Galling

Germander Speedwell Gall Midge (Jaapiella veronicae)

A number of the Germander Speedwell plants in the garden wear furry little caps these days – a clear sign that they've been attacked by the Germander Speedwell Gall Midge (Jaapiella veronicae). This tiny fly lays its eggs in the terminal bud of Germander Speedwell plants, or occasionally in the terminal buds of other species of speedwell. The presence of the eggs (one or two per plant) changes the development of those terminal leaves; they grow abnormally, becoming deformed, thickened and hairy. And they safely house one or two tiny, reddish-orange midge larvae. These galls are typically the only way most of us will ever know the midges are around. The flies themselves are so small that they're easy to overlook – a mere 2-3 mm (about 1/8-inch) in length. They are bright orange and stand on relatively long, stilt-like legs though, which might help in spotting them. The midge is common throughout the UK, found anywhere that Germander Speedwell grows.

Six spots

Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae)

While we sat working in the office the other day, Mike suddenly said "There's something red out there" and headed for the door. Sure enough, there was something red – a handsome Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae), trundling around on Marjoram flowers near the sundial. This day-flying moth is the only burnet moth in the UK with six (rather than five or fewer) spots on its metallic green forewings. Those spots are a warning to potential predators that the moth is toxic; it's full of cyanide. Some of this comes from the food plants that the moth ate as a caterpillar. Preferred larval food plants, such as Common and Greater Bird's-foot Trefoils, are loaded with toxins which the caterpillars can safely metabolise for their own use. And if they can't get enough cyanide from their food sources, they can make their own! Such protection is so important to the moth's survival that males even present "nuptial gifts" of cyanide to females while mating; presumably, this helps to increase the survival rates of any resulting offspring. 

Six-spot Burnets are common and widespread across England, Wales and Ireland, but are mostly coastal in Scotland. Elsewhere, they range across much of Europe, and east into Lebanon and Syria. They flourish in grasslands (particularly those rich in flowers), and can be found from coastal cliffs and sand dunes to roadside verges, meadows and woodland clearings. Adults feed on scabious, knapweeds and thistles, all of which we have on the property; they clearly like Marjoram too. Caterpillars, when they're ready to pupate, build their cocoons high on grass stems. Hopefully our pocket meadow, with its bird's-foot trefoils and abundant grass stems for the caterpillars, plus various food plants for the adults, will prove appealing.

Shield bug

Woundwort Shield Bug (Stagonomus venustissimus)

A wander around the garden last week netted us an unfamiliar shield bug on one of the Common Ragwort flowerheads. Some quick research on the British Bugs website – an online guide to the UK's Hemiptera species – showed it to be a Woundwort Shield Bug (Stagonomus venustissimus). This is one of the UK's smaller shield bugs, measuring in at a mere 5-7 mm (about 1/4 inch). It's widespread across much of southern and central England, as far north as Yorkshire. It's much less common in western England and Wales. Elsewhere, it's found across most of Europe. The primary food source for its developing youngsters is Hedge Woundwort – hence the insect's common name – though they will also nibble on White and Red dead-nettles and Black Horehound. Given that we have plenty of the latter two "also rans" in our garden, perhaps we'll harbor some shield bug offspring in the coming months.

Striped

White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

While wandering around the garden last week, I discovered this handsome White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) hanging from the leaf of a Common Nettle (Urtica dioica) plant near the fire pit. The pale "lip" of its shell – the edge closest to where its foot emerges – quickly distinguishes it from the Dark-lipped Snail (Cepaea nemoralis) which featured on the blog several years ago. As with that closely related species, these snails can vary remarkably from one individual to the next. Some, like the one above, are marked with up to five bands of colour while others, like the one below, are a single solid shade, typically pinkish or yellow. Considerable research done on this genus of snails suggests that the wide variety of markings may serve two purposes: camouflage and temperature control. By blending in with their surroundings, and not looking like every other snail a potential predator might come across, snails with different markings might avoid being eaten. And snails with lighter coloured shells heat up less quickly than do snails with darker shells, which may explain why those in more open areas tend to be paler.

White-lipped Snails are widespread across the UK, and indeed across much of central and western Europe; they're also found along the coast of northeastern North America. Their habitats range from grasslands and gardens to dunes, clifftops and woodland, and they're known to reach altitudes of more than 2000 metres (6500 feet) in the Alps. Favourite foods include Common Nettle, Common Ragwort and Common Hogweed, so they're going to find plenty to munch in our garden!

Sulphury

Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare)

Our dead whitebeam stump wears a spectacular golden cape this autumn – a mass of Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) mushrooms which spill down its side and extend out along its roots. At first, they had the rounded tops of the tiny one in the foreground but they soon flattened out, though often retaining a little raised bump in the centre. They're smooth on top, typically yellowish on the edges and darker orangey-tan in the middle. Their stalk (called the stipe by those who study fungi) is also two-toned: yellow near the cap and darker at the base. The gills, which are the thin ribs located on the underside the cap, are attached to the stipe, an arrangement which can be an important ID feature. The gills start yellowish-green, like those in the photo above, and go darker with age.

Sulphur Tufts are very common and widespread in the UK, and across much of Europe and North America as well. They attack the dead, decaying wood of both coniferous and deciduous trees, like that of our poor whitebeam, which succumbed to a windstorm several years ago. Rumour has it that they taste bitter. Given that consumption causes serious gastrointestinal issues, I don't think I'll be checking that out in person!

