Down the end of my garden is a slightly wilder bit where I let the grass grow each year and I have several woodpiles for invertebrates.
Whilst down there last week I came across a micro moth that I've been expecting to see in the garden but had never turned up before. Esperia sulphurellasometimes known as theSulphur Tubic, although the scientific name is far pretty.
Up close they are stunning moths. Flashes of yellow and deep blue. I often wonder if these and the dancing longhorn moths are what gave rise to the idea of fairies down the bottom of the garden.
Some call it the Smiley face Weevil, most know it as Platistomus albinus but I think we should push for this rather awesome weevil to be known as the Day of the Dead Weevil.
Under a hand lens the head looks like one of those painted faces that Mexicans adorn themselves with to celebrate the Day of the Dead.
This one (a male I think because of the long antennae) was found sat on a log pile at work. They also seem to be bird dropping mimics and curl up and roll over when disturbed.
I've just spent a rather lovely bank holiday weekend on the Suffolk coast, staying in the village of Thorpeness and visiting a few locales. Typically a family break but I did manage a few snatched hours out birding in the early mornings. These yielded my first Ring Ouzel and Nightingales of the year plus many other common migrants.
There was also some time for beetling on Dunwich Heath and surroundings and I have a few beetles still left to ID.
On the last day we paid a visit to Sutton Hoo, (the site of some Anglo Saxon burial mounds and treasure including a famous helmet) as one of my sons has a fascination with history. The set up was frankly a bit crap (they didn't really know who their audience was) but there were a couple of nice circular walks (with singing Nightingales thrown in) to do there.
Whilst meandering the paths I came across the following cranefly which stood out from the couple of Tipula maxima it was with. A female Ptychoptera albimana, and although being common, completely new to me.
Reinforces that there's always new stuff to see, wherever you are.
During the brief periods of sunshine yesterday I made some attempt to photograph some of the bees visiting the flowering patches around the house. Visiting the primroses and white deadnettles were these guys, Hairy-footed Flower bees Anthophora plumipes.
These bees emerge from hibernation in early spring, from late February to March. The males emerge first and then the females a couple of weeks later. They feed on the nectar using their long tongues, which can be seen in the picture of the flying female where her tongue is extended.
The males look very different. They start out much more buff in colour but fade to grey as they age. And check the hairy legs out in the bottom pic!
I've seen very hoverflies this year so far. I guess because the spring has been so cold. We have had several frosts over the last week which is playing havoc with blossom and especially my emerging asparagus.
Wednesday was warm and sunny and a walk along the river Cam to Grantchester revealed a few hovers - mainly Eristalis and Syrphus.
This one I found in the garden last weekend and is a new one for me. The shape, yellow scutellum and the fact the abdomen is longer than the wings make this Sphaerophoria scripta.
Here's to hoping the temperatures pick up soon!
It's been a quietish couple of weeks on the natural history front.
I have been getting out and looking at stuff, especially at lunchtimes at work but nothing particularly interesting to report on. I'm also let down by not having a great camera so images are hard to come by.
In the garden today tidying up and I decided to beat various shrubs and trees. I have a few pollen beetles to look at, but this beautiful fly came off an ivy covered tree stump
Euleia heraclei I believe. I'm sure I've seen it before, just never bothered to try and put a name to it.
It's one of those jobs that any coleopterist has to get to grips with and one that gets easier the more one does it..... allegedly.
I have to admit that I secretly enjoy it but I still find beetles under 5mm a real chore and struggle to get all their bits in perfect symmetry.
A couple of things prompted this post. I've recently been finishing last year's backlog of beetles from the fridge in readiness for the new season that is now upon us and I will say that I'm (sadly) rather excited about a few imminent days in the field pootling (or should that be pootering) about on my hands and knees.
I was taking some pics down the microscope of a beetle that I was having trouble with. In retrospect it was an easy beetle, but I just couldn't make out a couple of key details to clinch the ID. In this case an elytral pore near the scutellum. The beetle in question was a Calodromius spilotus, collected from some recently pollarded willow in my garden.
I also found a couple of staphs on a recent trip to Cornwall which I have duly carded and put to one side while I await the more expensive of the 2 of Derek Lott's staph books.
The other thing that has prompted this post is a video that was recently posted on the UK Beetles Facebook page by Mark Telfer all about his carding technique. Worth a watch. Happy carding!
