18 spots

Eighteen-spot Ladybird (Myrrha octodecimguttata)

I treated myself to a new camera last week. It can take much closer macro shots than my previous camera could, so I've spent the last seven days prowling around the garden looking for subjects and loving the results. To be honest, it's been a revelation; we've added more than a dozen new insects to our list this week! This Eighteen-spot Ladybird (Myrrha octodecimguttata) was one of them. Its presence on a Common Nettle plant was a bit of surprise. Normally, they're associated with trees – particularly the topmost branches of Scots Pines. That said, we do have a sizable Scots Pine in one corner of the property, so perhaps that's where it started. This is one of the smaller ladybirds, measuring only 4-5 mm (less than 1/4-inch) and its rich brown colour is distinctive. The pronotum (the section just behind the insect's head, unfortunately not very visible in this photograph) has a rounded brown "M" mark, which is diagnostic. The similarly marked Cream-coloured Ladybird is larger and darker, and it lacks the curved white marks at the leading edge of the elytra (the hard shell covering the wings). Despite its name, the Eighteen-spot Ladybird can show fewer than 18 spots, as neighbouring spots merge together in some individuals. Like many ladybirds, this one is a predator, hunting aphids that feed on conifers. Apparently, it breeds in the treetops, laying its eggs in areas near prey. It overwinters as an adult, gathering in groups in crevices and under peeling bark on pine trees, and also on the cones and among the needles on branch tips. Though widespread across Britain, it appears to be quite local and only occasionally seen – presumably because you'd normally need to climb to the top of a tree to find one!

Crabby

European Green Crab Spider (Diaea dorsata)

One thing we quickly learned when trying to identify things in the garden – some spiders are hard! Many can only be identified by dissecting their genitalia, or other equally lethal methods. We're not at the point where we want to do anything of the sort, so many of the species we find go unidentified. Fortunately, there are some spiders that don't require such extreme measures, and one of them made an unexpected appearance this week. I say unexpected because although the European Green Crab Spider (Diaea dorsata) is widespread across the southern half of England, it's still pretty uncommon across this corner of Norfolk. When I entered the record into iRecord (the national database), I got a message saying it was "outside the known range of this species". 

The European Green Crab Spider is so named because its long legs and scuttling movements bear a strong resemblance to a real crab. It's quite small though; the female's body is only about 6 mm (1/4-inch) long, and the male's is even smaller, though the long legs of both sexes help to make them seem larger. In a cool adaptation, it can change its colour to blend in with its surroundings, a process that takes several days. Based on its size, the individual we saw appeared to be a female. With any luck we'll find a male. Or preferably two! Males compete by facing off with their front legs outstretched and dancing around each other – reportedly sometimes for hours. It would be fun to see such a combat. Our handy reference guide, "Britain's Spiders", says the species is strongly affiliated with woodland and prefers evergreen foliage, so I'm not quite sure how (or why) it ended up on our Norway Maple trunk, but we're glad it did!

Hairy

Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta)

After six years, we're finally starting to see the beginnings of a real wildflower grassland on one edge of our pocket meadow; prior to this year, it was mostly rank grass. But now, a tangle of Common Vetch, Cowslips, Perforate Saint-John's-wort, Common and Greater knapweeds, Fiddledock and Bird's-foot-trefoil is spreading through the grasses on one side of our pond, and the other day, we found a few Hairy Tare (Vicia hirsuta) plants in their midst. These were twining their way up grass stems, their little purplish-white flowers eye-catching among the green. As you may be able to tell from the picture above, Hairy Tare is a legume – a member of the pea family. The "hairy" in its common name is a nod to the downy hairs that cover its seed pods. These help to distinguish it from Smooth and Slender tares, both of which have hairless pods. Hairy Tare is an annual, germinating in the autumn and flowering (and fruiting) from May to August of the following year. Native to Europe and western Asia, it has been deliberately introduced elsewhere, primarily as a cover crop or green manure. It's common in rough grassland, dry grassy areas and roadside verges throughout most of Britain, though missing from the northernmost reaches of Scotland. Hopefully, it will successfully set seed and continue in our pocket meadow!

