Day 20 #30DaysWild: Update on the Wildflower Seeds provided by Butterfly Conservation (Suffolk)

Back on 4 April, the day we on which we saw the only Comma we have seen in the garden so far, we planted a little pack of wildflower seeds that had arrived with our copy of The Suffolk Argus (vol. 77) from the Suffolk branch of Butterfly Conservation. I am glad to report that the seedlings and young plants survived swarms of blackfly and are just bursting into flower.

The Cornflower above was first to open...

...followed by this daisy-like flower (I must learn what this is)...

... and then finally this Corn marigold.

I so hope that these flowers will indeed attract more butterflies to the garden. It has been windy for much of the day, but I have seen five Meadow Browns, one Large White, one Holly Blue and...

...this beautiful Skipper. We have had Skippers in the garden before, but they are not frequent visitors. I so hope there will be more tomorrow. 

But where are the red butterflies, the Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells and Red Admirals? Perhaps we will see more of these when the Buddleia comes into flower. Meanwhile I must update my sightings on the Garden Butterfly Survey. 

Oh, and I must add one final picture. Some of you may have read my post on our Nasturtiums for Dr Miriam Darlington's #30DaysWildCreativity meme for Day 17... well, the first flower opened today as you can see below. I hope it will attract insects. 

P.S. Is this a hoverfly nest in my next post, please?

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.

Rosemary Beetle ... not such good news!

Rosemary Beetle (Chrysolina americana)

Those of you who have read my recent posts will know that I have been keeping an eye on a clump of Nasturtiums. I was examining the plants this morning when my eye alighted on a small Ladybird-like beetle on the post above. I took a closer look and noticed some iridescent stripes of red. The creature looked most unusual.

The Rosemary Beetle was centimetres away from our old Ladybird house. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, this is the season for feeding, mating and the laying of eggs. Perhaps the insect was checking out the shelter we had provided.

These non-native beetles were first recorded in Britain in 1994. I have added this sighting to the RHS Rosemary Beetle Survey. I note that others have been found in Suffolk.

We do not actually have any Rosemary in our garden, but these creatures also eat Lavender.

This flaboyant beetle reminds me of the young Gerald Durrell's magical encounters with the Rose-beetle Man. I wonder what I will find in, on or around my Nasturtium patch next. 

Nasturtiums (again) ... snail, trail and butterfly eggs

You can see the snail's slime trail lower right.

I took another look at the Nasturtiums yesterday. In fact I positioned a garden chair next to them so that I could have a proper look. Unlike the day before, there were no Small White caterpillars in sight, but there were a few snail trails. It was not long before I noticed the tiny snail in the photo above. Its shall was considerably smaller than my little fingernail.

I know incredibly little about snail identification. Certainly the spire was very flattened (a contradiction in terms, it seems to me!), which might suggest a species similar to Oxychilus cellarius, though the body is not the typical blue-grey.

There was also a cluster of yellow eggs, which I imagined would belong to the Small Whites ... I flipped the leaf over gently for a couple of photographs and let go afterwards.

... however, a bit of research showed that Small Whites lay single eggs. Large Whites lay clusters at the rate of four eggs a minute, so I think these are Large White butterfly eggs. 

As I made my way back to the house, I noticed this Cranefly checking out (or perhaps 'checking in to') one of our insect hotels ...

... I'm not sure how well it would fit through the bamboo holes! 

Whose been nibbling my Nasturtiums?

I thought the nasturtiums were looking a bit droopy, and wondered if it was just on account of the heavy rain. A quick glance was all that was needed to show that there was an additional reason for their appearance ...

These fine caterpillars will turn into Small White butterflies. At this larval stage, their favourite foods are cruciferous vegetables and, no surprises here, nasturtiums!

There has been a recent flurry of books about butterflies and moths. A couple are high up on my current wish-list. Meanwhile here is a link to an excellent article entitled Butterfly Enchantment by Sue Brooks on the Caught by the River site. Happy reading! 

Early Autumn ... a mixed bag

Hoverfly Syrphus sp. (I think) on the last of my Californian Poppies

I spent ten or twelve minutes in our garden with my camera this afternoon, having a look around to see what was about. There was a dragonfly, but it was on the wing and never gave me the chance to see it properly. I could hear a few birds rustling in the bushes, but the only one to break cover was a female Blackbird. There were a number of insects, as you will see ...

Hoverfly Syrphus sp.

.

Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus (I think)

Early autumn berries on the Hawthorn

Blackberries arriving over the garden fence!

The photograph above intrigued me. There is a Small White (Pieris rapae) caterpillar on my Nasturtium leaf, but what is that white mark at the tip of of my orange arrow?

As far as I can see, caterpillars do not leave a trail of slime in the way that slugs and snails do. However, I have discovered from Reg Fry on the UKLeps website (you will need to search or scroll down once you have clicked the link) that White (Pierid) caterpillars spin a silkpad as part of the pupation process.

Intriguingly, it does not actually look to me as though the 'silk' in my photos is going to be used in this way. Do let me know if you have any thoughts.

I wish my photographs were clearer, but I was leaning over an unruly clump of wild honeysuckle, and had no wish to topple over! 

Close-up of ?silk

The photo above shows a couple of Nasturtium plants that have largely survived the onslaught of the caterpillars thus far. However, as you can see the leaves have been eroded by Leaf Miners (you will need to scroll down once you have clicked the link). I blogged about these two years ago in July. My Nasturtiums have been much later this year.

What interests me, though, is whether any of the parasitic wasps that have frequented this part of our garden around my insect hotel have been laying eggs in the Miner larvae. This thought may not be for the squeamish!

Above: something more straight forward - a Daddy Longlegs or Cranefly. I expect these will soon be making their way into our homes. 

And finally, a Shieldbug nymph (I think it is the Common Shieldbug nymph, 4th instar, but, as ever, please let me know if this is not correct).

I shall try out my ten to twelve minute observation exercise again. Who knows what I may have missed this afternoon!

Nasturtiums at Last!

I plant very few seeds. This year I planted Nasturtiums and Californian Poppies. The latter have done surprisingly well, but I have hardly seen a Nasturtium in flower until now. 

I suspect this is the reason! My plants are being devoured at a rapid rate by hungry caterpillars.

It would be interesting to know whether the leaf veins are intended to draw the larvae towards the centre of the plant.

The good news is that while I doubt there will be (m)any Nasturtium flowers left, at least there should be a very healthy brood of Large White Butterflies!