The harder you look the more you see ...

A favourite place …

I think we all have favourite places and one of mine is a rather magical location where the aromatic fragrance of wild marjoram stimulates the summer senses. Early season heralds the awakening of exotic orchids and delicate scented cowslips. Harebells gently chime in the wind like tiny elven bonnets. It is a place that always gives and only asks for respect in return to ensure its rich harvest continues into the following season. It is a place that is never silent, even on the quietest of days, as it resonates to the gentle harmony of countless hoverflies, grasshoppers and bees - even the flowers sing, as their dry, ripe and swollen seedpods rattle under every footstep. It is a place where beauty glides upon the breeze and sapphires dance. It is a place that is alive with living gems …

The holly and the ivy ...

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)

C. argiolus is primarily found in the southern half of the British Isles and is a frequent visitor to gardens, churchyards and parks. This species is renowned for fluctuating in numbers, forming a predictable cycle over several seasons, thought to be caused by the abundance of the parasitic wasp Listrodomus nycthemerus whose sole host is the Holly Blue. The wasp lays its eggs in the larvae of C. argiolous, with a single adult wasp eventually emerging from the pupa. In England and Wales this species is widespread and common, south of a line running from Cumberland in the west to County Durham in the east. It is also found on the Isle of Man and throughout Ireland, but is absent from Scotland except as a scarce vagrant.

There are two broods each year, although there may be only one brood in the north. Adults from overwintering pupae emerge as early as the first week of April in a typical season, with the next generation emerging during mid July and early August. The three images above are of summer brood individuals. The first two pictures depict the same male. The third image is a female nectaring on bramble blossom. 

More at: www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=argiolus

The need to feed ...

Food choice and purpose ...

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) seeking sustenance from a dry forestry track.

More at: http://markcolvin.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/come-dine-with-me_6716.html

Bugs on drugs ...

Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)

T. sylvestris typically inhabits rough grassland, where tall grasses can be found, and may occur on roadside verges, beside hedgerows, on overgrown downland, in woodland clearings and along woodland rides. It is often found basking on vegetation, or making its short, fast, buzzing flights amongst tall grass stems.

Despite its vernacular name, four other skipper species found in the British Isles are the same size or smaller than T. sylvestris. The Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola, and T. sylvestris are often mistaken for each other. They can be distinguished by the colour of the underside of the tips of the antennae. In T. lineola, this area is black and in T. sylvestris it is brown (as shown above). This holds true for both sexes. Males can also be distinguished by the sex brand found on the upperside of their forewings. The sex brand of a male T. lineola is relatively short when compared with that of a male T. sylvestris. The sex brand of T. lineola also runs parallel with the leading edge of the forewing, but at an angle in the male of T. sylvestris.

The adults are on the wing in June, through July, and into August.

More at: www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=sylvestris

Shades of blue ...

Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

P. icarus, as its vernacular name suggests, is the commonest member of the Polyommatinae found in the British Isles. While the male has bright blue uppersides, the female is primarily brown, with an extremely variable amount of blue. This can be noted even within the same seasonal population. This is the most widespread Lycaenid found in the British Isles and can be found almost anywhere, including Orkney. It is currently absent from Shetland and the mountainous areas of Wales and Scotland. P. icarus forms reasonably discrete colonies measured in tens or hundreds, with individuals occasionally wandering some distance.

P. icarus has two broods in the southern counties of England and one brood further north. Occasionally, in favourable seasons, there may be a third brood. Time of emergence is highly variable. In good years, adults may be seen as early as the middle of May on more southerly sites. These peak at the end of May or early June, giving rise to a second generation that emerges in the second half of July, peaking in the middle of August. Colonies in northern England and Scotland typically have a single brood that emerges in June, reaching its peak in July.

The two images depict the same female from earlier today …

More at: www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/species.php?species=icarus

Sphingidae ...

Privet Hawk-moth (Sphinx ligustri)

S. ligustri (Linnaeus, 1758) is our largest resident hawk-moth, with a wing span of 100-120mm, and can be found across the southern half of Britain. In Sussex it usually occurs singly or sparingly, though occasionally can be fairly common at mercury vapour light in a wide range of habitats. The adult, which has distinctive pink and black barring on the body and correspondingly striped hindwings (which are typically concealed unless the insect is disturbed), usually flies in June and July. The larvae are even more spectacular than the adult, being bright green with lilac and white stripes along the side, and a curved black horn to the rear. It feeds on privet (Ligustrum), lilac (Syringa), holly (Ilex) and ash (Fraxinus).

This specimen, one of two, from the South Downs today ...

References:

www.ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?id=1669

www.sussexmothgroup.org.uk/speciesData.php?taxonNum=1976

A Bug's Life ...

Another world ...

True bugs, collectively known as Hemiptera, are one of the major orders of insects found in the UK, currently comprising nearly 2000 species. The Hemiptera is split into a number of suborders.

The Heteroptera includes what most people know as the characteristic bugs, including shieldbugs, squashbugs, ground bugs, stilt bugs, assassin bugs, damsel bugs, lacebugs, plant bugs and all water bugs. The Auchenorrhyncha contain the leafhoppers, planthoppers, froghoppers, treehoppers and cicadas. We then have the Sternorrhyncha, which includes insects commonly referred to as psyllids (all of which are in the superfamily Psylloidea) together with aphids, phylloxerans, scale insects and whiteflies. A fourth suborder, the Coleorrhyncha, contains the moss bugs or beetle bugs, though these are not represented in the UK.

All have piercing mouthparts with which they can suck the juices from plants or animals - usually plants. Their mouthparts are contained in a beak, known as a rostrum, which is usually held underneath the body when not in use.

The above images depict an adult Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) and a mating pair of Hairy Shieldbugs (Dolycoris baccarum). Both species are common and widespread in southern Britain.

More at: www.britishbugs.org.uk