Ivy bee

Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae)

Few bees in the UK are cuter than the diminutive Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae), which is coming into its own as autumn progresses. As its name suggests, this specialist feeds primarily on the pollen of Common Ivy (Hedera helix), which flowers from September to November. However, it will also visit Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris, as above), Prickly Sow-thistle (Sonchus asper) and other autumn-flowering blooms for nectar. A new arrival to the islands, it was first recorded in the UK in 2001. In fact, it was only described to science in 1993! Now, it occurs across the Channel Islands and much of southern England and Wales, primarily in built-up areas and along the coast, and continues to extend its range northwards. A newly-emerged female's combination of strongly buff-banded abdomen and orange thorax is distinctive, but males and faded individuals can be trickier to identify. Like other mining bees, this one nests underground, typically digging into lightly vegetated, south-facing banks. Though it's a solitary species, it can occur in large nest aggregations where proper conditions exist; there's an area on a sandy heath near here with upwards of a thousand individuals! We have regular visitors to our garden despite a lack of suitable nest sites, so there must be a good nesting location nearby. Creating a "bee bank" in the garden is definitely on the to do list!

Leggy

Female Opilio canestrinii

For several days in a row a couple of weeks ago, I found this female harvestman (harvestwoman?) sprawled out on a nettle leaf in the garden. Did she stay there the whole time, digesting a particularly big meal? Or had she made sorties and returned to a favoured spot? So many mysteries! She's an Opilio canestrinii, one of Britain's longer-legged harvestman species. The two rows of alternating dark and light bars on her back (see the picture above), her very long dark legs, and her white operculum (the little turret that her eyes sit in) help to identify her. Males are smaller-bodied, and more uniformly red-orange in colour. This is a newly-arrived species in Great Britain. First recorded in the Thames Valley in 1999, it has spread rapidly and is now found across England and Wales. In 2011, it was found in Scotland, and has since been spreading quickly from that initial location. Intriguingly, it wasn't known in Europe until the mid-1900s, when it was found in Italy; since then, its range has expanded to cover most of western Europe. In some places (i.e. the Netherlands), its arrival has led to the extinction of native Opilio species. Let's hope that doesn't happen here!

Quicksilver

Silver-washed Fritillery (Argynnis paphia) with Peacock (Aglais io) in the background

On a whirlwind afternoon last month, we recorded three new species of butterfly for the property. They were part of a big influx that occurred over several days, pushed in our direction by warm southerly winds and enticed to the garden by a plethora of blooming Buddleia bushes. Among the multitude of Peacocks, Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells that were sprinkled across the flower spikes, we spotted a suspiciously orange flash, which resolved itself into this slightly battered but still handsome male Silver-washed Fritillery (Argynnis paphis) – a rare visitor to our corner of England. You can tell he's a male by the long dark streaks on his forewing; these are his "sex brands". When he's courting a female, he dazzles her with his acrobatics, flying loops above, in front of, and under her as she continues to fly in a straight line. If she's impressed enough to land, he shakes loose a shower of scented scales from those sex brands to further convince her of his desirability. At first glance it seems odd to call this butterfly "silver-washed", given that it's orange and black. The steaks which give it its common name are actually on the underside of its hindwing, and are only visible when the butterfly folds its wings.

This isn't a common species in our part of England. Typically, it's found in the southern and western corners of Britain, with only the occasional strays making it futher north and east. It's primarily a woodland species, breeding in shadier parts of the forest, but moving to more open areas to feed. Adults fly from mid-June through August. Once she's mated, a female will lay her eggs in moss or bark crevices near colonies of Common Dog-violet (Viola riviniana). Though they hatch in the fall, the larvae immediately go into hibernation. The following spring, they'll emerge to feed on the newly-flowering violets. The species underwent a big population decline in the 1900s, but in recent decades have started to expand their range again. Here's hoping they become more common again in our part of the country!

Ermine

White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) caterpillar

The spikey-looking caterpillar pictured above is the very hairy offspring of one of our regular moth visitors – a White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda). I spotted it humping its way rapidly through the longer grass at the edge of one of the garden paths last week. In this case, the "racing stripe" proved apt! It must have been moving from one food plant to another, and given its preference for docks and nettles, it had certainly picked the right corner of the garden to investigate. Adults, which fly from May to July, are long gone. Earlier in the summer though, they're common and widespread in most habitat types (except wetlands) across much of the British Isles, as well as throughout temperate Europe and Asia. They're pretty distinctive: creamy white all over with black antennae and varying numbers of black spots. Those in Scotland are said to be sometimes buffy or brown rather than creamy. They have the rather endearing habit of playing dead if disturbed during the day, dropping to the ground and lying on their backs with their legs all folded. They're full of alkaloids (which make them at best unpalatable and at worst, potentially toxic to anything trying to eat them) and presumably can emit some chemical scent to warn predators of that. Larvae are full of alkaloids too, and also rely on their bristly hairs to help make them an unappealing meal. They overwinter as pupae in leaf litter, emerging in late spring as adults. Here's hoping this youngster makes it to next year!

Adult, in mid-June

Wasp mimic

Chrysotoxum bicinctum

One of the more distinctive hoverflies to visit our garden is the eye-catching Chrysotoxum bicinctum. It's a wasp mimic – and quite a good one at that. The combination of the two yellow bands across its black body, its long antennae, and the chocolate-brown spots on its wings is diagnostic; no other UK hoverfly shares those features. We often find these hoverflies on the Field Bindweed flowers along one edge of the garden. They prefer sheltered grassy areas, especially those near shrubs or trees. Adults fly from May to September, peaking from mid-June to August. Surprisingly (considering that they're widespread across lowland England, and occur throughout Wales and as far north as the north coast of Scotland), little else is known about their biology. The larvae are thought to be associated with ant nests, where they may feed on root aphids being "farmed" by the ants. There's so much still to be learned about many of the world's smaller creatures!

Wall

Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)

While rambling around the garden on a recent afternoon, I spotted an unfamiliar butterfly resting on a blown thistle head. It looked a bit like a Gatekeeper, but with a lot of extra spots and barring. Clearly, this was something new! I snapped a few pictures and went in search of Mike for an ID. One look brought him scuttling out with his own camera. It's a Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera), a widely distributed but seriously declining species here in the UK. Since the late 1970s, its numbers have dropped by more than 75%, making it one of the island's most imperiled butterflies. It's clinging on along the coasts of England, Wales and Ireland, and in southern Scotland, but has largely disappeared from the UK's interior. And it's not common anywhere now, with only small numbers seen in most places. Wall Brown caterpillars feed on various grasses (including Common Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata) and Yorkshire Fog), so our pocket meadow (which has plenty of both) might prove appealing if this male managed to find a female. Wall Browns are named for their habit of basking on walls and other stony places. This one moved from its thistle to our greenhouse door later in the afternoon, the better to catch the sun's rays. Adults fly from May to October, so we could theoretically see another one or two. Given their small numbers, that would definitely be a treat!

Redeye

Small Redeye (Erythromma viridulum)

The pond does it again! Early last month, Mike spotted a single Small Redeye – a little corker of a damselfly that is a relatively recent arrival to the UK. He called to me (I was photographing hoverflies nearby) but by the time I'd scuttled over, it was already gone. Fast forward a few days, and a trio of males jousted over the lily pads. Fast forward another week or two, and there were dozens of them. On one sunny afternoon in the middle of the month, we counted 35 pairs busily egg-laying on Soft Hornwort (Ceratophyllum submersum) below the pond's surface, with assorted single males frantically trying to get in on the action. Females were regularly submerged underwater for 5 to 10 minutes at a time, methodically placing each egg on a separate bit of plant; the males didn't let go of their grip on "their" female's neck until she was done. After a few frenzied days of activity, they all disappeared, with only a few scattered corpses to show they'd ever been there.

Small Redeyes only arrived in the UK in 1999. From their first toehold, they expanded rapidly across the Isle of Wight and southeastern England, and have now reached as far west as Devon and as far north as North Yorkshire. Their small size, pale pterostigmas (coloured spots near the tips of their wings), pale gray legs and dark abdomen with a blue "tail light" near the end (smaller in females) help to distinguish them from other similar species. And the bright red eyeballs of the males are hard to miss. They fly primarily from June to August, though they can be seen as early as May and as late as September. They frequent ponds, lakes and ditches, and (according to the British Dragonfly Society's website) "seem to be associated with floating vegetation such as Hornwort and Water Milfoil". We can certainly attest to that!

Just a few of the many pairs egg-laying in the pond

Bindweed

Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

We haven't yet tackled the "weeds" growing at one end of the bank that runs along an edge of our property. At this time of year, the twining tendrils and lovely pink flowers of Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) crisscross the lush mound. They coil their way through the grasses and docks and Mugwort, occasionally even stretching up into the lowest branches of a few of the nearby shrubs, decorating them all with a plethora of small, sweetly-smelling blossoms. Insects – particularly hoverflies – absolutely love them. The delicate pink and/or white flowers generally appear from June through August. While this scrambling perennial can sometimes be a bit of an invasive problem (particularly outside of its native range in Europe and Asia), we're not having problems with it here. Though generally most common on waste ground, rough grassland, scrub and disturbed areas (such as roadsides), it can sometimes be problematic in agricultural fields. It's widespread throughout much of the UK, though much less common in northern Scotland. Its seeds can number more than 500 per plant and can survive for upwards of 20 years! The plants put down very deep roots – up to 9 feet (nearly 3 metres), and exceptionally up to 30 feet (9+ metres) deep, which makes them very difficult to remove. I guess it's a good thing they haven't gotten out of control (yet anyway) in our garden.

Swallows

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

If one swallow doesn't make a summer, how about two or three or four? This pair of Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) youngsters spent some time resting on our phone wire on a recent afternoon, keeping a watchful eye on mum and dad (and the occasional passing Herring Gull) and vigorously preening. It's a popular wire with swallows; they often rest there. Sadly, they haven't yet nested in the garden, despite the platform installed especially for them. Our garden provides plenty of tasty little morsels though, so we regularly see them over the property. Swallows are summer visitors to the British Isles, arriving as early as March (though more often April) and leaving as late as October. They are the world's most widespread swallow, found for at least part of the year on every continent except Antarctica. In the UK, it occurs everywhere except the Scottish highlands. Their long tail streamers (shorter on youngsters) and rusty-orange throats help to distinguish them from other hirundines in the UK.

