Minettia inusta |
In late 2017, we moved into a house on a half-acre of land in rural England. We're working to make the site more wildlife-friendly and are hoping to document every species that lives in or visits the garden. Can we get to 1500?
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Friday, 30 July 2021
Orange
Wednesday, 28 July 2021
Horehound
Black Horehound (Ballota nigra) |
Monday, 26 July 2021
Twinspot
Timothy Grassbug (Stenotus binotatus): male upper left, female lower right |
Saturday, 24 July 2021
Grass veneer
Inlaid Grass Veneer (Crambus pascuella) |
Thursday, 22 July 2021
Spotty beetle
Spotted Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata) |
Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Mugwort suckers
Mugwort Aphid (Macrosiphoniella artemisiae) |
Sunday, 18 July 2021
I saw a 'fly'...
Turnip Sawfly (Athalia rosae) |
Friday, 16 July 2021
Chaser
Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) – immature male |
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.
Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Semaphores
Semaphore Fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus) – male |
The female lacks colouration on her wings. |
Monday, 12 July 2021
Orchid
Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) |
Saturday, 10 July 2021
The eyes have it
Eristalinus sepulchralis |
Thursday, 8 July 2021
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.
Tuesday, 6 July 2021
And tail of the dog
Crested Dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus) |
Sunday, 4 July 2021
Songster
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) |
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.
Friday, 2 July 2021
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.