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!

Dagger fly

Empis livida

Right around this time of year, we start to notice dagger flies (aka dance flies) hanging around the composite flowerheads in the garden. The most regular of these is Empis livida, identified by its red-orange legs and the three dark stripes on its brown thorax (visible in the picture above). Females have clear wings (as below), while those of males are slightly cloudy. As you might guess from that wicked looking proboscis, this is a hunter-killer. It lurks around on flowers waiting to stab any unsuspecting insect that wanders by – though while it waits, it's more than happy to sip a bit of nectar from the flowers. They fly from April through July across much of England and Wales but are far less common in Scotland. Elsewhere, they're found throughout temperate and northern Europe, making them one of the most widespread flies in their genus. They've been shown to be quite effective pollinators, which isn't surprising, I suppose, considering their general hairiness (particularly on their legs) and their habit of hanging around on flowers. Their larvae are carnivorous, feeding on things they find in the damp soil and leaf litter where they grow to adulthood.

And tail of the dog

Crested Dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus)

Last week, I introduced you to Smaller Cat's-tail (Phleum bertolonii), one of the grasses currently flowering in our pocket meadow. Today, I'm featuring the canine equivalent (ha ha), the Crested Dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus). This lovely, short-lived perennial grows in rich lowland grasslands across much of the British Isles. We had only one small patch the first year we let our meadow grow, but it has since spread to several other corners of the grassy patch. It tolerates a variety of soil types, but doesn't like to be waterlogged, so our rather porous soil suits it just fine. Each plant forms a low, compact tuft of hairless, flat leaves which are narrow and somewhat stiff. The panicles (a fancy botanical word for a flower spike with branches) are flat on two sides with flowers radiating out in a flat plane in two directions. I'm not sure why somebody thought that looked like a dog's tail, but there you go! The plant is native to Europe and southwestern Asia, but has been widely introduced elsewhere in the world. In Europe, it is sometimes used as sheep fodder, while in North America, it is typically used for revegetation projects or as an ornamental. It serves as the host plant for the caterpillars of several species of butterfly in the browns and skippers families – reason enough to appreciate its presence in the garden.

Songster

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

These days, we're being regularly serenaded by our local Song Thrushes (Turdus philomelos). They start about 4:00 in the morning (if not earlier) and are still singing at 9:30 in the evening. We don't mind much, because it's the sound of summer. The song reminds us a bit of that of North America's Northern Mockingbird; it's quite varied, with each phrase repeated multiple times before the bird switches to another phrase. (To hear the song, click on the link below; I recorded a male singing near the house last month.) The spotty-breasted thrushes often sit high atop a treetop or bush to belt out their song. This is one of the UK's more widespread resident species, found everywhere but the highest peaks in Scotland. That said, it's declining fairly precipitously in both rural and urban environments (a more than 50% drop), so we're happy to have an apparently healthy local population here.

Song Thrushes build mud-lined cup nests and lay 4-5 speckled blue eggs. We haven't found a nest yet, though we think one pair may be raising a brood in one of the laurel bushes at the bottom of the garden. In a good season, a pair may successfully raise as many as three broods! The birds are omnivores, with snails among their favourite meals; that definitely makes them popular with gardeners across the western Palearctic. The birds use stone "anvils" to break open snails' shells – and no, we haven't found an anvil yet, either. The Song Thrush is the smaller of the UK's two spotty-breasted thrushes; its dark spots are shaped like arrowheads rather than being round, like those of the Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus). It's smaller and browner than the Mistle Thrush too. Our birds here are resident, but those elsewhere in northern Europe are primarily migrants. We see an influx of them in the fall and winter, with some staying and others continuing on to Africa. Domestic cats continue to be a major problem for Song Thrushes. Sadly, we've lost at least one to neighbourhood pets prowling in our garden. But their biggest problem is loss of habitat, particularly in areas of intensive farming. They need hedgerows or woodland in which to breed (both ripped out by many farmers) and good supplies of snails and earthworms to eat (both suppressed by the heavy use of pesticides). We're hoping ours continue to find what they need here.

Megan Edwards Crewe · Song Thrush - Norfolk UK

Tapping nettles

Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)

We've been very light on moths so far this year; our cold, wet spring and (so far) cool summer hasn't been very conducive for moth-trapping, and we're seeing very few moths in the garden. But a foray last Saturday afternoon turned up this little visitor – a Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana), which measures a mere 5-7mm (about 1/4-inch) long, with a 10-15mm (about 1/2-inch) wingspan. The two white marks along the edge of its forewing, and the sharp point in the white-edged band that crosses its wing help to identify it from other similar species in the same family. (It's related to the Apple Leaf Skeletoniser we recorded last year.) As its name suggests, its larvae feed on various nettles, including the Common Nettle (Urtica dioica) which is scattered in many weedy corners of our garden. We'll have to keep an eye out for their cocoons, which are conspicuous webs on the upper surface of the leaves, often with the leaf edges drawn together over them. Adults feed at many flowers, including the Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) that it's pictured on here. There are at least two broods a year, with adults flying from April through November. It's one of the most common and widespread "micro-moths", found throughout Britain. Elsewhere, it's found from Europe right across to China, including up in the Himalayas! Unlike most moths, it's active during the day, though it's reportedly also occasionally attracted to lights. We haven't previously recorded one here, so it's another new species for the property.