Skippers at Lullingstone

The photograph below shows a male Small (?) Skipper, Thymelicus sylvestris. I am pretty sure it is this species, partly due to the apparent orange underside to the antennal tip just I think visible on the far antenna in particular, and partly due to what seems to be a curve in the male sex mark, most clearly seen on the far front wing. These two species are a fascinating example of evolution at the species level, with this species preferring Yorkshire Fog as the principal larval food plant, while the Essex Skipper seems to like a range of grasses such as Cocksfoot, Creeping Soft grass, Timothy, etc., but appearing to avoid Yorkshire Fog.   

 

I checked on the nectar food plant (Creeping Thistle, Cirsium arvense - ouch!) and noted that the flower head smelt of honey.

This, on the other hand, is the Essex Skipper, Thymelicus lineola, with black under the antennal tips, and a finer, straighter sex-mark, although this cannot be seen in these photographs.

Birch galls 2

Pictures from the Hainault website:

     

Aculus leionotus, a sort of uneven blister above, erineum beneath. Looks very like what I saw today.

    

Circular blister on both sides of the leaf. Anisostephus betulinus.

 

Silver birch hemispherical gall. Cecidophyopsis betulae.

     

The hairs of the erineum are described a reddish-brown. However I am seeing tufts of white in a similiar situation, could this be just as it develops? Aculus leionotus. I have also seen this, but both species cannot be A. leionotus.

Birch galls

Don't know what this refers to: Semudobia betulae A gall midge on Betula. Seed gall on Birch (Betula sp.).

Name changes 2004:

Betula	Eriophyes lissonotus	Aceria lissonota
Betula	Plemeliella betulicola	Resseliella betulicola
Betula	Massalongia rubra	M. ruber

p292       Betula: the upward bulge of the Aceria lissonota gall is sparsely hairy, and smooth in Aculus leionotus.

p293       Betula: delete Fig. 127 (left); Resseliella betulicola causes young leaves to crinkle and fold upwards, and thickens and folds upwards the edge of older leaves.

Betula pendula Ectodemia occultella 34 Lepidoptera found in the Wyre Forest

138 Lampronia fuscatella

(Tengström, 1848)

Wingspan 14-18 mm.

The adults of this species, unlike some of the otherLampronia species, are relatively plain in appearance.

The moth is quite local in Britain, occurring scarcely in a few widely scattered localities throughout. It flies in May and June, during the afternoon.

The larva is unusual in that it forms a swelling, or gall on a twig of birch (Betula), usually at a node, within which it feeds. The presence of reddish-brown frassaround the exit hole indicates a larva within.

Gall-midge.	Anisostephus betulinus (Kieffer, 1889)
	Leaf Gall on Birch (Betula sp).

Dene on the 16th

This is a five or so year old ash tree by the side of the ride leading from Ringlet corner up to the Victorian Pond junction. It is suffering severely from Ash Bacterial Canker, or Bacterial Knot, which used to be regarded as a form of Pseudomonas syringae, but is now said to be Pseudomonas savastanoi pv fraxini. This actually looks quite appalling, but is probably quite good for wildlife.

Practice walk in Dene Park

Rhingia campestris, a good picture enhanced a bit by noise reduction and sharpening in CS8.

Sunday in Dene Park

A busy day at Dene Park, but nobody seemed to mind me photographing - the monopod seems to imply my innocent intentions!

I was lucky enough to find a lovely female Leucozona lucorum having a probe around the Malus flowers by the triangle - so pretty for a fly dare I say!

A bit of warmth on the Access Trail

Nomadas zipping around the base of trees on MT 133, various Andrena around to tantalise, Epistrophe eligans resting up on the sunlit leaves of the hedgerow trees, Eristalis pertinax hovering at about head height in sunlit glades, the sound of a cuckoo calling in the middle distance, robins, chiffchaffs, chaffinches, goldfinches and blackcaps singing around me, while the blackthorn is at last in full bloom. Pretty fantastic!

Epistrophe eligans female quietly resting on a sunny hawthorn leaf:

Another one along MT 133: