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

Elateridae ...

Athous haemorrhoidalis (Fabricius, 1801)

The Elateridae, or Click Beetles as they are commonly known, are a family of beetles currently comprising 73 species in the British Isles. They are identifiable by their elongated appearance with heads somewhat sunken into the thorax, sharp posterior angles on the pronotum and often toothed or pectinate antennae (the segments are longer on one side giving a comb like appearance). They are named for their ability to flip into the air in order to right themselves when upside down - it is this mechanism that produces the familiar ‘click’. Most species are somewhat uniformly brown or black in appearance, some with a metallic sheen and often a fine covering of silver-grey hairs, though some species are more brightly coloured. Sizes range from 3-4mm up to around 20mm.

Occurring in a wide range of habitats, A. haemorrhoidalis is one of the most frequent spring Elaterids in Britain.

More at: www.elateridae.co.uk

In decline ...

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)

The spectacular tumbling display of the male bird, along with its elegant crest and characteristic ee-wit call, make the Lapwing one of our most conspicuous waders. Historically their eggs were collected for food, but the problems they face today are much more complex and these familiar plovers are now on the list of our most threatened birds - with changes in farming practices being the main cause of this decline. Targeted conservation work on individual farms in Sussex and elsewhere have brought impressive increases in breeding pairs, but there are not enough of these intensive schemes to make a difference on a landscape and population scale. Success on nature reserves is at best patchy and any recovery of the Lapwing, if it ever happens, looks likely to be slow.

A beautiful bird which provides fond childhood memories ...

References:

Barfield, C., 2014. Lapwing. The Birds of Sussex. Thetford: British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Books on behalf of the Sussex Ornithological Society, pp. 243-245.

Pepper, R.T., 1996. Lapwing. Birds of Sussex. Sussex Ornithological Society, pp. 244-246.

Fritillaries for the Future

A conservation project has been launched to stop the severe decline in numbers of two of the rarest woodland butterflies in Sussex - the Pearl-bordered and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Butterfly Conservation has set up the three-year project Fritillaries for the Future with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, after experts recorded a continual drop in the number of sightings coming in across the county. Both species were once common and widespread in Sussex, but last year no Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries were seen at the only remaining site in the county, raising fears it may have been lost from the southeast entirely. New data from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) has also confirmed that the Pearl-bordered Fritillary has undergone a 72% decline in numbers across the whole country since 1976.

More at: http://butterfly-conservation.org/48-8765/help-save-sussex-pearls.html