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

Yellow Dung Fly and Housefly

The Yellow Dung fly is common especially where there are cattle. There were cattle in the fields across the valley from us a few weeks ago. That said, it will breed on dung from a variety of animals including dogs, of which there are many locally. The adult flies eat insects and nectar. The larvae, which hatch out in the dung, eat other insect larvae that have also hatched out in the dung.

I wasn’t expecting to see a housefly in the watermeadow, but I suppose they have to come from somewhere. They eat rotting plant matter as well as carrion and animal dung.

The most interesting things about houseflies are its eyes, mouth, and feet. The eyes of a fly are compound, which means each eye is made up of thousands of simple eyes and the result is a mosaic view, not as detailed as a human eye, but wider-angled. The housefly cannot bite as its mouth is capable only of sucking and sponging up its food after dousing it with digestive juices. The feet can adhere to vertical or overhead surfaces by means of the sticky substance produced by pads on their feet.

Daisy D

26 July 2023

Insects

House Fly, Yellow Dung Fly

Two bugs – Cinnamon Bug and Thick-legged Flower Beetle

This is the Cinnamon Bug. There are three similar black & red bugs – the Plane Tree Bug and the Fire Bug – but the Cinnamon Bug has a kite-mark V on its back topped with two little heart-shapes and the two polka dots below. The others have distinct and different markings.

They like dry habitats and this one was found on the bank (Vole County) which leads down to the watermeadow and is home to several grasses and wildflowers. They feed on a variety of plants. They are currently mostly found in south-east England but are becoming more common throughout.

I had never noticed this beetle before. He looks as though he is made of metal, like an old-fashioned Matchbox car. He is a Thick-legged Flower Beetle, and I can be confident that he is a male, because only the males have the swollen legs, which look like two tiny Christmas baubles. This beetle is a pollinator of meadow flowers, feeding on pollen and nectar, and I spotted him on the bank of the watermeadow. Adults lay eggs inside hollow stems, so that the larvae can feed and grow hidden from view until they are ready to emerge.

Apparently this is one species that is growing in its distribution, previously found in localised spots in the south of England, they are now common throughout southern England, Wales, and further north. Although they have predators, they are thought to be equipped with a blistering chemical called Cantharidin, like the Blister Beetle family. This is interesting because they are actually in the family of False Blister Beetles. False Blister Beetles look like Blister Beetles but don’t generally contain Cantharidin.

Daisy D

24 July 2023

Insects

Cinnamon Bug, Thick-legged Flower Beetle

Grasshoppers and Conehead

In between showers on Sunday, we went for a walk round the watermeadow still trying to photograph flying things, like butterflies and birds. I definitely need practice at locating and focusing quickly. However, we spotted grasshoppers a-plenty – and managed to get photos of the Common Field Grasshopper and the Common Green Grasshopper. They were nestled in the undergrowth, which makes for confusing photos as you realise how good their camouflage is. On the internet, I found a guide to identifying grasshoppers: ‘Identifying Grasshoppers, Crickets and Allies in Beds, Cambs and Northants’ produced by the Wildlife Trust of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire.

I had to look at the antennae and the pronotal, which is a plate on the back of the head and upper back (thorax), edged by two lines. It’s the shaping of those two not-exactly-parallel lines, which is key to determining some of the grasshopper varieties.

In a simpler format the Wildlife Trusts website says, “The Common green grasshopper is mostly green, but sometimes has brownish sides.” It is supposed to be a bit scarce but is found in grass in wetlands – and we do tick that box. Also the pronotal lines are nearly parallel.

The brown one, then, is the Common Field Grasshopper. Brown with a green stripe. The above description could easily apply but look at the pronotal – it has a definite ‘waist’ marked by the pale stripe. This means that it should be the Common Field Grasshopper.

UPDATE PHOTO (02/09/23) – a clearer photo of the Common Field Grasshopper

But what about the feature-creature at the top of the post? That is not a grasshopper, but a Conehead – a type of bush cricket – with a cone-shaped head, obviously. This one, who looks as though it has one snapped antenna, is a Conehead nymph. I know this because of the thick black stripe down its back. It will turn into a Long-winged or Short-winged Conehead. The nymphs eat grass flowers and immature seeds, and the adults eat seeds of grasses and sedges.

Daisy D

18 July 2023

Insects

Common Field Grasshopper, Common Green Grasshopper, Conehead

Crane Fly

This is a Crane Fly because the sepia-tinted wings have clearly defined black veins and the body is segmented translucent-brown and flared at the tip. Other species of fly similar to crane flies have different body shapes, markings, and wings. There are also sub-species. This could be a Marsh Crane-fly.

I thought it was a bit early for crane flies, as I associate them with early Autumn. They are found near water, as they deposit their eggs in damp ground. The larvae, which we know as ‘leatherjackets’ hatch out two weeks later and spend their lives feeding on the roots and stem bases of grasses and decaying plant matter right round till the following May-June. Then they pupate in the soil, emerging from July to October to deposit their eggs within 24 hours, and only live for around two weeks.

Q: If they love the dampness of damp areas, why do they come indoors?

A: Simply because, like other types of fly, they are attracted to light and warmth and once inside they find it difficult to work out how to get outside again.

