When I looked at the Lesser Spearwort down the back straight of the square walk again I was again able to see the fly feeding marks on the leaves that I had seen yesterday. I believe that this is connected with the leaf mines, that are very similar to the Chrysanthemum leaf miner I used to be so familiar with on various Asteraceae weeds.
I think the most likely miner is Phytomyza ranunculi, a very common leafminer on a range of Ranunculus species according to http://www.ukflymines.co.uk/Keys/RANUNCULUS.php, but they are extremely difficult to identify precisely. Perhaps it is best to stick to Phytomyza and leave it at that!
On one of the Beech leaves overhanging the path on the East side of the square walk I found some odd leaf galls that I didn't recognise. Clearly obvious white spots on the upper surface were matched by corresponding darker invaginations as seen from the underside of the light when viewed against the light. I thought these might be early stages of something and luckily when I looked them "Beech galls" on the net I found pictures by Ashley Watson on his blog http://adventuresofawildlife.com/2013/01/31/galls-on-beech/ that link these spots found at this time of year to the mature pustule galls of Hartigiola annulipes found in autumn that I am familiar with.
When a higher crop was used the white spots were seen to be surrounded by a small but presumably developing ring of hypertrophic growth, which would eventually turn into the mature conical hairy galls of late autumn. It is believed that there is only one midge larva in each gall, but I didn't see any evidence of the larvae when I looked at the undersides of the white spots myself - although I wasn't specifically searching for them - they are likely to be very small indeed at this stage.
As for other insects, it was so humid I wasn't surprised not to see any butterflies until virtually the last minute - and then I quickly picked up two Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria, and a Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, on the path back through Knight's Wood.
There were other plants around, and there was just one patch of Mouse Ear Chickweed just before the dip down at the parish boundary.
A little further on there were the first I think, (I really must check for P. anglica and its hybrids) Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) flowers growing along the east and back straight of the square path.
I think these two pictures indicate the change in colour of the flowers as they mature.
According to wikipedia the rhizomatous root is thick. It is inappropriate to be used for food due to extreme bitterness and low caloric value. It can be used as a vegetable dye to dye leather red.
The plant is particularly used in herbal medicine as an astringent because of its tannin content, which is unusually high for a herbaceous plant. This is linked to its use as a red dye, which is due to the structurally similar phlobaphene content. Phlobaphenes can be extracted from the root of the common tormentil and is known as tormentil red, alongside the triterpene alcohol tormentol. The plant has extremely low toxicity, which was studied by Sergei Shushunov and his team. The roots are a main ingredient of a bitter liqueur from Bavaria and the Black Forest area, called Blutwurz. It is also a main ingredient of anti-diarrheal preparation manufactured in the US by Lev Laboratories under the name Quicklyte.
I think the most likely miner is Phytomyza ranunculi, a very common leafminer on a range of Ranunculus species according to http://www.ukflymines.co.uk/Keys/RANUNCULUS.php, but they are extremely difficult to identify precisely. Perhaps it is best to stick to Phytomyza and leave it at that!
On one of the Beech leaves overhanging the path on the East side of the square walk I found some odd leaf galls that I didn't recognise. Clearly obvious white spots on the upper surface were matched by corresponding darker invaginations as seen from the underside of the light when viewed against the light. I thought these might be early stages of something and luckily when I looked them "Beech galls" on the net I found pictures by Ashley Watson on his blog http://adventuresofawildlife.com/2013/01/31/galls-on-beech/ that link these spots found at this time of year to the mature pustule galls of Hartigiola annulipes found in autumn that I am familiar with.
When a higher crop was used the white spots were seen to be surrounded by a small but presumably developing ring of hypertrophic growth, which would eventually turn into the mature conical hairy galls of late autumn. It is believed that there is only one midge larva in each gall, but I didn't see any evidence of the larvae when I looked at the undersides of the white spots myself - although I wasn't specifically searching for them - they are likely to be very small indeed at this stage.
As for other insects, it was so humid I wasn't surprised not to see any butterflies until virtually the last minute - and then I quickly picked up two Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria, and a Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, on the path back through Knight's Wood.
There were other plants around, and there was just one patch of Mouse Ear Chickweed just before the dip down at the parish boundary.
A little further on there were the first I think, (I really must check for P. anglica and its hybrids) Tormentil (Potentilla erecta) flowers growing along the east and back straight of the square path.
I think these two pictures indicate the change in colour of the flowers as they mature.
According to wikipedia the rhizomatous root is thick. It is inappropriate to be used for food due to extreme bitterness and low caloric value. It can be used as a vegetable dye to dye leather red.
The plant is particularly used in herbal medicine as an astringent because of its tannin content, which is unusually high for a herbaceous plant. This is linked to its use as a red dye, which is due to the structurally similar phlobaphene content. Phlobaphenes can be extracted from the root of the common tormentil and is known as tormentil red, alongside the triterpene alcohol tormentol. The plant has extremely low toxicity, which was studied by Sergei Shushunov and his team. The roots are a main ingredient of a bitter liqueur from Bavaria and the Black Forest area, called Blutwurz. It is also a main ingredient of anti-diarrheal preparation manufactured in the US by Lev Laboratories under the name Quicklyte.
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