Oleander Hawk-moth Caterpillar

Back from a short trip to Frejus in the South of France, where I came across this magnificent caterpillar in the garden. Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) caterpillars start out green, then morph to this orange/black form, before pupating, then turning into a particularly spectacular hawk moth. There is a ton of Oleander (Laurier Rose) in the garden and this was disturbed by pruning. The leaves of Oleander are poisonous, but these caterpillars can consume it okay. Adult Oleander Hawk-moths are rare Autumn vagrants to the UK and the larvae are not recorded here. The French name for the moth is Le Sphinx du Laurier-rose.

Birch Shieldbug (Elasmostethus interstinctus)

These handsome bugs over-winter as adults and can be found all year round, usually associated with Birch trees and sometimes Hazels. Their range covers nearly all of UK.

Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

I don’t get many dragonflies in the garden, so it’s always good when one turns up. I’ve had Common Darter previously; but also only late in the year during October. We had our first real frost last night, but this species seems relatively hardy as it can be seen right through to December if the weather is mild. It frequents ponds, including small garden ones, but also often occurs quite far from water.

Frosted Orange, Blair's Should Knot & Pale Mottled Willow

As we had a nice dry night on Friday, I was able to put out the moth trap. I caught nine species, including this trio - all of them fairly typical for the time of year. Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) flies during Aug-Sept, it’s larvae live inside the stems of thistle plants. Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri) is found around Cypress trees and flies a bit later - Oct-Nov. It is a non-native species first recorded in UK in 1951, but now widespread in gardens across most of England. Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis) flies from July-September; its larvae are found on grain of cereal crops, including those that have been harvested.

#909 Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago)

#970 Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri)

#688 Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis)

#1015 Blackberry Sawfly (Cladius brullei)

These green caterpillars, with their shiny black heads, are shredding the leaves on my raspberry canes (not much of a problem at this time of the year). They are larvae from a sawfly called Cladius brullei. This is sometimes called the Blackberry Sawfly, though from what I see they prefer raspberry leaves.

#1014 Ant Beetle (Thanasimus formicarius)

The Ant Beetle, also known as the Red-bellied clerid, is an ant-shaped beetle with distinctive stripes and strong mandibles. The larvae and beetles themselves live under tree bark, where they prey on bark beetles and their larvae. This one presumably found its way into our kitchen on some firewood.

Spiders in the Brown Bin

I rescued this motley crew of spiders from the brown garden waste bin at the weekend. I’m sure that the depot where they take all the garden waste must be a really great place to look for bugs! Lots of spiders this time of the year…

#446 Clubiona terrestris

#65 European Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)

#103 Black Lace Weaver (Amaurobius ferox)

#704 Opilio canestrinii

Gold on the Ceiling

This bright yellow, foliose lichen seems the only one that grows on the felted roof of the dormer on my house. I was up a ladder clearing out the gutters and saw there are quite big patches of it all round this part of the roof - the limestone tiles on the main roof have plenty of other lichens, but not I think this species. Xanthoria parietina is a common lichen, also often found growing on twigs.

Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)

These moths rest with their wings rolled up so they look at first glance like craneflies/ Disturbed while I was gardening at the weekend, this is a Common Plume. They can be found all year round, but Autumn seems when they are most plentiful. The larval food-plant for this species is Bindweed.

Brown Roll-Rim (Paxillus involutus, #1013)

As in this case, this fungus is usually associated with Birch trees. The size is a bit variable, from 5-15 cm, and colour is brown. Though sometimes eaten, it can be fatally toxic in some cases. This is the first time they have appeared in my garden.

Blunderwings

Out of 38 moths this morning, 19 were Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) - fairly typical for the season. These are common Autumn moths, colloquially known as “blunderwings” as they fly off clumsily when disturbed from their daytime resting spots. The sandy-coloured Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata) is a similar size also with a yellow hind-wing, but this time with a broader black band around the margin. Of the other moths in and around the moth trap nine were Setaceous Hebrew Character  (Xestia c-nigrum).