Daisy D

16 July 2023

Insects

Crane Fly

Beetle and bug

After a week of mild but cloudy weather with the odd shower, which has helped revive the garden and saved us from trudging up and down with watering cans, we now have a proper rainy day with stormy wind, so I’m digging into the ‘archive’ of photos I haven’t used yet. These are from when my camera was on the wrong setting last weekend, so not quite as many pixels, but I haven’t seen these two creatures since.

The Common Red Soldier Beetle brought back memories. This is the one we used to call ‘Bloodsucker’ when I was little. We thought it was red because it was full of human blood, obviously! I now learn that it is a common nickname. This beetle can be found on meadow flowers, as it eats pollen, nectar, and aphids. This one is on grass at the top of the bank. That’s probably because the larvae of the beetle feast on slugs and snails which live among meadow grasses. Because of its diet, the Common Red Soldier Beetle is good for the garden as it eats up the garden pests.

I’m always pleased to see a ladybird, but I thought all ladybirds which weren’t red with seven spots were invasive species. However, it turns out that there are forty species native to the UK, including this 14-spot ladybird. This ladybird is the most common yellow-and-black ladybird out of three. It has fourteen rectangular black spots which can merge into a chequered pattern. In this case, I wasn’t even sure which were the spots until I compared pictures. Another of the yellow-and-black ladybirds has twenty-two spots which are round and defined – I would love to see that in the garden!

This ladybird had a long hibernation and didn’t emerge till May. It lives in grasslands and gardens and along with all the other ladybirds, is good for the garden as they keep the aphids under control.

Although the Harlequin ladybirds are invasive, the advice from the RHS is not to attempt to control them, as although they are in competition for food and also have cannibalistic tendencies, they do mainly eat aphids and they are so easily confused with the many native species. L adybirds / RHS Gardening

Daisy D

14 July 2023

Insects

Common Red Soldier Beetle, Fourteen-spot ladybird, Seven-spot Ladybird

Common Green Bottle and Green Dock Beetle

I’ve heard of blue bottles, but this is a green bottle. It eats pretty much the same things as blue bottles – dead and decomposing plant and animal matter. Here it is resting innocently on some grass. I wondered whether it was going to drink the dew on the grass and found out that adult flies have a more varied diet, including pollen and nectar. Also, they are attracted to flowers that smell like carrion, and the colour yellow.

The Green Dock Beetle appears to be relatively common in the watermeadow. It feeds on dock and sorrel. Here it is on some bindweed, but there is a dock leaf skeleton next to it.

I spent the morning trimming round the alders we have planted along our back fence. One of them had got strangled with bindweed and had its stem/trunk broken. I weeded a lot of bindweed and stinging nettles and chopped down the hollow stalks of Hemlock Water Dropwort that were leaning against the back fence. I strimmed a pathway across the bank and around the alders so that they had a nice wide margin round them. They are growing fast but were only 1-2ft when we planted them in April. Now they are 2-4ft, but still prone to getting hidden and tangled in the undergrowth unless we keep a check on it. Whilst I was over the other side of the stream, I saw a brown type of damselfly, but didn’t have my camera with me. So, I went out with my camera later and managed to take some photos of grasshoppers and butterflies.

Daisy D

08 July 2023

Insects

Alder, Bindweed, Common Green Bottle, Common Nettle, Dock, Green Dock Beetle, Hemlock Water Dropwort, Sorrel, Stinging Nettle

Seven-spot Ladybird

According to the Woodland Trust, there are 26 types of ladybird in the UK, the most familiar of which is the seven-spot ladybird. You can tell this is a genuine seven-spot ladybird by the location of its spots, like dice they are always in the same places, the seventh spot being centrally-placed at the back of its black and white spotted head. I was pleased to see it, as I feel we don’t come across them often enough, but there were three altogether in the water meadow. This was at the top of the bank, nestled into the body of a willow dragonfly that I’d made at WI.

UPDATE PHOTO BELOW:

Daisy D

04 July 2023

Insects

Ladybird, Seven-spot Ladybird

Beautiful Demoiselle (female)

As you know, I’ve been having a lot of trouble catching flying insects and birds with my camera and of those that I have photographed there are a number of UFO’s to identify – mostly variations on housefly-type flies. So, I was delighted to capture this Beautiful Demoiselle. That is its actual name. It’s green metallic body and translucent brown wings mark it out as a female. The males have a metallic blue body and dark blue shiny wings. They are found along streams and rivers and mainly distributed in Wales and the South West.

UPDATE – I managed to catch a photo of a male Beautiful Demoiselle. Quite different to the female with metallic blue body and black translucent wings.

Is your toadstool instagrammable?

Well, this one clearly isn’t as its sticky top is covered with bits of grass, where I’ve been strimming the steps down into the watermeadow. I deliberated whether it would make a suitable picture and I still haven’t identified it. To be honest, I don’t know where to start with that, so it doesn’t qualify for its own post. However, I could add a generic ‘toadstools’ item to my tally to be going on with.

Daisy D

02 July 2023

Insects, Toadstools and fungi

Beautiful Demoiselle, Toadstool