Swallow numbers can vary considerably from year to year. Cold, wet springs, like the one we had this year, can cause insect populations to collapse, which leads to a lack of food for both adults and nestlings. The RSPB says climate change is causing serious food and water problems on Barn Swallow wintering grounds and migration routes as well, with birds often returning to their breeding grounds in poor condition. Many are laying fewer eggs than they used to. Most European birds cross the Sahara to reach their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa, and that desert grows larger every year. This makes it increasingly difficult for the birds to successfully cross it. Fingers crossed these two and their parents make it back next summer!

Slugger

Green Cellar Slug (Limacus maculatus)

When I went out into a gently misting evening last weekend, I spied this 3-inch (7.5 cm) long slug making its way up the wall beside the garage door. Its overall speckled pattern caught my eye. Back inside, I checked our copy of Slugs of Britain and Ireland (yep, we're nerds). Intriguingly, the only one that looked right showed a map with no occurence anywhere near East Anglia. This immediately interested Mike, who went out to retrieve it for a closer look. In the light of the kitchen, we confirmed its identity: it's a Green Cellar Slug (Limacus maculatus), also known as Irish Yellow Slug. Though initially known only from Ireland, this species is rapidly expanding its range, and is now common and widespread across much of Great Britain. It is thought to have been a relatively recent introduction from southeastern Europe; its native range stretches from western Russia through Romania and Bulgaria to Turkey. The heavy blotching on its mantle and tail, the coarseness of its tubercules (the small, closely-packed protuberances covering its body) and its blue-grey tentacles (its eyestalks and feelers) help to identify it. It feeds on algae, mould and lichens, (particularly those on walls) as well as on decaying plant material, and is regularly found in compost bins. Like all slugs, it prefers moist areas, such as under stones and logs; however, it also regularly occurs in buildings. It can be found at any time of the year, so undoubtedly – now that we know where it lives and how to identify it – we'll be seeing it again.

Red-tail

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) on Creeping Thistle

Once we get past the occasionally chilly days of earliest spring, one of our commonest garden visitors is the industrious Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius). They're still going strong now, long after many of the other bumblebee species have disappeared for the year. This is one of the easiest British bumblebees to identify; the red backside on an otherwise black bumble is distinctive. Female workers and queens show this pattern, while males also sport yellow hairs on their faces and a golden band across the front, and sometimes the rear, of their thorax (the part of their body where their wings attach). Queens measure nearly an inch long (20-22 mm), while smaller workers may be little bigger than a house fly. The colour of the hairs on their pollen baskets (structures on their hind legs) distinguish them from several rarer relatives. This is one of the UK's "Big 7" – among its most common bumblebees. It occurs in a wide range of habitats right across Britain, and continues to expand northwards in Scotland. Like many bumblebees, these nest underground, often in abandoned rodent burrows or under slabs, stone walls or rocks. A typical colony holds 100-200 workers. As with all bees, they feed on nectar and pollen. They are important pollinators, visiting a wide variety of plants up to a mile (1750 m) from their nest and continuing to feed at higher temperatures than many other bumblebee species. They fly from April through November, so will continue to entertain us for some time yet.

Check out those packed pollen baskets (the yellow blobs)! And you can see her busy tongue here too.

Medic(k)

Black Medick (Medicago lupulina)

As this summer has progressed, we've discovered lots of Black Medick (Medicago lupulina) growing along the paths at the bottom of the garden. This low-growing annual (occasionally a short-lived perennial) prefers sunny locations and low-mown or grazed areas. It's widespread across the UK, and across much of Europe and Asia as well. Our walkways are the only bits of the garden that really suit it; the grass is just too tall elsewhere. The species is part of the pea family, so its yellow flowers have the classic pea flower shape – just on a miniscule scale.  The yellow flowers measure a mere 2-3 mm (about 1/8 of an inch)! They're clustered in eye-catching balls of several dozen blossoms, nicely framed by trefoil leaves that have a distinct point at the tip. As they develop, the plant's circular seeds change from green to black. Black Medick typically flowers from mid-spring through mid-summer, but like everything else, it seems to be running late this year; we're still seeing plenty of flowers even though we've now reached "late summer". The plant has been used since the 15th century as a low-grade forage crop on drier soils. Members of the pea family are famous for their ability to fix nitrogen (pulling it from the air and adding it, eventually, to the soil), which is helpful to other plants as well. That said, we probably get so much fertilizer drift from the surrounding farm fields that nitrogen fixing isn't really needed here! The flowers attract a variety of insects, including bees, day-flying moths and butterflies, which make them a welcome addition to the garden. 

Two hundred

Believe it or not, this marks the blog's 200th post. A lot has changed on the property since we started the project just over three years ago. The garden had been neglected for many years, and was little more than a few scattered trees and some overgrown shrubs (none particularly good for wildlife) with a scruffy lawn and a giant pile of woodchips left from a recently-removed Leylandii hedge. Here was the first bed we planted, the first year we lived here. We'd had to whack back a lot of very vigorous Greater Periwinkle (Vinca major) before we started.

