Monday, 6 May 2024

A Mixed Bag of Bank Holiday Sightings from our Garden and Local Nature Reserve

14-spot Ladybirds mating on a nettle in our garden this morning

 

A rolled-up oak leaf on the reserve ... which may suggest that the dangling caterpillar below

... is the larva of Oak Leaf Roller moth Tortrix viridana

... though it could be the larval stage of the Winter moth (Operophtera)


Back in the garden, the caterpillar of the Bagworm (moth)

... turning this way and that



Garden: a Nursery Web spider (left) and a spider exoskeleton (right)

The exoskeleton

A parasitised caterpillar with eggs, apparently (thanks to iSpot), and claspers showing

If I receive more information from the kind iSpot enthusiasts, I will update the page.

2 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

Hi Caroline, some interesting observations there! BBC Springwatch might be very interested in your lovely photo of the two ladybirds mating. They're specifically looking for photos of mating insects for this year's show

Caroline Gill said...

Thank you, CGP, for the Springwatch heads-up. I will certainly take a look. Sadly, the photo is barely more than a record shot on account of the blur.