Leaf beetle

Cow Parsley Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina oricalcia)

Earlier this week, a metallic bluish-black beetle clinging to the stem of one of the Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) plants in the garden caught my eye. Some research online and in our various insect books showed it to be a Cow Parsley Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina oricalcia). Though shaped a bit like a flea beetle (without that group's bulging "femurs"), it's far too big, measuring nearly a centimeter in length (about a half-inch). Its rounded elytra – the hard shells that cover and protect its wings – are sprinkled with rows of tiny pits. Though fairly widespread across south-eastern England, it's listed as "Nationally Scarce" and may be declining in some areas. Their scarcity certainly isn't due to a restricted food source; the insects feed on Cow Parsley and related plants, which are common and widespread across the whole of the British Isles. Adults feed on leaves and possibly pollen, while larvae munch leaves, generally feeding at dusk and dawn or during the night. The species overwinters as adults, though no-one yet knows where. Since finding the first beetle, we've discovered a number of larvae on various plants around the garden, so it looks like we'll be hosting this scarce species for a while to come!

Larva

Cleaver gall

Cecidophyes rouhollahi on Common Cleavers (Galium aparine)

While wandering around the garden the other day, I found a patch of Common Cleavers (Galium aparine) that looked rather strange. Some of the plants' upper leaves were pale and twisted, forming what looked like curly little tubes. They've been attacked by a gall mite, Cecidophyes rouhollahi. The presence of these mites causes the edges of the leaves to thicken and roll up, encasing the mites safely in the middle. Apparently, the pale leaves often go rust-coloured with time. Surprisingly, this mite was only described for science in 1999; prior to that, another closely related species was thought to occur in the UK. However, more careful studies since than have found no evidence of the other species, while C. rouhollahi has proved to be common and widespread across the islands. In places where Common Cleavers and the closely related False Cleavers are invasive non-natives (Canada, New Zealand, etc.), the mites can be used as a form of biological control as they stunt the plant's growth and keep its seeds from forming.

Car-pet Moss

Silvery Bryum (Bryum argenteum)

For evidence of how little we use the car – and how infrequently we wash it – you need look no further than the window "sill" on the passenger side. Sheltered from the summer sun by a thick Leyland Cypress hedge (and from the winter sun by the bulk of the house), it provides a perfect substrate for a diminutive carpet of Silvery Bryum (Bryum argenteum). Mike got these closeup portraits of the spiky little moss with its distinctively silvery tipped lobes. This widespread species is said to be one of the most recognisable of Britain's mosses, and is one of the most common in urban areas. It forms compact patches less than 1 cm (about a half-inch) high, typically appearing quite "shiny" and always showing those silvery tips. Tolerant of high-nutrient substrates, it cohabitates well with humans, regularly growing in places such as pavement cracks, railway lines, stone walls, roofs, tarmac, arable fields and path edges. In the "wild", it also grows on regularly disturbed ground, such as sand dunes and eroding river banks or cliffs. It's found around the world, from the cities of Europe and North America to the vast deserts of Australia and the frigid plains of Antarctica – quite a hardy and adaptable little plant!

Radiating

Arthonia radiata

Now that the garden has settled into its winter hibernation, I have had time to go through some of the many pictures that I took of things this past summer. And amongst them, I found this shot of a new species for the garden – the lichen Arthonia radiata. This crustose lichen (so-called because it looks like a crust, i.e. flat and inseparable from the bark) belongs to a group called the "script lichens". It gets that name due to those scribble-like black marks, which are its fruiting bodies (called apothecia). Those marks can range in shape from rounded to linear to star-like; the latter shape gives it the common name of "asterisk lichen". Each colony is surrounded by a thin dark line, which is an area of the thallus (the "body" of the lichen) that contains only fungal hyphae and no algae. The thallus itself can range from white through pale grey or fawn to brown in colour, and is sometimes partially immersed into the bark. This is a common and widespread lichen across the British Isles, growing on the bark of smooth-trunked trees and shrubs.

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.