And here's that same bed today, though from somewhat a different angle; needless to say, things have filled in a bit! The number of pollinators we get these days can be truly awe-inspiring. Mike counted 25 Peacocks on one Buddleia bush the other day (53 in the whole garden), for example. Our Elegant Deutzia (Deutzia x elegantissima) hosts hundreds of bumblebees at a time when it's flowering, and we regularly see uncountable swarms of hoverflies.

Mike's been hard at work establishing new beds as well, and they've come along leaps and bounds this year. These are on the shadier side of the garden and contain plants that can tolerate a bit less sun. The Common Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) were particularly spectacular this year.

And of course, this year we finally added the longed-for pond, which has brought a whole host of new additions to the garden. As the movie tagline says "If you build it, they will come!" Among our favourites have been the plethora of dragonflies and damselflies that have chosen to lay their eggs here, and the baby Smooth Newts slowly growing to adulthood among the water plants.

We're creeping up on 1200 identified species for the property, with plenty of photographed 'mystery guests' still to puzzle out. We've even started to tackle some of the trickier groups, like aphids and woodlice. We hope you'll continue to share the journey with us. As I said in our 100th post, there's still plenty more to discover out there!

Investigator

Banded Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus investigator)

When we run our moth trap (which we've hardly done at all this year), we regularly catch a few of these big, brightly-coloured beetles over the course of the season. But this is the first time I've ever found one out "in the wild" rather than caught in the trap. It's a Banded Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus investigator), one of Europe's so-called "burying beetles", and it was clambering around on a Common Ragwort plant in broad daylight. That's pretty unusual for this typically nocturnal insect. It looks very similar to several other species found in the UK. The small break in the red band closer to its back end is an important ID feature, as are the dark red-orange tips to its antennae. It lacks hairs on its thorax (the part of the insect right behind its head), and the tibia of its back legs are straight rather than curved – two additional features that help to distinguish it from other burying beetles. And they're amazingly stinky; we can always tell as soon as we've opened the moth trap whether we're going to find one of these beetles roaming among the egg boxes.

Like other burying beetles, this one feeds on the rotting carcasses of small animals, which it can reportedly smell from up to two miles away. Pairs of the beetles work together to bury a carcass. First, they strip all the fur or feathers off the corpse, smearing it with a secretion that kills both bacteria and fungi. They then use their heads to push the soil out from under the carcass, while simultaneously fending off rival pairs, eventually burying it as much as 8 or 9 inches (20 to 22 cm) underground. The female lays her eggs in the corpse's rotting flesh, and the larvae, which hatch within days, feast on that banquet as they grow – but only after it's been "pre-processed" by their parents. Beetles in the genus Nicrophorus are among the very few insects with parental care. The pair hang around and feed on the carrion, regurgitating a digested liquid for their larvae, which use specific postures to beg for food. This diet apparently helps to speed up their development. Tha adults also protect their offspring from potential rivals and parasites, such as fly larvae. The offspring pupate in the soil near the carcass overwinter, emerging as adults in the spring. This is a common and widespread species across the UK, found in a wide variety of habitats. While adults can be found year-round, they are most common between May and September.

Faker

Lesser Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella inanis)

While wandering around the garden the other evening, I found a big hoverfly climbing over the Common Marjoram (Origanum vulgare). Though it was nearly the size of the Hornet Mimic Hoverfly I profiled a few months ago, this one was clearly different, with much more yellow on its distinctively broad abdomen, and a dark brown, rather than chestnut-coloured, thorax (the part of the insect just behind its head). It's a Lesser Hornet Hoverfly (Volucella inanis), another of the UK's larger hoverflies. What looks an out-of-focus photo artefact around its eyes is actually a thick coating of hairs on its eyeballs – and how it can see through such a thicket is beyond me! It also has plumose antennae, which is a fancy way of saying they're branched like feathers rather than hairlike or paddle-shaped, like those of most hoverflies.

Like its larger cousin, the hoverfly mimics a wasp in an attempt to deter predators that might be put off by the possibility of getting stung. From its former stronghold in southern England (particularly around London), it has expanded its range across much of the country in the last 30 years, now reaching as far north as Yorkshire and beginning to edge into Wales. Despite the expansion, however, it's still listed as "infrequent and local" outside of the London area. Like all hoverflies, the adults are nectar feeders. The larvae, however, are predatory; the female lays her eggs in a wasp or hornet nest, and the hatched larvae feed on the wasp or hornet grubs. Adults fly from June to September, but are most common in early August. They're typically found in gardens and along roadside and hedgerows. Elsewhere, they're found across southern Europe and northern Africa.

