A SUMMER BUG AFFAIR

It’s been a while since my last post however, my time ‘away’ has been very enjoyable….I’ll let you into a little secret…I’ve had an affair!…yup, I’ve been smitten!…I’ve fallen in love with BUGS…insects, creepy crawlies…call them what you will. There’s around 24,000 species of insect in the UK and Ireland and, apart from the more obvious species like butterflies,moths and dragonflies etc., I’ve not really ‘noticed’ them before, just now and then taking a cursory glance (and maybe a photo!) at the odd one or two sitting obligingly on a leaf or grass stem, but over the last three or so months I’ve become fascinated by how diverse they are in colour, shape and behavior…I’ve also enjoyed the challenge of getting any sort of decent photographs. I’ve spent many a happy hour(?) peering into various sorts of bushes and undergrowth and it’s suffice to say that insects are very adept at flying, jumping, running, hiding, playing dead and have many other ways and means of avoiding the intrusion of that large glass eye!!)

Getting a decent photograph is only the first hurdle, getting a correct ID can become an even bigger challenge. There’s not much info out there regarding books and the internet to help with the ID of the ‘lesser’ known species.
Anyway..enough of the waffle here’s a few images (and even fewer words!) hopefully showing how diverse some of the wonderful bugs that I’ve fallen in love with can be!!

One of the largest (apart from the previously mentioned Dragonflies/Butterflies) ….


Roesel’s Bush Cricket ♀  Metrioptera roeselii    Up to 26mm long, one of the13 species of Bush Cricket found in the UK.

One of the hairiest….


Hairy Shieldbug  Dolycoris baccarum    Mostly found in the southern half of the UK, this is one of the 37 species of (UK) Shieldbugs, it can grow up to 13mm long.

One of the crop growers enemies….


A Wireworm..the larval stage of one of the UK and Irelands 73 Click Beetle species. As a larva it lives in the soil for up to 3 years and reaches a length of 20-25mm where it feeds on the roots of various plants such as corn and potatoes with the ultimate destruction of the crop.

One of the most strangest looking….


Acorn Weevil  Curcullio glandium  One of the UK’s 613 species of Weevil, found mostly on Oak trees were the larva develops inside the acorns. It has a body length of about 8mm.

One of the most annoying….


German Wasp  Vespula germanica  One of  Britain’s 4 species of black and yellow social wasps…although they would appear to be anything but ‘social’ when they induce that (amusing?) arm waving, hip hopping dance often seen at picnics and alfresco summer dining occasions!  Body length up to 20mm.

A pretender….


False Ladybird  Endomychus coccineus  Not a ladybird but one of the 8 species of Handsome Fungus Beetles.  It mimics an unpalatable ladybird in the hope it will be overlooked by any interested predators. 4 to 6mm in length it feeds on fungus growths on or under the bark of dead trees.

One of the rarest….


Net-winged Beetle  platycis minutus  The smallest (up to 8mm long) of the 4 species of these, rather rare and very local, soft bodied beetles that are found in Britain.  This particular one is found in southern and eastern England.

When I realised that this beetle was on the notably scarce list I reported it to the county recorder who got back to me to say that he only had one other record for Bedfordshire, and from a different location.  And to my surprise, three weeks later, another one landed right in front of me on a dead/fallen tree that I was ‘examining’  about 25 miles away over the border into Hertfordshire!  Perhaps they’re not so rare after all??

The Traveller….


Box Bug (late instar nymph)  Gonocerus acuteangulatus  One of the 11 species of Leatherbugs found in the UK.
Before the early 1990’s this bug was restricted to a small 10km area around Box Hill in Surry (hence the name!) but now it is slowly spreading to other parts of  the southern UK and is now classed as local. The adult has a body length of up to 14mm.
I had a good search of the area where I found this nymph but failed to locate anymore individuals.

One of the prettiest….


Black-and-yellow Longhorn Beetle  Stenurella melanura  With a body length of up to 20mm this prettily marked Longhorn Beetle is one of the 58 species found in Britain, they display a wide variety of sizes and colours.

The deceiver…


Wasp Beetle  Clytus arietis  Another Longhorn Beetle again using colours and patterns to try and outwit any predators this time loosely mimicking a wasp. Up to 15mm body length.

One of the Smallest….


Black Scavenger or Ensign Fly  Sepsis cynipsea  One of 29 species of small ant like flies that are associated with animal dung, this is one of the smallest at around 3mm body length and is abundant throughout Britain. 


I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick look into the vast world of bugs, and as you can probably imagine, I’ve got a large amount of photos (many still to process and i.d.) and in my next post I’ll try and show the variation that occurs within some of the different species.


















