Insects Archives - Page 3 of 7 - A Year in the Valley

Oak Eggar

At first I assumed that it was another drinker moth caterpillar, but I took a photo anyway. I’m glad I did as it turned out to be the caterpillar of an Oak Eggar moth. Instead of brown hairs, golden speckles, and horn-effect at each end, the oak eggar is dark orange with a pale stripe down its back, black bands, and white dashes down each side.

It can be found in variety of habitats – grassland, heathland, fens, hedgerows, and footpaths. It feeds on sea buckthorn, bramble, sallows, blackthorn, and hawthorn.

Daisy D

14 April 2024

Insects

Drinker Moth, Oak Eggar

Leaf Miner

This is a smooth sow-thistle, which I have already posted, but I took a photo as it looked quite impressive and purple. Then I noticed the leaf-miner tracks on the leaves. Leaf miners are the larvae of tiny flies like the Liriomyza sonchi, which mines the leaves of sow-thistle species. Leaf miner flies are very tiny – 2-3mm. The larvae mine small white corridors between the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf and leave their droppings ‘frass’ as black dots in the leaves.

Daisy D

07 April 2024

Insects

Ground Beetle

There were some small beetles on an old wooden bridge that we had carried up the watermeadow for the winter, so that it didn’t get washed away. Black and shiny with reddish legs, a longer shape than the bronze beetle that I spotted in October. Ground beetles have long filiform (thread-shaped) antennae and five-segmented feet. They live in moss and leaf litter in marshy habitats and wet woodland. I think it might be a Bembidion gilvipes beetle looking at the colour and shape, with a relatively broad, chunky thorax.

Daisy D

29 March 2024

Insects

Ground Beetle

Littoral Whiplash Rove Beetle (Paederus littoralis)

There are four types of Paederus beetle in the UK. This was Paederus littoralis because it was larger than 7.5mm (around 10-11mm) and had black mandibles. Littoral means shore: and these beetles can be found in marginal areas of wetland. They live in decaying plant matter and leaf litter but climb up plant stems and foliage to feed on smaller insects like aphids and mites. These, they grip with their mandibles and pre-digest before consuming them (like houseflies). They also exude a defensive toxin, so any direct contact can result in skin irritation or dermatitis.

Daisy D

24 March 2024

Insects

Littoral Whiplash Rove Beetle

Black Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus)

Mr C was working on the ramp and spotted this beetle. He brought it up the garden for me to photograph before letting it go again. There are a few different types of oil beetle. The black and violet oil beetles are most similar, but the black has a straight lower edge to its thorax, so I think that is what this is.

Oil beetles are nest parasites. The female digs a nest in the ground and lays up to 1000 eggs. The larvae are called triungulins, which means three claws, after their hooked feet. The larvae climb onto flowers and wait for a solitary mining bee, which they then latch onto, and hitch a lift back to the bee’s nest. Once there they climb off the bee and eat the bee’s eggs and stores of pollen and nectar. The larva grows in the bee’s burrow and emerges as an adult the following year ready to mate and start the cycle again.

They are most often seen from March to July on bare ground, such as footpaths. Their preferred habitat is grassland and heathland, as the adults feed on soft grasses.

Oil beetles are named after the bitter oil-like fluid that they produce from their knee joints to deter predators.

Daisy D

22 March 2024

Insects

Flea Beetle (Altica lythri)

The flea beetle is a small jumping beetle in the leaf beetle family. It can be distinguished by its thick and powerful back legs, (see picture below) which mean it can spring out of the way of predators. Hence its name.

Flea beetles can be pests, the adults feeding on the leaves of the host plant and the larvae on the roots. The adults appear in the spring after hibernating, and lay eggs at the base of the host plant. The next generation of adults emerge by midsummer. Altica lythri is a dark metallic turquoise flea beetle which favours Great Willowherb.

Daisy D

16 March 2024

Insects

Altica lythri, Flea Beetle

Blue Shieldbug

The Blue Shieldbug is a smaller species – 5-7mm only compared to around 12mm for the common green one. It has an attractive metallic blue-green with dark wings. It is widespread and favours heath and grasslands, living on low vegetation. It is omnivorous and eats the larvae of leaf beetles, and moth caterpillars, as well as plant matter. The bug overwinters as an adult and lays eggs in the spring. New adults appear from July. There is only one brood per year.

I also spotted an adult Common Green Shieldbug and have added an update photo to that post, as the original was a 4th instar.

Daisy D

13 March 2024

Insects

Blue Shieldbug

Seed Weevil (Apion frumentarium)

Unmistakeably a weevil, with a head the same shape as an anteater’s. This Seed Weevil was bright red and caught my eye, as it scurried down a fat blade of grass and across the step. The only bits that weren’t red were its black eyes and claws. It was textured with tiny dimples and ridges. They are usually found on the leaves of large docks, on the underside of the leaves, but mainly from April till early June. They lay a single egg in a hole in the stem and seal the hole. The next generation adults emerge from June and then aestivate over the summer, re-emerging in the autumn to feed up before they overwinter on or under their host plant.

Daisy D

11 March 2024

Insects

Seed Weevil

Early Bumblebee

I spotted this bee on the grass in a rare patch of sunshine on Monday. I assumed it was a buff-tailed bumblebee because of its orange bottom, but it turns out that buff-tailed bumblebees have a white tail, which I should have remembered from my white-tailed bumblebee post. So, which bees have an orange tail? And stripes? The red-tailed bumblebee is black apart from its tail, so no stripes. The bilberry bumblebee has a fiery red tail but is in decline and prefers higher altitudes.

The Early Bumblebee is described as the only bumblebee to have a truly orange tail. It has two yellow stripes, which in males can be wide enough to cover a good part of its head and upper abdomen. It lives up to its name by waking up early in the year. In fact, new queens do not hibernate at all, but start a nest straight away. This bee likes white clover, lavender, sage, thistles, and flowers in the daisy family. It is quite common and favours flower meadows and cultivated gardens.

Daisy D

28 February 2024

Insects

Early Bumblebee, White-tailed Bumblebee

Ruby Tiger Moth Caterpillar

With rosettes of long ginger hairs, and a black face with white markings to make it look fiercer, this was identified as a Ruby Tiger Moth Caterpillar. The caterpillars eat dock, dandelion and plantain, and also broom, ragwort and heather and can be found in a variety of habitats including moorland, heathland, open grassland, sand-dunes, gardens and watermeadows.

The moths can be seen April to June and August to September. They have a flame red body with black spots and ginger wings.

I was concerned that this caterpillar looked in a bad way with a large wet patch. I thought it might be a wound. We spotted it near to the Nursery Web Spider, but I couldn’t find any references to the spider preying on a caterpillar twice its size. Then I found out that caterpillars can start to liquify before they pupate, as the cocoons are smaller than the caterpillar and they have to squash in somehow. The lack of stripes and plumpness of this caterpillar indicates that it may be a 5^th instar, which means that it is due to pupate next. It will spin a cocoon of silk and incorporate some of its hair as well.

Daisy D

21 February 2024

Insects

Ruby Tiger Moth