown Horsefly (Tabanus bromius), in this case a female with its rather amazingly patterned eyes. You have to wonder if this banding on the eye serves any purpose, or is just decorative. It’s the female horseflies that bite, in order to get blood. Usually they go for cows or horses, but sometimes also people. Band-eyed Brown Horsefly is common in the southern part of UK, but rarely found North of the Midlands.
I apprehended the cat following this shrew across the lawn, presumably having just caught it somewhere nearby. It’s a Common Shrew (Sorex araneus) and my first garden shrew. It is identified as Common rather than Pygmy Shrew by the thin, hairless tail and by the brown flanks sandwiched between its dark back and pale belly. Shrews secrete an unpleasant tasting fluid from their skin, which makes them less appetising to predators, and especially pampered cats,, so this one was relatively unhurt.
This Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea, #261) was caught by the cat, but I think its wings were already damaged or not fully developed. I released it alive, and as it is beautiful and I don’t get many dragonflies, I hope it survives. This species does live in small garden ponds, but also flies quite far afield. It’s a common dragonfly in Southern & Central England & Wales.
A couple of more interesting hoverflies this week. Eupeodes latifasciatus (#651), this one a male caught sunbathing, is a new species for the garden. It took me a bit of time to get the identification as there are a few similar-looking hoverflies, but the pattern of yellow marks fused into bands and that close in at the lateral margin indicate this species.
The stocky hoverfly on the right is Myathropa florea (Deadhead Hoverfly, #324), which is an impressively marked species that doesn’t turn up often in the garden. I also saw one of the big hoverflies, maybe Volucella zonaria, quickly fly into the buddleia and then away - so I’ll be looking out for that over the next days.
Another first, this time my first Waterboatmen, with a dozen or more caught in the moth trap. Looking like something from Roswell, these bugs (not beetles) are strong fliers and often attracted to light at night. There are several similar species, but based on pattern and leg/foot colour, I believe this one is Sigara lateralis. I released them in my small pond - may they be happy there!
The moth is a rather faded Double Square Spot, the first of these I’ve caught. Apart from a coupe of Large Yellow Underwings and an unidentified brown Caddisfly there wasn’t much else in the trap.
Spectacular damage in the space of a few days to my Mizuna (Japanese mustard greens) and Swede seedlings. The final picture, of a Small White Butterfly caterpillar, was taken on 5th July and the first photo of the same leaves, devastated by flea beetles, on 16 July. Partaking in the feeding frenzy, four species of Brassica pest, all new to the list.
The main culprits were tiny black Cabbage-stem Flea Beetles (Psylliodes chrysocephala, #649) that eat little holes in the leaves of many types of Brassica. I also found one Lesser Striped Flea Beetle (Phyllotreta undulata, #647), with a cream-coloured stripe on its flanks. Both the Swede and Mizuna plants also had an infestation of Cabbage Stem Weevils (Ceutorhynchus pallidactylus, #468). The final pest, just on the Swede plants, was Mealy Cabbage Aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae, #650), with this winged adult, but also a fair few green coloured wingless immature aphids on the undersides of the leaves.
After a bit of a break from putting out the moth trap due to recent windy and wet weather, it went out at the weekend. This Common Rustic (Mesapamea secalis, #642) was the only new species, but the catch included a splendid pair of Buff Ermine moths (Spilosoma lutea). Another new moth is this leaf mine from the apple tree, which is from the tiny Apple Leaf Miner moth ( Lyonetia clerkella, #643).
I recently became a “friend” of Kemerton Lakes Reserve, so took the opportunity to walk some of the member-only paths. One interesting thing I came across were leaf galls made by small mites. The red “pustules” on Field Maple are from a tiny mite called Aceria aceriscampestris, while those on the Alder are Eriophyes laevis.
There were a few past-their-best Pyramidal Orchids about, but this Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborineas) was in full bloom - a new orchid for me.
This fungus, looking like a cluster of dirty potatoes, growing on one of the paths was interesting, and so far I wasn’t able to put a name to it.
This fly is easily recognised by its wings which are smoky black from about half way, with (in the male) distinctive white tips. They are usually found close to water, where they feed by catching small freshwater crustaceans and mosquito larvae from the surface. They have a complex courtship dance involving the male waving his wings at the female (hence the “semaphore” name) and then hovering in front of her, before embarking on an aerial display flight.
