Friday 17 April 2020
Still some sun but a windier day with more cloud so rather few insects and no bird sightings of note
New today were
- the froghopper
Empoasca vitis
- the mining bee
Andrena bicolor
- the hoverfly
Epistrophe eligans
Photos of these and a few other things.
This tiny bright green insect is most likely the froghopper
Empoasca vitis (no vernacular name). Note the serrations on the hind legs. There are several similar species that are mostly seen later in the year.
I do find mining bees hard. This though seems quite straightforward with back hairs on the face, gingery hairs on the thorax and a blackish abdomen with pale hairs between the segments. Thus it is an
Andrena bicolor (no vernacular name either). New for my garden list.
Are the facial hairs black here? If so it has a grey beard! I cannot see why this not also an
Andrena bicolor.
This hoverfly has the build of the drone flies but is noticeably smaller. The bands on the body are very variable – this was typical of several noted today. It is
Epistrophe eligans (also no vernacular name). Common in April and May and rather easier to approach to than many insects. Also new for my garden list.
As previously noted many of the small hoverflies rest with closed wings obscuring the markings necessary for identification. Sometimes, as here, it is possible to manoeuvre without disturbing the insect and get the angle of the light such that the markings can be seen. This is a Marmalade Hoverfly (
Episyrphus balteatus). Most easily separated from the Chequered Hoverfly (
Melanostoma scalare) by the faint stripes on the thorax. That said there are several similar, though less common, species.
I found this flower lurking in deep cover under a hedge. Not surprisingly as it is Hedge Garlic (
Alliaria petiolata). Perhaps its shady location is responsible for the rather late date – I usually see and eat the leaves of this nutritious plant from the first few days of April. Has many alternative local names and as the most common name implies it smells and tastes of garlic, especially the leaves.
(Ed Wilson)
******************************************************************************
Saturday 18 April 2020
Cloudy all day with some rain late morning. Nothing seen and no photos
******************************************************************************
Sunday 19 April 2020
Highlight today was the trio of Sand Martins seen flying NE at 12:30. I am sure these pass overhead every year. Catching these as they migrate through has to be ‘right place at right time’. There are no breeding colonies or water bodies close-enough for them to be common.
Otherwise my first Ashy Mining Bee (
Andrena cineraria) was notable. A very distinctive and smart bee.
Some good photo opportunities today:
I am still finding bees rather confusing. This has reddish-brown hairs on the abdomen and a dark thorax. It seems to be a female Red Mason Bee (
Osmia bicornis). Males have a white tuft of hairs on the face.
Whereas this is reddish-brown on the thorax and has a dark abdomen. It seems to be an Early Mining Bee (
Andrena haemorrhoa). Probably a female as males tend to be paler. Note the very dense hairs on the hind-leg.
And this has reddish-brown on both the thorax and abdomen (but not the head). It is a female Tawny Mining Bee (
Andrena fulva).
Compare with the Early Mining Bee. The hairs on the thorax of this bee are rather sparse and the abdomen is very shiny. I think it is a male Blue Mason Bee (
Osmia caerulescens).
Here it is: my first Ashy Mining Bee (
Andrena cineraria). It is a male with all white hairs on the face. My initial though was that this was a small bumblebee – this specimen does have that dumpy build.
Here is a ichneumon wasp sp., worth a look even if I cannot specifically identify it. Seems to be waving its long and banded antenna. Several distinctive features including the cloud in the wings; the orange band on the abdomen; and the black and yellow pattern on the legs. These closely match
Ichneumon suspiciosus, though that has a white spot on the thorax and the tail and a smaller wing cloud.
This is the hoverfly
Dasysyrphus venustus with the upward curving yellow bars. There is a similar species, generally flying later in the season, with bars more creamy-white in colour.
Not a special hoverfly, just an arresting view of a male Tapered Drone Fly (
Eristalis pertinax). A male because the eyes meet.
A more normal view of the same individual.
To my eyes the femur (upper segment) of the hind leg on this
Syrphus hoverfly is yellow and thus it is
S. ribesii? Well probably not –necessarily. This a male and while none of my books tell me what colour the legs of the males are the implication is that males
S. ribesii and S. vitripennis cannot be separated. So
Syrphus sp. it stays.
Had to take advice on this. The markings suggest a female
Epistrophe eligans but this is a much brighter yellow than usual. I am reliably informed this is just what it is. And no that is not a pointed tail, a sting or an ovipositor. She is just rubbing his back legs together.
Can’t such much about this other than it is a female (pointed abdomen) crane-fly, probably of the genus
Tipula. Note the halteres (knobbed vestigial hind-wings) between the two hind pairs of legs.
A fly worth showing as it prepares to fall down a hole in a laurel leaf. It is very similar to
Scathophaga sp. (dung flies) but I cannot specifically identify it.
Three for the price of one: a fly, a coin and a nail. I can identify two – a one penny piece and part of my dirty thumbnail. The tiny black fly is a problem. For its size it has very large wings and long antennae – indeed it appears to have only one antenna. In fact I doubt it is a true fly and it is likely an aphid. It closely resembles photos on the inter-web of Common Maple Aphid (
Periphyllus testudinaceus)
Here is a close-up.
This thin dead twig had just broken off a silver birch tree. It exhibits several interesting growths of lichen and the small orange fungus. It just might be Common Jellyspot (
Dacrymyces stillatus).
A correction to my last posting of Hawthorn (
Crataegus sp.) flowers. These are they. I was misled by a flower on a cherry tree sucker that was growing through the hawthorn hedge!
(Ed Wilson)
******************************************************************************
Monday 20 April 2020
Garden highlight today was the arrival of the Swifts over their nest sites around the older houses in Newport town and easily visible from my house. A date several days earlier than usual.
Two new hoverfly species to add to my growing collection
- The Footballer (
Helophilus pendulus)
-
Meliscaeva auricollis
As usual a collection of insects photos:
Another posing female Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva), This one then turned around ...
... to give me a view of its facial horns.
A smart-looking Common Wasp (
Vespula vulgaris). Separate from similar wasps by the pointed black marks down the centre of the abdomen. I have never previously noted the black hairs on the face of this species.
A front-on view of a Tapered Drone Fly (
Eristalis pertinax). Note that it is using its hind legs to clean its wings making it look rather strange.
One of the ‘difficult to separate’ Syrphus group, especially as it is a male.
I guess it is the angle of the light but this Syrphus hoverfly show faint stripes on the thorax.
This is a male
Helophilus pendulus hoverfly, a species sometimes known as The Footballer (on account of its stripes) or Sun fly (because it likes sunbathing). As usual I read “there are several similar species” but a key on the Naturespot web site identifies it as this species by the extent of yellow on the hind tibia. In addition to the usual ‘do the eyes meet?’ it is only the males of this species where the third pair of yellow marks is slightly lozenge shaped – on females they are more horizontal.
The dark face stripe below the antenna eliminates one of the confusion species.
And this gives a clear view of the extent of dark and yellow on the hind tibia confirming its identity. New for my garden list.
I read “there are numerous similarly marked, narrow-bodied species”. Helpful! In the shade this is the hoverfly
Meliscaeva auricollis. A new species for me.
A side-one sunny view of the same.
A strange posture – the front legs forward looking like long antenna. I am sure it is a midge. There are very few images on the web to help me. An interesting insect.
(Ed Wilson)