Herald

Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix)

Mike trotted downstairs last night to get a "spider jar" from the kitchen. But when he returned, the jar contained a moth rather than a spider – a Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix), which the field guides call "unmistakable". The burnt-looking edge to the scalloped forewing, the white crosslines and the overall pinky-purple tinge are certainly distinctive, as are those orange blotches. This is a female; a male would have feathered antennae. I'm not sure exactly what the moth is supposed to herald. In most of the UK, there is only a single generation, which lives for most of the year. Adults hibernate overwinter in some sheltered location (cave, tree trunk, outbuilding, etc.), emerging in the spring to mate. The female lays her eggs on willows, aspens and poplars, and the larvae develop from May to July. When they're ready to pupate, they build a cocoon between two leaves. Adults emerge in August and fly until November, when they go into hibernation, and the cycle starts again.

Heralds are common and widespread residents across much of the UK, though they're localised and limited primarily to the lowlands in Scotland. They range across a variety of habitats: pretty much anywhere their foodplants occur. Now that the termperatures are dropping into single digits, this is probably one of the last moths we'll see this year. It's certainly a handsome one!

Little brown jobs

Yarrow Plume Moth (Gillmeria pallidactyla)

There have been precious few insects of any sort in the garden this year. And it's not just us thinking this; naturalists from all across the UK (and Europe as well) are reporting the same. Despite this, I managed to find a new moth for the property yesterday – in the bathroom, of all places. In the "real world", this Yarrow Plume Moth (Gillmeria pallidactyla) probably would have blended right in, looking like a random bit of dried vegetation. Against the blue curtain it was sitting on, it was rather more obvious! Plume moths are a bit of a challenge to identify, but the combination of a dark band on the end of the wing, a darker band on the front edge of the forewing (an area known as the "costa"), the subtly striped body and legs that aren't banded between the spurs (which you may have to zoom in on to see) is distinctive. This is a common species across virtually the whole of the UK, found in dry or sandy areas, including grassland, hedgerows, quarries, embankments and "waste places". It flies from June to August, laying its eggs on Common Yarrow and Sneezewort (and occasionally Tansy). The larvae overwinter in the plant's roots, emerging in the spring to feed on the new shoots. We have plenty of yarrow in the garden, so this little moth may even have grown up locally. Once I'd photographed it, I turned it loose out the window, in the hopes it will find a mate. And some yarrow!

California dreaming

Californian Yellow-eyed-grass (Sisyrinchium californicum)

When we moved in, there were a few small clumps of Californian Yellow-eyed-grass (Sisyrinchium californicum) growing along the edges of the pavement near the front door. These low, grass-like clumps have spread over the years, and now their starry little yellow flowers are sprinkled amongst the nearby paving slabs as well. As its name suggests, this is an introduced species; it's native to the western United States, and was first brought to the UK in 1796. Though perennial, it's short-lived. Fortunately, it spreads easily, both through underground rhizomes and through abundant, small, black seeds. Flowers bloom primarily from May through June (and in smaller numbers through the summer), hosting a nice mix of pollinators before closing around midday each day. The plant generally grows in wetlands and moist grasslands, so it's a bit surprising that it does as well as it does near the house. However, given that it evolved in a region with wet winters and cool summers with abundant cloud and fog, our typical Norfolk weather must suit it perfectly!

Very vetching

Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)

It's been a rather late spring on our cool, windy hill this year, but things are finally starting to really grow. And as we inch towards summer, Common Vetch (Vicia sativa) is one of the flowers beginning to make an appearance. It's rambling through some of the taller grasses in the pocket meadow and on the bank, its leafy tendrils coiling around the grass stems. As a legume (that is, a member of the pea family), it has a hidden superpower; it's capable of fixing its own nitrogen. That atmospheric element, which is vital for healthy plant growth, is out of reach for most plants. Legumes, on the other hand, contain bacteria in their roots which can convert nitrogen into nitrates, which help the plants to grow. And those nitrates become available to other plants when the legumes eventually die. Because of their nitrogen-fixing ability, legumes are often grown as "fertilizer factories", and Common Vetch was, for many years, one of the species used in agricultural crop rotation. Now, it's widespread across lowland Britain, preferring dry and sandy soils in grassland, farmland, waste areas and along the coast. The flowers are visited primarily by bumblebees, making them very welcome in our garden.

Great spots

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)

Occasionally, we get an unexpected visitor to our feeders. For a while, it was a wary female Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) who snuck in for a quick nibble of sunflower seeds or fat balls every now and then. Her all-black nape identified her as a female; a male would have had a small red patch on the back of his neck. We know there is at least one breeding pair in the neighbourhood, as we regularly see them flying back and forth over the garden, and hear their challenges ringing from the strip of Holm Oaks along a nearby roadway. But we don't often get to see them in the garden itself – too few trees, presumably! 

Great Spots are common and widespread from southern England to southern Scotland, and have recently colonised several areas in Ireland. Unlike the ant-eating Green Woodpecker, they are almost exclusively arboreal, spending little (if any) time on the ground. Their strong claws and stiff tail feathers help them to prop themselves up as they hitch their way up and down tree trunks and branches. The broad white wing stripe and bright red undertail help to separate them from the smaller (but also black and white) Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, which lacks the stripe and the red undertail. Sadly, Lesser Spots are now very rare in the U.K. and would certainly be extremely unlikely in our garden. Like all woodpeckers, Great Spots feed primarily on insects, but will also eat some seeds, particularly conifer seeds. They're also know to take bird eggs and nestlings.