Paul's Back Garden Safari

Black Snail Beetle - Silpha atrata 5th October  Today was a lovely sunny day and so we went to the beach and had a little walk along Barry Island Beach. The place was packed, and everyone had a dog. Then we figured it out, this was the first weekend of October and so out of season and dogs were allowed once more to run and play on the sand. Heading back to the car we spotted Black Snail Beetle, Silpha atrata scuttling across the path to the safety of the grass. I didn’t have the camera with me and so a few quick snaps with the iPhone was all I could manage, so the photos here are not top drawer. I’ve never knowingly seen one before, but it’s been a great exercise to finding out about it’s rather gruesome eating habits.  It’s not a large beetle varying in size between 10-15mm. Many black in colour, it can vary from entirely black to almost completely red. The head and mandibles seem to stick out from beyond the main body and this is an adaption to its method of predation...

Green-Brindled Crescent -  Allophyes oxyacanthae 18th October 2019 October this year has been pretty wet, but mild. So I wasn’t expecting much when I put the moth trap out on a wet but cool evening.  But the next morning there were two individuals a Green-brindled Crescent - Allophyes oxyacanthae , and a Beaded Chestnut - Agrochola lychnidis . I am intrigued each time I look at moths - the cryptic markings and colours can be unusual to our human eye and perceptions of colour until you consider the camouflage they provide. Take the Green-brindled Crescent, the green flashes make it look like it has been "lichenised" when I took it out of the moth trap this morning. But then if it was resting on a tree trunk I am very much certain I wouldn't see it. I can't deny the Beaded Chestnut that kept it company is as interesting, but……   Superficially it is a dull brown species, but the the right light typical form has patches of metallic green scales giving it an attr...

Dotted Border - Agriopis marginaria I've not done much with the moth trap so far this year. The one time I did put it out in January it remained empty in the morning. Though I have found a few winter moths around the place. So this past weekend I put the trap out on the back lawn more in hope than expectation. Even though the night had been cold with temperature approaching freezing my pessimism was misplaced as I had a clutch of Common Quakers -  Orthosia cerasi , and a single Small Quaker - Orthosia cruda. But a new one to me was a single Dotted Border,  Agriopis marginaria.  I found another individual a few days later roosting (do moths roost?) in the porch at the front of the house. Though I can't exclude that it's the same individual having moved around the house. This is an attractive member of the Geometridae family of moths. The forewing can be between 16-20mm across in males. But in the females it is very much different, as this is one of the species o...

Eudasyphora cyanella The weather this week has been sunny, warm and very Spring like. It’s a shame that I've had to work throughout the week, whistfully looking out of the office window at the garden. Though I have allowed myself to have my coffee and lunch in sunshine. As it happens I’m not the only one taking advantage of the warm rays of sunshine. Sitting on the hedge basking in the sunshine are about 20 to 30 small greenish flies. Eudasyphora cyanella is certainly making the most of the warmth. It looks superficially very much like the green bottle flies that we are all so familiar with, the Lucillia, however they belong to a different family called Muscidae. The adults which are flying now are among the earliest of the flies that emerge after overwintering as adults. As the flight ages during spring its colour gradually changes from green to a bronze colour. The female lays her eggs in cow dung before midday in the warm sunny weather. Cow dung is very much the preferred...

Buffish Mining Bee 11 April 2019. Despite the sunny days the temperature in the garden is still not making it very comfortable to be outside without a coat. But this is not deterring the solitary bees. The Choisia was alive with them today, with over 6 male Red Mason Bees, Osmia bicomis, flying around busily. But then out of the corner of my eye I noticed a much bigger bee, originally thinking it was a larger female. I only had my iPhone with me but still a managed a reasonable photo. Looking through my books I decide it was  a female Andrena nigroaenea, confirmed by my gurus on the BWARS Facebook page. The Common Name - Buffish Mining Bee seems to suggest that those naming it couldn’t really think of anything more suitable. “It looks a little Buffish, can’t see any thing else about it - so what shall we call it?” The Buffish Mining Bee is also one of the largest Andrena species at around 14mm, and with a plumpish appearance. The abdomen is dark brown and the hind ...