Comma (Polygonia c-album)

This is my first garden Comma butterfly since 2022. Being away for a big chunk of the summer both years hasn’t helped, but both this and last year have been pretty poor butterfly years.

Moth trapping: End of August

These are from last weekend - it’s been a busy week. Quite a varied catch of fairly typical late summer moths. Elbow-striped Grass Veneer or Chevron Grass-moth as it seems to be called too, is a grassland species I don’t catch every year. A shiny Burnished Brass and a couple of Nutmegs were nice seasonal catches.

#336 Elbow-stripe Grass Veneer (Agriphila geniculea)

#286 Common Grass Veneer (Agriphila tristella)

#788 Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis)

#625 Smoky Wainscot (Mythimna impura)

#682 Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)

#688 Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis)

#223 Rustic (Hoplodrina blanda)

#671 Nutmeg (Anarta trifolii)

Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa, #739)

This nicely marked Angle Shades moth was resting up in the greenhouse. Angle Shades moths fly throughout the summer from May-October, with the population supplemented by migrants from the continent. The caterpillars eat a variety of plants including nettles, docks and brambles.

Moth Trapping 19 July pt 2

Here’s a mixed bag of other moths and insects caught last week. At this time there is a large variety of creatures on the wing at night.

#132 Riband Wave (Idaea aversata)

#292 Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)

#733 Black Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus humator)

#767 Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor)

#781 Small Blood-vein (Scopula imitaria)

#796 Dusky Sallow (Eremobia ochroleuca)

#804 Least Carpet (Idaea rusticata)

#882 Maple Button (Acleris forsskaleana)

#950 V-Pug (Chloroclystis v-ata)

Moth Trapping 19 July

I’m still catching new species in my moth trap; here’s three from 19 July which I’ve just finally got time to post. Leptocerus tineiformis is a small caddisfly with very long antennae that is found around ponds. Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina) is usually rather greener than this individual; it flies in June-July and its food-plants are bilberry, honeysuckle and knot grass. Brown Moss Moth (Bryotropha terrella) is also single-brooded frequenting grassy areas and flying throughout the summer.

#1009 Green Arches (Anaplectoides prasina)

#1010 Brown Moss Moth (Bryotropha terrella)

#1011 Leptocerus tineiformis

Purple Dead-nettle, Common Chickweed, Large-flowered Evening-primrose

Three new plants this week, Common Chickweed and Purple Dead-nettle are small enough that I have overlooked them among all the other weeds - though now I notice it I see that the chickweed is in a few places around the garden. At the other end of the scale the Evening Primrose is big enough - there’s a few of these around in different spots, but I’m not sure how they got there.

#1006 Common Chickweed (Stellaria media)

#1008 Purple Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)

#1007 Large-flowered Evening-primrose (Oenothera glazioviana)

Red Parasitic Mites on a Fly

At first I thought this fly, crawling about in the foliage, had a bright red abdomen. But on closer inspection you can see that it has multiple red mite larvae attached, presumably feeding off its body fluids. The mites seen as big as the host, so it looks like this fly is not going to get airborne.

"Teneral" Damselfly

I photographed this very confiding damselfly at Coombe Hill Nature Reserve last week\thinking with its muted colouring it must be a female. But checking it out, I realised it’s too blue to be a female blue or azure damselfly, and also the body is too pale. This indicates that it is actually a newishly emerged damselfly. In this case I think it’s a male Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans). These damselflies take a day or two to develop their adult colour.

Lime Nail Gall Mite (Eriophyes tiliae)

I spotted these growths all over the lower leaves of a nearby lime tree. They are made by microscopic Lime Nail Gall Mites (Eriophyes tiliae) which feed on the sap in the leaves while also injecting chemicals that cause the leaf-cells to multiply and enlarge, thus deforming the leaves. The mites over-winter in the tree bark, moving to the foliage in the Spring.