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| Green Hairstreak, 29 May 2020 (second garden sighting) |
We are enjoying a healthy variety of insect life in our unmown 'mini-meadow' garden at present. We have two patches of (?self-seeded/bird-seeded) Ox-eye Daisies. It seems we are in
good company for King's College in Cambridge also has a mass of these flowers, to the delight of head gardener, Steven Coghill. The stunning Cambridge 'meadow' appeared in a Twitter pic. posted by
@acambridgediary earlier this evening.
I have noticed in other years that these flowers attract a range of insects. I have already started to photograph invertebrates on Dandelions, so I thought I would do the same with these showy white-and-yellow heads. I will add more photos as I go along. I know some of the insects I have seen or am hoping to see (no sighting of a Thick-legged Flower Beetle to date...), but please let me know if you recognise anything, or if you notice a mistake!
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| Query: Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equistris), 26 May 2020 |
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| Mother Shipton, 27 May 2020, a garden first |
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| 26 May 2020 |
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| 25 May 2020 |
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| Mint Moth, 22 May 2020 |
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| Carpet Beetle, 26 May 2020 |
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| Blackfly and ?ant (where are the ladybirds?), 26 May 2020 |
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| 26 May 2020 |
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| 28 May 2020 |
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| 28 May 2020 |
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| 28 May 2020 |
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| 7-spot Ladybird on stem, 1 June 2020 |
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| Detail of Ruby-tailed Wasp above, like a glitter ball! |
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?Moth (antennae to short for Longhorn?), 1 June 2020
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| Peacock butterfly, 1 June 2020, taken by David Gill |
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| Malachite Beetle, 3 June 2020 |
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| Cantharis rustica, 3 June 2020 |
Hi Caroline, lovely photos! Ox eye daisies are such wonderful flowers for insects themselves and for photographing insects on! I think the second photo in the post is a narcissus bulb fly (Merodon equistris) though it may be another species of hoverfly bee mimic
ReplyDeleteLovely photos and a great idea to take photos of insects on Ox-eye daisies. You have already seen a great selection :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, CGP and RR, for your kind comments, and CGP, for the ID.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely collection of photographs showing the wonderful Ox eye daisies and the insects.
ReplyDeleteSending my good wishes, have a happy new month of June … May seemed to whizz by!
All the best Jan