When I arrived at the Dover Patrol memorial it was still rather misty, cool and windy. As the afternoon progressed it got a bit warmer and drier, but the windspeed didn't drop at all, making butterfly ID and photography very difficult.
The first butterfly I saw on the path towards Kingdown was a tattered Marbled White, Melanargia galathea (L.). I think maybe these are coming towards the end of their season, as I haven't seen them elsewhere in the last few weeks.
There were also a number of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers scattered by the wind. The Meadow Browns when put up fluttered frantically across the wind and then crashed down close to the ground in amongst the grass.
Here is a very tattered Gatekeeper, probably a female - from the lack of the large brown smudge in the centre of the forewings.
There were Large and Small Whites as well, and here is a Large White male.
I took a couple of shots of the Everlasting Peas and to my shame when I looked the photos I realised I had missed two moths and even a silver-spotted skipper!! Poor observational skills:
Bumblebees were in good numbers despite the windspeed. One species fairly commonly seen was the Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, and I was really pleased to see my first definite Queen this summer (there was also a probable at Queensdown yesterday). The Queens are huge compared to the workers:
I checked the antennal segments on the left antenna (the right one was missing oddly enough) and there were only 10 flagellar segments as expected in a female.
I also checked that the rear leg had a pollen basket
As in most sites I've visited recently, there were good numbers of the Sothern Vestal Cuckoo Bumblebee, Bombus vestalis, and many of the ones I've been able to sex have been males, as this one is also. You can see the smokiness of the wings blocking the colour of the knapweed head behind that is characteristic of cuckoo species. You can also see the hind of yellow where the white tail hairs are separated from the black hairs of the front of the abdomen characteristic of vestalis, and the partial yellow band on the front hair of the abdomen that is often found. The rear legs are generally hairy as characteristic of male Bombus.
Here is the same bee extending out its front leg to fend off intruders - a characteristic attitude when approached by other bees or other insects:
While photographing the Bumblebees, the camera also picked up the tiny flea beetles on the Knapweed:
There were also good numbers of the Hogweed Bonking Beetle, Rhagonycha fulva, paired up on the Hogweed flowers,
And a single Oedemera nobilis on a Field Bindweed flower,
There were a very good range of flowers on the clifftops. Here is a harebell, Campanula rotundifolia (L.): A delicate perennial with graceful, slender stems, usually in clusters, rising in height from 4-15 in. The stems can be weak so that the entire plant bends over. Its rounded, basal leaves wither early while the narrow, stem leaves remain. Blue-violet bell-shaped flowers hang singly or in clusters along the top parts of nodding, thread-like, mostly unbranched stems that grow in small patches. The nodding, bell-shaped, lavender flowers are borne in loose clusters at stem tips.
The genus name, from the Latin campana (bell), means little bell. The name Harebell may allude to an association with witches, who were believed able to transform themselves into hares, portents of bad luck when they crossed a persons path. In Scotland, another old name for this plant was Witches Thimble. The characteristics of this perennial vary considerably, depending on habitat conditions, ranging from Scottish hills to Kentish chalk downlands. Harebells can be seen in many areas of the UK, being found in a wide range of habitats including heaths, dry sandy banks, and grassy places on poor shallow soils. They thrive on both acid and chalk soils.
This is Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis, and I think most of the plants I saw today are actually this species. I do also need to keep my eye out for the Small Scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, which is superficially very similar.
The first butterfly I saw on the path towards Kingdown was a tattered Marbled White, Melanargia galathea (L.). I think maybe these are coming towards the end of their season, as I haven't seen them elsewhere in the last few weeks.
There were also a number of Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers scattered by the wind. The Meadow Browns when put up fluttered frantically across the wind and then crashed down close to the ground in amongst the grass.
Here is a very tattered Gatekeeper, probably a female - from the lack of the large brown smudge in the centre of the forewings.
There were Large and Small Whites as well, and here is a Large White male.
I took a couple of shots of the Everlasting Peas and to my shame when I looked the photos I realised I had missed two moths and even a silver-spotted skipper!! Poor observational skills:
Bumblebees were in good numbers despite the windspeed. One species fairly commonly seen was the Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, and I was really pleased to see my first definite Queen this summer (there was also a probable at Queensdown yesterday). The Queens are huge compared to the workers:
I checked the antennal segments on the left antenna (the right one was missing oddly enough) and there were only 10 flagellar segments as expected in a female.
I also checked that the rear leg had a pollen basket
As in most sites I've visited recently, there were good numbers of the Sothern Vestal Cuckoo Bumblebee, Bombus vestalis, and many of the ones I've been able to sex have been males, as this one is also. You can see the smokiness of the wings blocking the colour of the knapweed head behind that is characteristic of cuckoo species. You can also see the hind of yellow where the white tail hairs are separated from the black hairs of the front of the abdomen characteristic of vestalis, and the partial yellow band on the front hair of the abdomen that is often found. The rear legs are generally hairy as characteristic of male Bombus.
Here is the same bee extending out its front leg to fend off intruders - a characteristic attitude when approached by other bees or other insects:
While photographing the Bumblebees, the camera also picked up the tiny flea beetles on the Knapweed:
There were also good numbers of the Hogweed Bonking Beetle, Rhagonycha fulva, paired up on the Hogweed flowers,
And a single Oedemera nobilis on a Field Bindweed flower,
There were a very good range of flowers on the clifftops. Here is a harebell, Campanula rotundifolia (L.): A delicate perennial with graceful, slender stems, usually in clusters, rising in height from 4-15 in. The stems can be weak so that the entire plant bends over. Its rounded, basal leaves wither early while the narrow, stem leaves remain. Blue-violet bell-shaped flowers hang singly or in clusters along the top parts of nodding, thread-like, mostly unbranched stems that grow in small patches. The nodding, bell-shaped, lavender flowers are borne in loose clusters at stem tips.
The genus name, from the Latin campana (bell), means little bell. The name Harebell may allude to an association with witches, who were believed able to transform themselves into hares, portents of bad luck when they crossed a persons path. In Scotland, another old name for this plant was Witches Thimble. The characteristics of this perennial vary considerably, depending on habitat conditions, ranging from Scottish hills to Kentish chalk downlands. Harebells can be seen in many areas of the UK, being found in a wide range of habitats including heaths, dry sandy banks, and grassy places on poor shallow soils. They thrive on both acid and chalk soils.
This is Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis, and I think most of the plants I saw today are actually this species. I do also need to keep my eye out for the Small Scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, which is superficially very similar.
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