                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

JUST BUGS

As you will have noticed from my last post I’ve been trying out a new way (for me) of photographing bugs. When I’ve been out walking and spotted any bugs, instead of photographing them ‘in situ’, I’ve captured a few in pots and brought them home to photograph on a plain white background. I’ve still not perfected the technique but I think it does help to show up more of the intricate details and colours that you would not necessarily see in a ‘standard’ photograph…..I’ll be interested to read your thoughts and comments!






Crucifer Shield Bug / Brassica Bug  (Eurydema oleracea)  At 7mm long x 4mm wide this widespread and fairly common little bug is found in a wide variety of habitats and as it’s name suggests is mostly associated with, where it feeds on the flowers and is classed as a pest, cruciferous plants such as cabbage, radish, turnip, oil seed rape and nasturtiums as well as wild cruciferous plants. It comes in a number of colour forms..black with white spots is the most common form but the spots can also be yellow (young adult)…..

…or red.





Green Dock Beetle (Gastrophysia viridula) This 4mm-6mm long green beetle often has a golden or bluish sheen. It is commonly found on the leaves of the Dock plant, the larval food plant, from May to June throughout the UK. The female's body becomes very swollen when filled with the bright orange eggs which she lays in clusters on the underside of the Dock leaves …
…a greener one!





Soldier Beetle (Cantharis livida) At 10mm to 15mm long this is one of the more commonly seen Soldier Beetles of the 40 or so species found in the UK. In the summer months they can be found, sometimes in large numbers, on thistles and umbelliferous flowers.






Scentless Plant Bug (Rhopalus subrufus) This 7mm long close relative of Squash Bugs is widely found in woodland clearings and low scrubby areas in the southern parts of the UK where it is associated with a great variety of plants but tends to favour St. Johns-wort (Hypericum perforatum).




Thick-Legged Flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) This 10mm long beetle is found in most habitats throughout the UK but is more abundant in the southern parts. It feeds on the flower pollen from April to September.  It’s the male only that has the swollen thighs from where it gets some of it’s other descriptive names such as..Fat Legged Beetle and Swollen Thighed Beetle.







Raspberry Beetle (Byturus tomentosus)  Part of the fruitworm family this 4mm long beetle is classed as a pest in most parts of Northern Europe where it lays it’s eggs in the flowers of both wild and cultivated raspberry, loganberry and blackberry plants, the resulting larvae then feed on and destroy the developing fruit.

Take off…






Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius pomaceus) This 9mm long beetle is covered in metallic green scales however, these are easily rubbed off as the beetle gets older leaving it with a black appearance. Notice the large ‘tooth’ on the front femurs. Found from April to June, as it’s name suggests, on nettles throughout most of the UK except in Scotland where it is scarce.
Another flier!..

 

NB…After photographing them all the bugs were returned to the area where I found them and released…except the Raspberry Beetle which somehow disappeared!!

STRANGE BEHAVIOUR (OR MAYBE NOT) ?

A couple of days ago whilst out photographing butterflies I noticed two Red Kites  gently circling overhead. As they are a common sight in this area I didn't really pay them to much attention, they were also quite high in the sky. But on a second glance one seemed to be behaving rather strangely, it was jinking, rolling and fluttering  before returning to its customary steady glide! Then looking at it thro' the bino's (all the time it's getting further away) I could see that all the jerky movements were accompanied by a thrust of its talons and then putting them  up to its beak. My impression was that it had got something stuck in its talons and was somehow trying to dislodge it.

A trick that I sometimes use to help clarify a distant ID is to take a picture with the 400mm lens and then enlarge it on the computer. The resulting pictures are very grainy and of poor quality but sometimes they do make things a little bit easier to solve.

And this time was no exception, mystery solved............

............. it was catching and eating bugs (a dragon fly maybe?)

  

I've never seen a Red Kite doing this before, but I guess food is food however its caught!

Butts n Bugs

SANDHOUSE LANE N.R.  BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.  MAY 3rd 2011

As promised some more images from my recent visit to Sandhouse Lane N.R.

This time Butterflies, Moths and Bugs.

  Butterflies :-

Common Blue (female)

Dingy Skipper

Green Hairstreak

Green-veined White

Orange Tip (male)

Small Tortoiseshell (female)

  Moths :-

The Cinnabar Moth

Common Heath Moth

  Bugs :-

Scorpion Fly (panorpa germanica)

myathropa florae (a wasp mimic)

And finally two 'flies' that I can't, as yet, put a name to!