It was very hot today, with gathering thunderstorms which just missed Hadlow and Dene Park. It was lovely in the late afternoon/early evening up in the wood, with excellent birdsong from song thrushes, blackbirds and robins in particular. There were quite a few insects around, including this moth welcoming me to the car park. I am sure this is a very common one:
Also in the car park grassland was the "Black-Hearted Flower Beetle" Cantharis rustica.
It is about time I looked in a bit more detail at birch trees, the genus Betula. They are so reliant on seed distribution that the new seed heads are out, before the old ones are completely finished!
So, next, something entirely new to me, a Birch Leaf Roller. This was very difficult to tie down, as initially it looked as though it ought to be due to a beetle larva, but now I think it must be due to a Lepidopteran larva, by counting the number of legs!
I was now in the first woodland ride and came across another Nomada bee species, dark and orange!
Deeper in the wood, feeding on the nectar from the cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris, I found this odd looking fly. There is a tiny, tiny beetle with it! This is the largest of the UK species of Dance Flies, Empis tessellata, as identified by Ophrys on ispot. ID characteristics include the striped hairy thorax, brownish wings and black femora. It is probably quite a common fly, but likely to be significantly under-recorded generally in the UK.
As always there were the difficult hoverflies, usually the small and black ones. This ought to be a female Platycheirus albimanus, quite a moderate size, with grey spots just visible in the second photo, at a wild guess!
This next one is much easier because of the triangular yellow spots on tergite 2, Melangyna cincta.
Pseudopanthera macularia, the Speckled Yellow moth, exactly where it ought to be, on a fairly open woodland ride
Also in the car park grassland was the "Black-Hearted Flower Beetle" Cantharis rustica.
It is about time I looked in a bit more detail at birch trees, the genus Betula. They are so reliant on seed distribution that the new seed heads are out, before the old ones are completely finished!
So, next, something entirely new to me, a Birch Leaf Roller. This was very difficult to tie down, as initially it looked as though it ought to be due to a beetle larva, but now I think it must be due to a Lepidopteran larva, by counting the number of legs!
I was now in the first woodland ride and came across another Nomada bee species, dark and orange!
Deeper in the wood, feeding on the nectar from the cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris, I found this odd looking fly. There is a tiny, tiny beetle with it! This is the largest of the UK species of Dance Flies, Empis tessellata, as identified by Ophrys on ispot. ID characteristics include the striped hairy thorax, brownish wings and black femora. It is probably quite a common fly, but likely to be significantly under-recorded generally in the UK.
As always there were the difficult hoverflies, usually the small and black ones. This ought to be a female Platycheirus albimanus, quite a moderate size, with grey spots just visible in the second photo, at a wild guess!
This next one is much easier because of the triangular yellow spots on tergite 2, Melangyna cincta.
Pseudopanthera macularia, the Speckled Yellow moth, exactly where it ought to be, on a fairly open woodland ride
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