Thunder thighs #2

Thick-legged Hoverfly (Syritta pipiens)

We've been struck this summer by the relatively low number of insects in the garden compared to years past. Hoverflies in particular are notable by their absence, with only a fraction of the hordes we saw last summer. Despite that, I'm still racking up new species. The Thick-legged Hoverfly (Syritta pipiens) is one that Mike spotted last year but I managed to miss. This slim little nectar feeder is one of the smaller hoverfly species, measuring only 4 to 7 mm (about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch) in length. Those bulging hind femora – its "thighs" – are distinctive. The combination of its hefty femora and the dusty grey sides to its thorax (the part of the fly right behind its head) are diagnostic; no other British hoverfly shares those two characteristics. It's a common and widespread hoverfly, found right across the UK, though missing from the highest and most exposed locations. Larvae develop in damp, rotting compost, silage and manure. Adults fly primarily in the late summer and into the autumn, with numbers sometimes augmented by arrivals from the continent. They feed on many different flowers, and can be abundant on Common Ivy (Hedera helix). We'll have to keep an eye on our small ivy patch this autumn to see if they're still around then. Britain's Hoverflies says the males can be quite territorial, facing off and shoving each other back and forth until one finally gives up. That could be amusing to watch!

Hummingbird

Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

Every now and then, some clueless but well-meaning Brit breathlessly announces on social media that they have a hummingbird in their garden. This is impossible, of course, since hummingbirds are restricted to the Americas. But they're half right. What they're actually seeing is a moth – a Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum) to be precise, and we had just such a visitor last week. Judging from the wear and tear it showed, it must have had a rather arduous journey to get here. In most of the UK, Hummingbird Hawkmoths are immigrants. Though they are known to overwinter in small numbers in south-western England (and are suspected of possibly breeding there as well), those seen over most of the UK have come from southern Europe and northern Africa – a pretty impressive feat for such a small creature! Despite its battered appearance, it still zoomed around the garden without a problem. Unlike most moths, this is a daytime flier; it flits from tubular flower to tubular flower,  hovering over them and unrolling its long proboscis to get a sip of nectar. Its orangy-brown hindwings, visible as the peach-coloured blur in the picture above, help to distinguish it from two species of similarly-sized (and equally zippy) day-flying "bee hawkmoths", which have clear wings. These travellers show up from April through December, though most arrive in August and September. They can show up anywhere, from the coast to urban gardens, and from the Channel Islands right to the northern edge of Scotland. Some years, more than 1000 make the journey! Our visitor only stayed one afternoon, but it was nice to know that our garden helped "top it up" after its long trip.

Pimpernel

Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagalis arvensis)

They seek him here

They seek him there

Those Frenchies seek him everywhere

Is he in heaven or in hell

The demned elusive Pimpernel

Once upon a time, while reading The Scarlet Pimpernel as a youngster in America, I dreamed of seeing the namesake plant that the hero wore as his identifying badge while rescuing people from the French Revolution. Fast forward more decades than I care to admit, and my wish was granted. Not only that, but now we even have it growing wild in the garden! This annual arable weed, which blooms from May through October, was once common in fields of cereal crops. Unfortunately, it has declined significantly due to intensive farming practices, including the heavy use of herbicides. However, it's still common and widespread across much of the UK, particularly south of the Scottish border. It occurs around the margins of farm fields, along roadways and cliff edges, on chalk downlands and waste ground, and in gardens. Though generally a low, sprawling plant with trailing stems, it can grow up to 30 cm (about a foot) high. As its common name suggests, its five-petalled flowers are usually red, but the occasional plant has blue flowers instead. They open around 8 a.m. and typically close by around 3 p.m., a habit which has led to one of the plant's many folk names: Shepherd's Clock. It also closes its flowers on overcast days, leading to other folk names: Shepherd's Weatherglass and Old Man's Weathervane. The leaves are oval and stalkless. Originally found across Europe, this little plant has now been spread around much of the world, both intentionally as an ornamental and unintentionally as a minor arable weed. It is still used medicinally in India, as it once was in Europe, and is still sometimes eaten in salads.

Essex

Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)

Now that we're finally into "summer proper", with temperatures regularly above 20 C (68 F), the numbers of butterflies have increased pretty dramatically. In addition to many Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns, Essex Skippers (Thymelicus lineola) are dancing through the grasses of the pocket meadow. They're typically on the wing from mid-June through August, though they were quite late in appearing this year. Like many skippers, these little butterflies often hold their forewings at almost right angles to their hindwings when resting, which gives them quite a distinctive profile; they remind me ever so slightly of the American A-10 military plane (the "Warthog"). Their darting flight and bright orange upperwings separate them from all but their close relative, the Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris). In fact, the skippers are so similar that until the end of the 1800s, naturalists didn't even realize that there were two distinct species. The best way to tell them apart is to check undersides of the tips of their antennae; those of the Essex Skippers are dark (see above), while those of Small Skippers are pale. Needless to say, that regularly results in us scuttling around the garden, and getting down on our hands and knees to peer at butterfly undersides. (Yes, we're still nerds.)

In our garden, Essex Skippers far outnumber their cousins. They're common and widespread across southeastern and central England, and edging into the eastern part of Wales; their distribution that has more than doubled over the past few decades, and they're one of the few UK butterflies that isn't in trouble. They like tall, dry, sunny grasslands, so our pocket meadow is ideal. Essex Skippers spend most of their lives in an egg: from July until early April, in fact! The female lays her eggs in the sheath between a grass stem and leaf blade. The larvae hatch in early spring and feed on grasses, particularly Common Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata). The nectar-feeding adults prefer thistle flowers. Luckily, our garden's buffet includes plenty of choice for both larvae and adults!

