Playing catch-up... Flatford Mill

 

We have returned from our Easter travels, and spent this afternoon closer to home at Flatford Mill. It was a rather grey scene, and judging by the size of the puddles, we arrived at a timely moment after a heavy downpour.

The lack of sunshine meant that there were few insects on the wing and no sign of newts in the pond. However, I kept a sharp eye open as we made our way along the towpath, and David took the photo above of what I believe are Green Dock Leaf Beetle (Gastrophysa viridula) eggs.

It was a joy to find Iris ...

... and Prunus in flower in the RSPB Wildlife Garden. I hope there will be butterflies on the wing when we go next time.

Iconic Flatford Mill

Butterfly and Moth Larvae... My Photos

Those of you who have visited my blog recently will know that I have been collating my photos of butterflies and moths. Today I am turning my attention to their larvae, beginning with the larvae of MOTHS...

Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia) larva, I'm guessing 5th instar, Dunwich Heath, Suffolk,

 

Mullein moth larva, RSPB Wildlife Garden, Flatford, Suffolk, 2017

Above and below: Drinker moth (Euthrix potatoria) larva, Flatford, Suffolk, 2016

Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea) larva

Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis) larva, St Columba's inland island (photo here),
Snizort River on Skye, 2010

Fox Moth (Macrthylacia rubi)
early instar larva on Raasay, Inner Hebrides, Sept. 2009

Tent of Brown-tail (Euproctis Chrysorrhoea) moth larvae, Spurn peninsula, April 2009

More Brown tail larvae, RSPB Holme Dunes, Norfolk, 2017

*

Moving on to the larvae of DAY-FLYING MOTHS

6-spot Burnet (Zygaena Filipendulae), Mwnt, Pembrokeshire

Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) larva, Snape, Suffolk

Cinnabar moth larvae on (stripped) Ragwort, Snape, Suffolk

* * *

The larvae of BUTTERFLIES

Swallowtail (Papilio machaon britannicus) larva, Norfolk

Swallowtail, devouring Milk Parsley, Norfolk

Swallowtail larva, Norfolk

Swallowtail larva, Norfolk

Swallowtail on Milk Parsley umbels

I'm guessing this is a first instar Swallowtail larva, Norfolk

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) larvae, WWT Welney, Norfolk, 2016

Peacock (Aglais io) larva, RSPB Minsmere, 2016

Large White (Pieris brassicae) larvae, RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden, Suffolk

Large White larvae, NT Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk

This is not a very scientific post, I'm afraid, but I wanted to group my photos together. I hope it shows something of the diversity in terms of colour, hairiness and shape of a small selection of our UK lepidoptera larvae. As ever, if you spot an error, please feel free to drop a line in the Comments section...

More Butterflies at RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden

Some days ago we paid a return visit to Flatford RSPB Wildlife Garden, hoping that there would be some butterflies about. A couple of male Orange Tips flitted past us almost immediately, followed by a magnificent male Brimstone. 

We always find the bank to the right of the photo (behind the picnic table) a good place for insects, and once again this proved to be the case. 

A female Orange Tip - these proved easier to photograph than their males counterparts.

Sadly we failed to see any Holly Blues. Blue butterflies are among my favourites...

A Peacock in the Ceanothus

A bee on the Alliums.

There were several Cardinal Beetles about, including this one on one of the log piles.

You can see the small white comma on the outer wing above, giving these butterflies their name.

Before heading home, we wandered down to the bridge at Flatford.

Just as we were leaving we noticed this well camouflaged but iridescent beetle (below). We certainly seem to be on the cusp of 'insect season': there were dancing Mayflies in the Flatford garden and we had a Cockchafer banging on our window at home last night. I saw my first 2017 damselfly in the garden yesterday afternoon. Speaking of firsts, it has been lovely to hear the cuckoo on two occasions, but I have yet to see my first bat...

RSPB Garden, Flatford - Insects Emerging

We paid a short visit to the RSPB Wildlife Garden in Flatford, home of the artist John Constable.

It was not particularly sunny, and there was a breeze about, but we managed to spot a few insects.

The photo above shows a corner of the dedicated Wildlife Garden, and the photo below shows the scene from the bridge above the Stour, including Bridge Cottage, in the care of the National Trust.

One of the volunteers in the garden helped us to see an Orange Tip egg, which you can just make out as a golden yellow dot on this stem of Jack-by-the-Hedge (aka Garlic Mustard).

You can see a close-up Orange tip butterfly egg here.

I saw one adult Orange tip, but failed to photograph it.

We noticed a couple of Peacocks in a sheltered spot.

I believe the creature above is some kind of parasitoid Wasp.

I was admiring the rosemary when I noticed this Rosemary Beetle. What a fine-looking insect, but what a pest (do check your lavender, rosemary and sage: you can report your own sightings here). We came home to find one of these beetles on our lavender bush...

There was a Queen wasp (something like Vespula germanica?) on the wooden planks.

Despite one or two less welcome visitors, it was a joy to see the emergence of a variety of insects.

Ladybird with a black blotch

I am always on the look-out for unusual Ladybirds! And in my neck of the woods I have seen very few Ladybirds of any kind in recent days.

The one in these photos was making the most of the aphids on the Nasturtium leaves at the RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden last weekend.

It looks large in the photos, but it was 7-spot-sized rather than Harlequin. The large black blotch on the elytra intrigued me. I was informed by the UK Ladybird Survey that a previous Ladybird with unusual markings was indeed a 7-spot, but that the insect in question had probably suffered from frost damage or had received its markings on account of a genetic mutation. The black blotch on this Flatford Ladybird shows up particularly well in the last photo, as the insect scuttles into the Nasturtium plant.

STOP PRESS: on the subject of collecting insect data (as opposed to the current craze for imaginary figures ...), take a look at this thought-provoking post from the Centre for Hydrology and Ecology.