And then there was one

What a difference the sunshine made yesterday when I saw notably more insects and other kinds of wildlife in the garden than I had been expecting. Today's weather is not dissimilar, but I missed the only fleetingly sunny spell, and consequently was 'rewarded' with a mere score of one, the tiny creature you see in the record shot above. My camera can just about cope with small insects in good light, but today's cloudy conditions were far from ideal.

But it seems to be an interesting sighting nevertheless. The plant is a wild Honeysuckle or Woodbine, and has earned its keep by being an excellent host in the past for insects such as Ruby-tailed Wasps, like this one, which was on my ladybird house one summer, beside the Woodbine.

Today's insect in the top photo (not the wasp above) was only a few millimetres long, possibly half a centimetre. I would describe its movement as a 'scuttle'. Centipedes, woodlice and earwigs came to mind, but it did not appear to be any of these. I thought the light brown patches might provide a clue, but it seems quite a lot of insects can boast this type of pigment.

I must add the photo to iSpot and see if help is at hand, but for now it seems to me that it might be a Rove beetle, perhaps at the nymph stage (update: 'nymph' is wrong- please read on). We have had Rove beetles in the garden before, but never so early in the season, and never above ground level. I hope I can solve today's little mystery.

Meanwhile, there are some good Rove beetle photos here, here and here. And thank you so much for yesterday's comments...

And now (20 April 2020), thank you so much for your new comments. Once again I will post Conehead's identification notes in case anyone misses them as it seems important to clear up an error on my part, an error I should never have made as I am familiar with ladybird instars and the like! ...

Conehead54 writes: Agree it's a species of rove beetle. However beetles don't have nymphs- only insects with an incomplete metamorhosis (eg true bugs, grasshoppers, dragonflies) have these. Beetles have a complete metamorphosis which means their immature stages are a series of larval instars that then pupate before becoming adult. The larvae of beetles (like caterpillar to moth or butterfly) look nothing like the adult.

Mystery Insect, Possibly Cuckoo Wasp

This insect was in my Suffolk garden today (it was actually on 15th, but I'm keeping holiday posts together). I'm wondering if it might be a solitary bee or a cuckoo wasp (or possibly a kind of fly). We see Ruby-tailed Wasps most years. Please leave a comment if you know ...

Update: thanks to a kind enthusiast on iSpot, it seems it may well be a Tachinid fly, possibly genus Cylindromyia.And further thanks to Conehead54 who tells me in the Comments below that it is 'Eriothrix rufomaculata, which is a parasitoid of various moth larvae.'

Beech Branch Mystery at NT Ickworth

Pheasant at NT Ickworth, Suffolk, 4 January 2016

Happy New Year! 

We were wandering through the delightful grounds at NT Ickworth, looking for early signs of spring, when our eyes alighted on this strange object on a beech twig. You can see the beech buds at the end of the branches, but what is the strange white bundle?

While I am intrigued by a mystery, I am also curious enough to enjoy the satisfaction of finding the answer, often with a little help from my friends! So please drop a line in the comments or on my @coastcard twitter account if you can help.

It may be just a decaying leaf, but we suspect it may be an overwintering pupa or cocoon of some sort.

I note incidentally that there are lepidoptera like the barred Hook-tip moth (Watsonalla contraria) which sandwich their pupa between two beech leaves.  

NT Ickworth

I am reminded that the term marcescence refers to leaves (like many beech leaves) that dry up but do not fall off in the autumn. 

May 2016 bring many more wildlife mysteries and wonders to our attention!

Carlton Marshes ... Spiders and Fluff

The fluffy thing above is a mystery is to me. Is it a moth cocoon? We saw it on Monday at Carlton Marshes. I feel I have seen this sort of thing before, but may be thinking of a kind of feather or the fluff from Rosebay Willowherb! Do please let me know if you have an idea ...

© David Gill 2014

The web contraptions in the pictures above and below definitely marked a couple of spiders' lairs.

Carlton Marshes is one of only a very few sites in the UK where you can find Fen Raft Spiders. I have not been lucky yet, but one of these days we hope to see one. Meanwhile I shall enjoy their blog ... here!

Animal, Vegetable or Mineral? ~ ID Request

I saw this *mystery* at Carlton Marshes in an area of long dry grass ten days ago. I assumed it would be a kind of cocoon, but with the magnification of the photograph, I am not so sure.

I can fairly safely discount 'mineral', but is this 'animal' (e.g. cocoon/s) or 'vegetable' (fungi or mould perhaps ...)? Something akin to ergot came to mind, but ergot doesn't seem to fit.

Do let me know if you can solve my mystery! Thank you.

* * *

 STOP PRESS, 10 SEPTEMBER 2013   My sincere thanks to all who put in their pennyworth in the Comments below. I *believe* Wilma may have set me on the right track with her suggestion of water snail eggs or egg cases. It is not something that would have crossed my mind, but the stalk was just by a special water course inhabited by rare Fen Raft Spiders (which sadly I didn't see), so it sounds plausible. Unfortunately the wind was blowing, as it often does over the marshes and fens in my region, and it was hard to get the camera to focus on a single swaying strand of grass! Take a look at these pages here and here and ... and although these ones found by Google are of Apple Snails in the USA rather than a snail species at Carlton Marsh, I think you will get the picture. Thank you all once again!

 LATEST UPDATE, 11 SEPTEMBER 2013   It seems it may be 'vegetable' rather than 'animal' after all! Phil of the Cabinet of Curiosities blog has offered the following: 'Hi Caroline, There's a photograph of something similar at http://homepage.eircom.net/~hedgerow16/oct21.htm. There's a discomycete fungus called Lachnum virgineum that looks rather similar when it has dried out a bit, which sometimes grows on dead plant stems...' Thank you, very much, Phil, for this. 

 LATEST UPDATE, 9 APRIL 2014 

Neil Mahler said...

You can safely rule out fungi Caroline. Way too big for any type of Lachnum. Egg cases is more on the right track methinks.
Neil Mahler, County Fungus Recorder, Suffolk.

9 April 2014 00:34

Mystery (1): WWT ... animal or vegetable (not mineral) remains?

What is this? Spotted in the WWT Llanelli lake where we often watch dragonflies ...

Is it just a decaying leaf or is it some kind of cocoon structure?

Do leave a comment to let me know your thoughts!