Aphid on the menu

Deraeocoris flavilinea

See what happens when you don't spray your plants with pesticides? If you look closely at the picture above, you'll see that one of last month's Mugwort Aphids is being stabbed in the back by the spiky rostrum of this Deraeocoris flavilinea. The latter is a predatory species, and various aphids are always on the "menu du jour". Other Deraeocoris species feed on plant matter as well as insects, so presumably this one does to, though I haven't found anything online that specifically says so. The British Bugs website lists Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) and Field Maple (Acer campestre) as host plants; presumably these are the hosts for the insect's larval stages. However, the adults are often found on other species of trees and shrubs. The individual in the photo above is a female, identified by her overall orangish colour. Males are much darker. The pale edges to the pronotum (the section of the insect just behind the head) and the pale "V" on the scutellum (clearly visible in the picture) are good field marks for both sexes. According to online pictures, many show considerably more banding on the legs than this individual does. This species only arrived in the UK in 1996, but has already spread across much of south and central Britain. It came from the continent, where it is reasonably widespread in central Europe.

Darter

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum)

Our pond continues to entice new visitors to the garden. Recent transients included this young male Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum), which spent a half hour or so checking out various perches near the water. It looks a bit like the Red-veined Darter that made an even briefer appearance a few weeks ago, but with some readily apparent differences. For one thing, its stigmata (those blocks of colour near the end of its wings) are dark rather than pale, as are the veins on its wings. For another, its legs are completely black, lacking the yellow stripes shown by the Red-veined and Common (Sympetrum striolatum) darters. It has small patches of yellow at the base of its hindwings, and some dark blotches on the lower side of each abdomen segment, and its abdomen is slightly club-shaped at the tip. When he reaches full adulthood, he'll be bright red with dark brown eyes, like the one below, which showed up about a week after the youngster. Females are bright yellow, darkening somewhat as they age.

This is a common species across much of Europe east to Siberia, though missing from most of the Iberian Peninsula and the far north. In the UK, it is one of the commonest darter species in the southeast, and its range is spreading north and west. It particularly likes standing or slow-moving waterways that are well-vegetated, even in shady woodland areas and often when they're eutrophic (i.e. heavily nutriented). Our pond, which is becoming increasingly eutrophic despite our best efforts, sounds perfect for it. Ruddy Darters fly primarily from June through September, but can be seen as early as May and as late as November. We'll be keeping an eye out for more of them.

Orange

Minettia inusta

I recently discovered a Facebook group for UK diptera (a fancy name for flies), which should help us to identify at least some of our more distinctive fly pictures – like this one, for instance. This is Minettia inusta, a small orange fly with distinctively patterned wings. It's said to be quite common in southern Britain, but ours is one of the very few records for Norfolk in the national database. My guess is that most people just aren't looking at little flies! Elsewhere in the world, it's widespread across the Palearctic (Europe, northern Africa, and Asia north of the Himalayan foothills). It's a saprophagous species, which means that it gets its nourishment from decaying organic matter, including carcasses. It's more common in grassland than other habitats, so I guess it's finding our pocket meadow to its liking. Other than that, I couldn't find any other information about the species. There's still a lot to learn about many species with which we share our planet.

Horehound

Black Horehound (Ballota nigra)

The Black Horehound (Ballota nigra) in the garden is currently in full flower, drawing loads of insect pollinators to its many blossoms. As you may be able to tell from the flowers, this is a member of the Lamiaceae – or mint – family. This bushy perennial is a favourite of bees, particularly bumblebees. Its pinky-purple flowers are arranged in eye-catching whorls around the plant's stems, and the hairy, green, tooth-edged leaves can be either oval or heart-shaped. The rough, square-sided stems can reach 4 feet in height. Once flowering is done, the leaves often go black: hence the "black" in the plant's common name. It's quite a pungent plant, particularly if the leaves or stems are crushed; many people (including us!) find its strong scent unpleasant. Common across England and parts of Wales, it's scarcer north and west. Elsewhere it's native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, and has been introduced to the eastern US, Argentina and New Zealand. The plant has long been used medicinally, to treat things including nausea, spasms, coughs and intestinal parasites. Given that it blooms from June until September, we – and the bees – have many more weeks to enjoys its myriad little blossoms.

Twinspot

Timothy Grassbug (Stenotus binotatus): male upper left, female lower right

These days, the seed heads of the Common Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata) and Yorkshire Fog in our pocket meadow are crawling with Timothy Grassbugs (Stenotus binotatus), small true bugs that feed on grasses. Measuring in at 6 mm (about 1/4-inch), they're pretty easy to overlook. It makes me chuckle that these are considered "fairly large" for plant bugs. Males are yellowish, with extensive and variable dark patterning on their wings and pronotum, which is the part of their bodies just behind their heads. Females are greener, with two small dots on their pronotum and dark lines on their wings. Both sexes get darker and more strongly marked as they age. The species is native to much of the Palearctic (Europe and northern Asia), but has been widely introduced (accidentally) to temperate areas around the world. Here in the UK, it's a common and widespread species in dry grasslands across much of England and Wales, with many fewer records from Scotland. At all ages, it feeds on the flowering heads of grasses, which means it can be a serious agricultural pest on cereal crops, particularly as it produces an enzyme as it feeds which degrades the gluten in the seeds. Adults are typically on the wing between June and September, so they'll presumably be chowing down on the meadow grasses for another few months. Better here than the nearby barley field!

