Ladybird Larvae: 27th June 2023

Posted on June 27, 2023 by pennyphilcox

Ladybird larvae are around now and it got me looking at the difference between Harlequin Ladybird larvae (the non-native range of ladybirds we get now, which are affecting our native populations) and the native kind. The life-cycles are similar. From October to February adult Ladybirds will be becoming dormant -‘overwintering’. Harlequins are more likely to be in our houses or sheds in numbers, as they send out pheromones to attract other adults and ‘roost’ together more. In early spring the adults become active again and are out searching for food. Around May they mate and lay their eggs which hatch around June-July. The newly hatched larvae feed up rapidly, largely on aphids which is why they are so welcome in our gardens.They go through 4 stages before pupating. The adults emerge and feed through until they overwinter in a dormant state. The photos are from the last few days and show a couple of stages of larvae on their way to pupating. Conditions: Light rain, muggy and cloud for a few days.Temperature: Max 20 Min 14C.

Bumblebee Mimic Hoverfly- 23rd June 2023

Posted on June 23, 2023 by pennyphilcox

The Bumblebee Mimic Hoverfly (or Bumblebee Hoverfly) is one of those insects which mimic something more dangerous to trick potential predators, making it less likely they are preyed upon. A fly which looks like a bee is itself harmless but will give the impression it will sting. This sort of mimicry is called Batesian Mimicry, named after H W Bates, who first described it in 1862. The Bumblebee Hoverfly takes a couple of different forms, as my photos from the garden today help to show, but is basically a roundish, large fly with a hairy abdomen. The keys to distinguish flies from bees are that they have the big eyes of a fly, short antennae and only one pair of wings. They will be feeding on many flowers, including bramble, in late spring and early summer, the male highly territorial and hastily chasing off other males. While their larvae live in bumblebee nests before becoming adults, they rarely feed on the bumblebee larvae, mostly eating debris around the rest. Conditions: Drier again following big cloudbursts over the last few days. Temperature: Max 23 Min 14 C.

Moths again: 17th June 2023

Posted on June 17, 2023 by pennyphilcox

The moth lure is still luring fewer moths than usual and the garden and surrounding area still very short of insects, which will have a knock-on effect on many bird and bat species. However these two splendid moths did turn up last week- at last some that are fairly easy to identify! The Pale Tussock moth is fairly common and one of those moths that are rather beautiful, covered in hairs that look furry and a delight to find. They particularly favour shrubby and treed areas, in gardens, parks, hedgerows or woods and in scrub. The Pale Tussock holds its front two legs stretched out in front of its body, as does the Dark Tussock. The Poplar Kitten Moth is very like the Sallow Kitten but we have several Poplar trees in the garden and nearby so it was exciting to find this attractive and new-to-me moth in the lure the other night. It mostly appears in southern England and Wales so it was good to see it as far north as Sheffield. I love getting glimpses into the huge world of moths, that so often go completely unseen. Conditions: An extremely hot and dry spell of weather continues, (though cloudier ad a little cooler today) putting stress on many plants in the garden and the wild. Temperature: Max 23 Min 14C.

ASHY MINiNG BEE: 8th June 2023

Posted on June 8, 2023 by pennyphilcox

There are 67 mining bees in Britain and I’ve been noticing them more over the last couple of years but this is the first time I’ve seen the distinctive Ashy Mining Bee in our Sheffield garden. These bees can turn up singly or in small or large colonies but they are solitary bees, making cells underground in sandy areas, coasts, moorland or woodland glades but always in sunny patches. As with the Tawny Mining Bee I’ve featured before, you may notice them by the small ‘volcanoes’ of dirt they excavate. They seal these each night or when it rains, to protect their work, and once each cell has had an egg laid in it, and been lined with pollen as food for the hatched larvae, it is sealed until the new adult bee emerges months later to repeat the cycle. The one I watched is a female- they are about the size of a honeybee but have a blue-black abdomen and a dark thorax with two bands of lighter grey hairs, top and bottom (see photos). The male is a lot smaller and has light greyish hairs along the thorax and at the top of the abdomen. It also has longer antennae. I didn’t see a male around so all the photo are of a female. They feed on a range of plants including buttercups, hawthorn, gorse, fruit trees and like this one, on Forget-me-nots. Conditions: This worrying long spell of dry weather continues and the forecast s for it to get hotter. Temperature: Max 19- Min 9C.