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.

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.

#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…

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.