So long 2017 it's been good to know you...

The December edition of 'It's a Bug's Life' that has just been published, will be my last contribution to Magnet magazine. When I started writing for them in 2014 I expected that perhaps it might be something I would be doing for a year or two at most. As it turned out, it was four years. 

I really enjoyed the experience and had, and still have, a great relationship with everyone at Magnet. I wish them continued success and thank them for the opportunity to be a part of the team for those four years. 

This from Magnet editor Adele Tratham:

"I hope you appreciate this decision is purely for the fact we have to continually evolve and change.

You have been an absolute delight to have as a contributor and have always delivered great content on time, with your wonderful images, and I know our readers have enjoyed your features very much.

Can't thank you enough!"

Adele

I will leave the published articles here as an archive for the time being. Here is my last contribution, which will also be on the 'Magnet' tab at the top of the home page of my blog.

I will still be writing my articles each month for the Wealden and look forward to what will be my sixth year of contributions.

An update on the Indian moon moths: the eggs that I had seem to be unfertilised, as none are showing any signs that caterpillars may emerge soon. The moths themselves were delightful to have around for the few short days that they live. I managed to keep a male and a female that were in reasonably good condition after passing away naturally. I thought I would try to mount and frame them if I could preserve them well enough.

I Googled some instructions and constructed a board to pin them. They were to stay like this for 4 to 5 weeks until set. Here's a close-up of the male; you can see that there is just one pin through the abdomen. This would later be cut close to the body so that it wouldn't show when framed. 

The first one that I mounted and framed was the male, which went well and I was quite pleased with the result. The female however was something of a challenge. It broke into pieces as I released it from the pin-board and so I had to try and reassemble it. I think it worked out reasonably well considering my ignorance of the process...

A while ago wildlife artist Gordon Corrins asked if he could use my photograph of a green hairstreak butterfly as a reference for a painting he was wanting to do. When it was completed, he was kind enough to send me an original print of the painting. I have framed the print now, but below is the scan he emailed to me, next to my original photo...

There has been little time or opportunity to get out looking for bugs over the past few weeks. I doubt there is much of interest to be seen at this time of year anyhow. I did spot a spider moult in the garden shed though and thought it would make an interesting subject to photograph, as the moult also included its fangs!

Female Giant House Spider Moult

That's about it for this year then: goodbye 2017

Possibly four days too early...

Hard to believe, but it was almost exactly seven years ago that I  sat down and wrote my very first blog update. Saturday December the 10th 2010 to be exact. 

The winter of 2010 was very cold with lots of snow...

If I publish this latest update on Dec 10 of this year, then it equates to about 2550 days or over sixty one thousand hours between then and now. It occurred to me that as a long-term sufferer of migraine headaches, I calculate if my average count per month is 6 (and sometimes it can be as many as 13) then during those years I have experienced at least 500 attacks. A sobering thought, and seeing it written in black and white like this, makes me wonder how I have remained at all sane!

Comfort's Wood in the grip of winter 2010

On a lighter note, most people it's said pee between 6 and 8 times per day. Let's call it seven shall we. That would mean I have emptied my bladder almost eighteen thousand times. I would tell you how many times my pulse  beat in those seven years, in fact, once I find it, I will! By the way, who was it that recently said that they thought 'PPI' was what you got at the swimming baths?

That's more than enough about my medical frailties, this isn't 'Ask The Doctor'. Let's 'crack on' (unless that is also a medical condition). Now that winter is threatening the lovely county of Kent, finding bugs to blog about is becoming a real challenge. The stars did align one day recently though and I had an hour to spare when the weather was behaving, so dusted off the macro and headed for the high weald, high veld.... 

 Dicyrtomina saundersi (Collembola)

Yes, one thing you can rely on being able to find come winter, Collembola. You'll need keen vision though, most are about 2-3mm as adults. Here's another of the same species that I found...

 And a similar, yet different species...

Dicyrtomina ornata

These tiny creatures that are also known as springtails come in a huge variety of forms. Here's the funky spacehopper edition...

Monobella grassei

This species can be located under rotting wood that you find lying around the countryside - don't you? Well, you should then! More photos? Certainly...

Before we move on from these fascinating critters; you might remember some time ago I found a springtail that had an image of Michael Jackson on its abdomen. Well, I thought it looked like him, there were other suggestions, I think 'are you sure it's not a pigment of your imagination' might have been one of them...

I think Jagger and Jim Morrison were also what other people thought. The point is that it was the strangest one I had ever found. That is until I spotted this next oddity...

Dicyrtominia trumptonia

Curious huh? Not even too sure which is the front end!

Moving on before I make an arse of myself; just about the only other thing I found whilst out with the camera, was this teeny plant hopper...

Unfortunately it seemed to have been affected, and indeed, infected, by fungus... 

My final discovery was of this hairy snail: yes, there is such a thing as a hairy snail...

Trochulus hispidus - A Hairy Snail

That's about it for this update. It's getting colder by the day and my cockles need warming. IF I am not back here with another update before the Christmas season begins, I would like to wish you all happy holidays and offer my sincere thanks for supporting me through yet another year of blogging.