Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Flapjack bugs me...


Sometimes bugs will turn up in the most unexpected locations and when you least expect them.

Flapjack is one of the few things I can claim to cook with a degree of success and I had just completed a batch a few days ago and was about to put the unused ingredients back into the kitchen cupboard, when something caught my eye. I caught the tiny red 'thing' and took it outside to photograph...



Not good news! This was a red flour beetle. These beetles feed on flour and cereals and can multiply into large populations.

Time to get back inside and empty every cupboard to search for any other individuals. I discovered 9 or 10 more in two cupboards and, as expected, in a part used bag of flour, a few more.


After researching these little pests I quickly came to realise just how common they are in the home and even more interesting, they almost certainly ended up in the kitchen by being present in shop-bought flour, as either larvae or eggs.

Having completely and thoroughly cleaned the kitchen, we are now on beetle watch to make sure none survived or worse that any missed eggs have hatched.

In case you are wondering? Yes, everything food-wise had to be replaced and, no, the flapjack wasn't affected in anyway. 

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Moving on then, with the approach of winter the amount of insects and bugs is naturally falling off now; in some cases literally. Over the months past, trees have been home to untold species of invertebrates and autumn means that the leaves begin to fall. That in turn means that many of the bugs and insects that once were high up in the canopy, are now on the ground and so it seemed the right time to get out and begin looking under a few windfalls to see what I could find...

A Barkfly 
A Barkfly nymph
Another type of Barkfly nymph




A Hoverfly larva


I found quite a number of very small hopper nymphs hiding away under some of the leaves...












And then of course there are the ever present springtails...
















And to give you a better idea of just how minute some of these are, here's an un-cropped photo..



Even though this looks so small here, it was still photographed at higher than 1:1 magnification and so is larger than life-size.

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Under leaves is not the only environment that harbours insects and bugs that may be over-wintering, anything lying around on the ground is worth checking now. In what was a fabulous bluebell wood earlier this year and now seems quite bare and lifeless, I found an old signboard that somebody had thrown away and underneath, this beautiful butterfly pupa...



It's a large white butterfly chrysalis and for what will eventually become a plain-white butterfly, quite intricate and colourful.

I took a few more shots...




Isn't it amazing that even at this stage, when it won't morph into a butterfly for about another 6 months, you can already see the detail of the antennae and wing structure?


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No frosty days yet means that there are also bugs and insects still to be found on the vegetation...




The two photos above show early instar Red-legged Shieldbug nymphs.

I also found an adult insect but not the same species, this is Troilus luridus, the Bronze Shieldbug. The adults of this particular bug can be found all year round; they feed on the larvae of other insects and caterpillars.




Next was this large damsel bug...



And then this fantastic crab spider...


This is Diaea dorsata, a striking spider that has white ringed eyes and this bright green colour with cream abdomen.

And so I think perhaps it's time to wind up another blog update, thank you for being there to read this stuff and for my final photograph today, how about this shot of a geranium flower reflected in a water droplet? No mystery photo this time? Well only if you look closely at that droplet...is it just a water drop? What are those strands above it?



Until next time...


Monday, October 21, 2013

Fund raising...

I wouldn't normally do this but I want to hijack my own blog entry for the purposes of blatant  and shameless self promotion!
Before you think I have lost the plot though, can I add that it is all in the cause of raising some much needed funds for medical research.

I have produced some posters to try and raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society. Alzheimer's and Dementia affect a huge proportion of our population and need our support. Recent developments in attempting to halt the degeneration of brain cells are promising, but more research is needed and that requires funding.
If you think you can help, please head over to my FOR SALE PAGE for full details...





On with my late October update to the blog then...

I will start with another photo of a caterpillar that I featured a couple of entries ago, the looper, that I now know to be the larva of an early thorn moth...


Firstly, what a great pose? But anyway, the reason I have added this is because I have been reading a little more about these creatures and it seems that being considered to be the best twig mimic of all, is not the whole story.

No, research now shows that they don't just rely on looking like a twig. Apparently the disguise works best where twigs are common, it seems to fool most birds more often and so during the day they will position themselves where there are lots of natural twigs, even if it means missing out on feeding.
They then move to the leaves under cover of night, where they then feed in relative safety.

It also seems to work best if the position themselves where there aren't too many others caterpillars doing the same thing as the birds do see the larvae but don't seem to find the extra effort involved in determining whether or not it is actually food worthwhile but if there are rich pickings to be had, they will then persevere.


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I was out recently on a rather dull day after rain and the flash was causing me all kinds of problems with water reflection and so decided to opt for natural light on these next pictures...




I think this large wasp is probably an Ichneumon and possibly Coelichneumon sp? There are several similar and so I can't be sure.
Not how most folks imagine a wasp to look but wasp it is.

Another surprise on this dull day was how many crickets were around on the low vegetation. I counted up to twenty of the species pictured here and then gave up, there were lots more, both male and female...


Roesel's Bush Cricket (male)

Incidentally, if you are wondering why Roesel's ? It was named after a German entomologist. I think we in the south east corner of the U.K. were the first to see this species and today the most prolific population is still to be found here, although it has spread north at quite a rate in recent years and can now be found in many other areas.


I also found this cool little leafhopper whilst out wandering the local countryside, I think this might be Idiocerus vittifrons but they are extremely difficult to tell apart...





The same goes regarding being confident over identity of this plant bug as well. I wouldn't want to go further than suggest Lygus species...







Green shieldbugs are still evident as both adults and the occasional nymph, although I have yet to find any in their winter coats (brown.)


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Spiders then! I just love these little jumping spiders, they are such characters and quite feisty. They have great vision with those two large front eyes and if you take a close look at them, you will often see them turning to get a better view of you as you do so...





This one has me stumped for now regards a confirmed identity but it was very small at no more than around 2mm and has those white palps. It is a female but that's all I can say at present.






The spider photo above shows Araneus diadematus, the garden, or cross spider that is most often seen at this time of year but below is a variation, Araneus quadratus. Araneus being Latin for spider and quadratus meaning square, referring to the four prominent spots on the abdomen...





The background can be quite variable in colour ranging from orange-red to light yellow-green. This coloration can change, perhaps responding to humidity levels (greenish if moist, tending towards red if drier). 


Besides the omnipresent spiders, I am still finding tortoise bugs locally...




Of course sometimes when the weather is really bad and there are few bugs to be found anywhere, the unexpected still turns up. That's what happened the other day when it rained hard and I didn't even bother taking the camera when I went out. In fact, I didn't need to this day-the next photo was taken through the patio window...




That's right, a slug! Well on bad weather days you have to take advantage of whatever is offered right?


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Back in the summer (by the way, this is leading into another of those, what's happening here pictures)...I saw something spilling from what I think may have been a fleabane flower, anyhow, a bright yellow daisy-like flower and this is the photograph...





And so this is my question-is this nectar? If so....why did if feel solid/hard to the touch? It was quite hard.

I'll leave you with that thought until the next time....

Thanks in advance to anyone who feels they can help with my fund raising posters.








Thursday, October 10, 2013

What a carry on...

Seems hard to believe that we are already at the second week of October-where is this year going? Already the fungi are starting to pop their heads up from the forest floor as the season gets underway...



I chose this image first as I thought it might grab your attention? I don't know the correct mycological name for this species; if encouraged I daresay I could come up with a common name of my own, but I reckon that it would have more in common with a 'Carry On' innuendo than anything remotely sensible!






I do know that these pictured above are 'Amanita muscria' the infamous Fly Agaric fungi. These scarlet topped mushrooms are coloured red for a reason, as in the animal world, red signifies danger and to eat from these is to risk hospitalisation.

I have lots more fungi shots but think I might save them for a dedicated entry as there's not mushr.......no! Can't do the joke...


I want to share what I think is a wonderful late season find of a beautiful shieldbug...




This is the fabulous Blue Shieldbug (Zicrona caerulea) the metallic blue sheen makes this little bug easy to identify. It is one however that I rarely see, in fact I think this is only my second find of one in years of looking.


Moving on, I came across a couple of more unusual ladybirds the other day, the 10-spot (Adalia decempunctata) is a little less common than the 7-spot and is also a lot harder to identify correctly, so let's hope I have got it right here...



'Rhyzobius litura' is a tiny ladybird that is not often seen, and even less recognised as a ladybird when it is discovered. It is one of the few ladybirds that have long antennae, hence most folks seem to dismiss it as merely a commonplace beetle, rather than coccinellidae.

Usually found from spring to late autumn and often in dry places-this one was in long, dry grasses in an uncut meadow...




Another nice find was of a ground beetle 'Dromius quadrimaculatus' a nicely marked small beetle of about 7mm length...




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I still haven't managed to solve the mystery of just what that strange,white structure from my last update was. I think perhaps my friend ,Maria who suggested it may be a seed could be on the right track but, I am just not sure yet. What I can say is that, amazingly, I found another example-they are so small that I didn't ever imagine I would spy another but here it is...


If it helps at all, I can add that this one was not on the ground but underneath a living willow leaf still on the tree.It was also firmly adhered to the leaf somehow.


Back to the bugs then...



This is the larva of the dot moth (Melanchra persicariae) these will feed on a wide range of wild plants and I have found them on both bramble (incidentally, that one was the brown version of the larva) and also on nettle.



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My moth trap diaries have suffered of late from a lack of anything interesting to add-I have been running it but have had few moths other than the usual suspects.
An exception has been the one in the photograph below...






This is the Barred Sallow (Xanthia aurago) a lovely moth delicately tinted with yellows and pinks.

A shot taken in a more natural setting...




You might also be interested in this huge,female vapourer moth...



These huge bulbous females are flightless, those dog-like ears just above the second pair of legs in the photo, are actually vestigial wings and so there is no chance of these getting off the ground. They will attract a male within a very short time of emerging, then lay their eggs that overwinter before emerging in spring. Once the eggs have been laid the female's job is done, she doesn't feed and so her life is very short.

I checked the next day where this female had been and this is what I found...




I guess even though I haven't managed to resolve the last mystery object, I should add another to this entry?

Well this might be a tad easier-aside that is from my poor skills with the camera meaning less detail than I would have hoped for. I had to crop this heavily as it was taken at only 1:1 and I suppose was around the size of a small springtail, so about 2mm?


It was found in long grasses and I am wondering if it's a very early nabidae instar/nymph? What do you think?

Until the next time then...