During our walk in the summer along the Gower coast from Oxwich to Pitton Cross we came across 3 Black Oil Beetles,  Meloe proscarabaeus . I often found them at this time of year along this stretch of the Welsh coast. The cliff top path is flanked by wide and unimproved grass verges dotted with gorse and wind structured blackthorn shrubs. Maybe the path itself allows easier overs action of these weird looking beetles, but once seen it’s difficult to ignore the large black lumbering insect going about it’s business of ensuring the survival of the next generation. It’s common name of Black Oil Beetle is very apt, as they are black, but when the sun hits the body it can have a blue-violet sheen. Whilst this doesn’t make it a beauty, it does add it’s its charisma.  M. proscarabaeus  has a roughly square-shaped thorax, which has an almost square base with a very small rounded tooth at it’s base. It is these characteristics of the thorax that helps to differentiate it from ...

8th April 2019 As we sat down to have our coffee the other morning while walking the coastal path on Gower i was visited by one of my favourite beetles. In fact it is one of only 4 beetles I can easily identify without long periods of time staring at field guides. Mind you I’m not including Ladybirds in this short list. I have a fighting chance with them. The curiously named Bloody-nosed Beetle ( Trimarcha tenebricosa)  gets it’s name from a defensive reaction when threatened. It releases red coloured hemoplymph from it’s nose area (if a beetle has a nose that is). This apparently tastes foul, though I’m certainly not going to test it myself, intended to prevent anything from eating it. At between 18-23mm longs, it’s among the largest of beetles tat are found in the UK. The coastal path is an ideal environment of it to thrive as it favours grassland, heathland and hedgerows where Ladies Bedstraw and Cleavers(Goosegrass) are readily found for the larvae to feed upon. The life-c...

Just outside the patio doors leading to the back garden we have a small Bay tree in a pot. It’s being doing well there in its south east aspect, and receives full sun for half the day. Although the flowers are inconspicuous and only appear earlier in the year at this time in late summer it still attracts its fair share of visitors. Wasps and overflies seem to like it, searching for something that I can’t see. But the past two weeks I’ve noticed another visitor I’ve only seen occasionally, and then not in the garden. This is a solitary wasp and despite it’s diminutive size, only about 10mm, it ia a beauty. Being small and pretty active it was a challenge to get a decent photo, but I eventually managed to get a couple I’m happy with. Now I’m going to disappoint you here and tell you straight away that I can’t give you an exact name other than it is a Ruby-Tailed Wasp, a member of the Chrysis genus. Why am I being difficult? The reason is easy, and one I come up against often when tryin...

25 June 2019 I’ve made a surprising and interesting discovery this year in the garden. Perhaps that statement may be a little hyperbole. It’s not a new discovery to science, just to me. When bimbling around the garden this late spring and early summer I’ve noticed a number of very small flying insects zipping around and occasionally landing on the yellow leaves of a Choisia. Up until a couple of weeks ago I dismissed them as some sort on midge, and way beyond my poor identification skills to even consider for a nanosecond to try and ID. One morning when there was nothing much around I attempted a photograph anyway. Why you may ask. Well, because I could! When I looked at the image on the iPad later that day I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a miniature bee. One which had very distinctive facial markings. “Ohhh.....I wonder what that is?” I mumbled to myself. I have to mumble to myself, everyone else in the house tolerates my fumbling forays into the the world of ent...

It is always exciting to find a new moth I’ve never seen before whenever I open the moth trap in the morning. And this time was no exception. However, I was only able to take a record shot as it was clinging to the egg carton. It wasn’t interested in being manoeuvred onto my lichen covered twig for a more aesthetic shot and it escaped. So for now I’ll have to content myself with just the one photo. The Early Tooth-Striped,  Trichopteryx carpinata,  is a small moth with a wingspan of only 30-34mm (1,2). The base colour is grey, but can be variable taking on a browny grey colouration (1). The broad and rounded forewing have a series of cross bands which can be faint (1,2) but there is a sub-species f.fasciata in which the cross bands are bolder and darker (1,2). It’s not difficult to see where the English name came from. Distribution Map from NBN There is only one generation, with the adults on the wing April and May (1,2). The larvae can be found on the food plants...