Grass veneer

Inlaid Grass Veneer (Crambus pascuella)

Our year of few moths continues, no thanks to the cool, soggy weather that plagued much of our early summer. But every now and then, we do find a sprinkling of them in the garden. This Inlaid Grass Veneer (Crambus pascuella) flushed off one of the paths while I was wandering around the other day, and eventually settled where I could get a picture of it. One of several similar "micro-moth" species, it measures up to 2 cms or so (about 3/4 of an inch) long. It can be a bit of a challenge to distinguish them from their close relatives, but the broad white streak along the wing, with the little "tooth" along the dorsal side helps to identify them, as does the intricate pattern of lines towards their back end. Many are yellower overall than this individual, though some are this richer ruddy-brown. As its name suggests, this little moth is found in grassy areas, including grasslands, heathlands and – yes – gardens. It's common right across Great Britain, and elsewhere is widespread in much of Europe and Asia Minor. The larvae feed on various species of grass; surprisingly, the larvae were unknown as recently as 1998! Adults fly at night (we regularly catch them in our moth trap) but are also easily disturbed from their resting places during the day. They're typically on the wing between June and August, so we'll be interfering with their rest for several more weeks yet.

Spotty beetle

Spotted Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata)

The Creeping Thistle patch is in full bloom these days, drawing hordes of insects to its bounty. This handsome Spotted Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata) was among the visitors on Saturday afternoon, clambering over the flowerheads in search of pollen and nectar. We first recorded this species a few years ago, when we found one checking out a rotting plank on an old bench in the garden. Unfortunately, the weather was dull enough that I didn't get good pictures that day, so I'm delighted that this individual was out in bright sunshine. It's a distinctive insect, easy to identify thanks to those flashy black and yellow elytra (the hard cases that cover beetle wings). Its bicoloured legs and banded antennae help to distinguish it from a couple of less-common lookalikes. This widespread European species is common across England and Wales, and up into southwestern Scotland, found in parkland, hedgerows, gardens, and the borders of woodland. Eggs are laid in undisturbed decaying wood. Larvae take two to three years to develop before pupating for a month. Adults emerge from April through August, but only live two to four weeks. We're right in the middle of their peak emergence now. Maybe they'll lay the next batch of eggs in a few of the slowly decaying tree stumps we have in various corners of the garden, victims of several past windstorms.

Mugwort suckers

Mugwort Aphid (Macrosiphoniella artemisiae)

One of the fun things about this project has been learning just how little I knew about a lot of things before we started. For instance, I had no idea that there were so many species of aphid in the world – almost 600 in the UK alone! Many are extraordinarily hard to identify, though knowing the plant on which they're found can help. But some can be figured out, particularly with the help of awesome websites like the one developed by Influential Points. I found these aphids on a Mugwort plant (Artemesia vulgaris) the other day. They are, predictably enough, Mugwort Aphids (Macrosiphoniella artemisiae). Greenish-grey and covered with a waxy powder, they have black legs, antennae, siphunculi (the two little spikes on their backs) and cauda (the tail-like spike on their back end). Their front femurs (the part of their leg closest to their bodies) are brown; I had to look with a magnifying lens to see that! Their bright red eyes were certainly a surprise. Like all aphids, these are pretty small, measuring only 2-3.5 mm (less than 1/8 of an inch). They're found on a variety of Artemesia species, though we've only found them on Mugwort (so far, anyway) in our garden. Because Mugwort blooms from July through September, that's reputedly the time when the aphid's numbers peak. They're typically found right near the top of the plant, among the flowers. Like all aphids, they excrete "honeydew", but that honeydew doesn't contain melezitose, a sugar that is particularly attractive to ants, so the species isn't ant-tended. The ladybirds will be happy to find them though.

I saw a 'fly'...

Turnip Sawfly (Athalia rosae)

The flowers of various umbellifers in the garden always attract plenty of insects to their buffet, and on a recent evening, this Mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris) was no exception. Among its diners was a new one for me, though not for the garden, since Mike saw some last year – a Turnip Sawfly (Athalia rosea), also known as Cabbage Leaf Sawfly. This handsome wee beastie is pretty distinctive. Its orange thorax (the part of the insect just behind the head), abdomen and legs are set against its black head and "shoulder pads", and it has a dark line down the leading edge of its wings. Each of its tibial joints is black at the upper edge, making its legs look banded. Males have pointy abdomens while those of the females are rounded. It's resident and reasonably widespread in England and Wales, but much less common in Scotland. Large numbers also regularly migrate north from the continent. The larvae feed on crucifers, so given the vast fields of Oilseed Rape (known as canola in the US) flourishing on one side of the garden, it isn't hard to guess where this one came from. Such feeding can become problematic for farmers if the sawflies reach big enough numbers. Adult Turnip Sawflies are nectar feeders and more general in their tastes, though they prefer the flowers of umbellifers and crucifers. They fly from April through October, so we'll probably be seeing others as the summer progresses.

Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) – immature male

Before we added the pond to the garden, most of the dragonflies we saw were fly-bys; we'd get quick views as they raked past over the flowerbeds in search of a meal before carrying on to somewhere else. Now, we regularly find them perched and resting, often on the various sticks and bamboo arches Mike has installed around the water's edge. This young male Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) spent a few days hanging around the garden late last month, and it (or another) has been seen sporadically since. Though similar in colouring to the female Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa), this one is much slimmer-bodied, and has distinctively a dark spot at the node halfway along the leading edge of each wing. It also has an amber patch at the base of each wing, while similar patches on the Broad-bodied Chaser's wings are black. As an adult, its body will darken to a deep brown. Females are somewhat broader-bodied, and gingery where this one is brown. Where his appendages (the claspers at the end of his abdomen, which he will use to hold onto a female during mating) are slightly splayed, hers would be straight or even slightly convergent. 

Like all dragonflies, the larvae of Four-spotted Chasers are aquatic, feeding on other insect larvae and small tadpoles. Still waters – like our pond – are preferred, particularly if they have plenty of vegetation. Adults feed mainly on midges, mosquitoes, and gnats, so we're happy they're around. This widespread species is common across the British Isles, as well as across temperate Eurasia and North America; it's actually the state insect of Alaska. Apparently, it used to undergo huge migrations in the past. It's typically most abundant in early summer, but flies from late April through September, so there's plenty of time to see more.

Semaphores

Semaphore Fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus) – male

A visit to the pond last Thursday afternoon yielded an unexpected addition to the list: our first Semaphore Flies (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus). When you see a male in action, it isn't hard to guess how the species got its common name. He does quite the fandango around the female, waving those white-tipped dark wings to attract her attention, then doing a series of fast flights back and forth over her, flipping himself over in mid-air so that he's always facing her. If she's impressed enough, she'll mate with him. And apparently, this male had the right stuff! By the way, when I say "flipping over", this isn't something we saw ourselves; it's one of the fastest known animal turns on the planet, and human brains and eyeballs don't process quickly enough to see it. But scientists with slow-motion cameras have recorded it. To us, it just looked like he bounced back and forth from one side of her to the other, always facing her when he landed on the vegetation. These little flies are predators, feeding on a variety of small aquatic invertebrates, including tiny worms, water fleas, and midge larvae. They're common and widespread in southern England and Wales, and slowly spreading north as climate change warms the islands. Elsewhere, they're widely found across much of Europe. Now that we know they're around, we'll be watching for them. Adults fly from May to August, so we still have a few months to enjoy them.

The female lacks colouration on her wings.

Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)

One of the surprises that awaited us when we stopped mowing the bank along one edge of the property was the unexpected appearance of several spikes of Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii). It's well-named, considering this is Britain's most common orchid species; it's missing from the Scottish highlands, but is widespread in suitable habitat elsewhere. Though it prefers chalky soil, this perennial will grow in any alkaline soil. It particularly likes damp grasslands (parts of our garden probably qualify there), scrub, fens, and open woodland, though less salubrious locations, such as railway embankments and spoil tips (i.e. where mine pilings are dumped) are also tolerated. It blooms from June through August, sometimes rising as high as 2 feet (60 cm), with the blossoms on the spikes opening over the course of a week or so from bottom to top. Flowers on different spikes range from white to varying shades of pink, with darker spots and stripes marking the lower three lobes. The lance-like leaves too are often spotted with purple. Bumblebees love it (they kept photobombing my attempts to get pictures) and longhorn beetles are also reputed pollinators. We've found, over time, that not every spike comes up every year, but hopefully, we'll continue to get at least one annually going forward.

The eyes have it

Eristalinus sepulchralis

Last week, a strikingly different hoverfly caught my eye as I wandered around the garden. Unlike most of the "regulars" which I have learned to identify, this one was dark, with dull buff, rather than yellow, markings. But the biggest surprise was its eyes. They were speckled. I knew right away what that meant; I had finally seen my first Eristalinus. A quick check of Britain's Hoverflies: A Field Guide yielded the species name – Eristalinus sepulchralis. This is another species that Mike spotted last year but I missed. Like all hoverflies, it's a nectivore as an adult, visiting a wide variety of flower species and undoubtedly finding a nice buffet in the garden. The "rat-tailed" larvae develop underwater, so perhaps our new pond will provide an appealing prospect for potential breeders. The larvae feed on micro-organisms that break down wet, rotting vegetation. The species is essentially a lowland species of Wales and southern England, though there are scattered records from lowland Scotland as well. Elsewhere, it is widespread from Europe right across the Pacific Ocean. It has undergone a substantial decline in the UK over the past decade and a half, so we're happy to find them here, and hope they like the place enough to stick around.

Check out those speckly eyes!