Hypericum androsaemum or Tutsan s a member of the St John’s wort family. It’s a medicinal plant, used to heal wounds and burns, as an anti-septic and also as an anti-depressant, so has some colourful names like “Balm of the Warrior’s Wounds” and “Sweet Amber”. The name Tutsan sounds superficially Asian, but it is in fact a native plant found wild, mostly in the west of UK, with the name coming from the French “toute-sain”, literally all heal This example was found growing up between the cracks in the paving out the front of the house - which is definitely a Pathclear-free zone, and a as a result by late summer a riot of weeds. Tutsan is a common garden shrub as well, so probably this one arrived courtesy of a bird-dropped seed from a neighbouring garden.
For some reason I missed Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) off the list, but this is also a native hedgerow plant and I have a couple of clumps of it in the garden. They are there mostly for the scent and the insects, but this is another plant known for medicinal uses, including to treat respiratory and intestinal infections.
Last week there were some new beetles about. The brown coloured beetle is my first click beetle, Athous haemorrhoidalis. This is quite a common beetle of hedgerows and meadows, which like other click beetles can launch itself into the air with an audible click. The beetle lives on pollen, nectar and emerging foliage, bur during their 2 year larval stage the grubs if present in large numbers can damage crops and turf.
The shiny black rove beetle is of the genus Philonthus, potentially P. laminatus; there’s quite a few species to choose from, and they are very similar. This one is very uniform glossy black, including the legs. The small ladybird is a 10-spotted one, Adalia decempunctata. There are many colour variations to this species, which can even (despite its name) have up to 15 spots. These are a gardener’s friend, preying on aphids.
I do sometimes get them overhead, but this is the first time I saw a Kestrel (Falco subbuteo, #589) actually perched in the trees around the garden. This is an adult male. maybe looking for some easy prey such as a young bird to take back to its own chicks. Or maybe he’s just enjoying a change of scenery - we do often have kestrels in the fields around the village. This kestrel is not the only interesting falcon lately, as a Hobby, being mobbed by the local House Martins, flew over during the weekend. Whether a hobby, sparrowhawk or indeed this kestrel, which had attracted the attention of some starlings, it’s the alarm calls of smaller birds that first alert you they are around.
#589 Kestrel (Falco subbuteo)
Last week there was more diversity in the light trap, and actually not so many moths. There were three ground beetles, two of which were of the type pictured, which I believe (based on the shape of the pronuptum) is Ophonus rufibarbis - this genus of beetle is apparently quite often attracted to light. I’m not sure if was the beetles (which are predators) or some ants that also got into the trap, but all that was left of this mayfly was its rather beautiful wings. From the pattern on the wings, these are all that’s left of a Green Drake Mayfly (Ephemera danica), though I would like to catch another sometime so I can see the whole creature.
I’m liking this funny looking small bug with its enlarged antennae and bright green legs, which was running to hide on the underside of the dogwood leaf as I tried to get a photo. It goes by the name Heterotoma planicornis, and lives on smaller insects and plant buds, often apparently on stinging nettles. It’s not rare, but it is small and a bit shy, and a new species for the garden..
Heterotoma planicornis (#639)
There are many Scarlet Tiger moths (Callimorpha dominula) around at the moment, flying around in the late afternoon and evening, or resting up during the day. They are so numerous here, that it’s surprising to see that their distribution in UK is rather restricted to the south and west of the country. The caterpillars like Comfrey, but I also find them on the Green Alkanet in the garden.
There were 8 or so Scarlet Tigers around the moth trap the other morning, plus a few other species like this Clouded Silver (Lomographa temerata) and a bunch of “micro” moths, including an Ermine (Yponomeuta sp. several species are too similar to ID in the field), Grey Tortrix (Cnephasia sp. ditto), Bramble Shoot Moth (Notocelia uddmanniana) and Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella). Codling Moth is a nuisance in orchards, as its larvae tunnel into the core of the apple, leaving a “maggoty apple” with a dirty brown tunnel through the fruit.
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target was 1000 species, which I eventually hit in June 2024. But there’s still plenty to see and learn about.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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