14 Jun 19

Wakeham

After a few days of wet miserable weather, the sun finally came out today. So it was back to the meadow and track across the road from the cottage, to see what was about. And I wasn't disappointed with lots of insects in the hedgerows and grasses.

As there are a quite a few images, I will suspense with the write up here and add my comments to the images below.

Bordering the track and meadow are a lot of brambles and buddleia, supporting a wide variety of wildlife.

Here with have a worn Red Admiral on the brambles.

This interesting looking moth is a Silver Y (Autographa gamma) and is my first for this year. It is one of the most commonly seen daytime flying moths and gets its name from those silvery Y markings on its wings.

Normally found in and around grass this Hook-streak Grass-veneer moth (Crambus lathoniellus) decided to pose for me on a bramble leaf.

With the sun out there were plenty of bees especially these.......

......................Garden Bumblebee, Bombus hortorum.

There were dozens of these Red-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius) out today.

A Common Carder Bee, Bombus pascuorum takes off.

This is one of the Andrena bees.

A Potter Wasp with a lot of very similar species..........

.........not a wasp you can be 100% certain with its identity, but this is a good contender for an Ancistrocerus trifasciatus

Two Amblyteles armatorius Ichneumon Wasps

This pale but neatly marked hoverfly is..........

............an Epistrophe diaphana and a new hoverfly for me on Portland.

A Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) resting on a bramble leaf, with dozens more flying around the Hedge Mustard close-by.

This is a Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata) which feeds on nectar, however it is also a predator and catches other insects using its long pointed proboscis to pierce their bodies.

This is one of the Tephritidae Fruit flies, but as to which one is anyone's guess. Here are a few to choose from at NatureSpot Here...................

Answers on a postcode!! Turns out it is a Tephritis bardanae and is often called the Common Fruit Fly.

A 7-spot Ladybird - Coccinella septempunctata.

This very distinctive red and black bug is a Cinnamon Bug, Corizus hyoscyami and my second one on Portland in as many days.

A Dock Bug, Coreus marginatus. I found a couple of these today in the meadow.

A pair of Common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina) mating.

This is a final instar nymph of a Red-legged Shieldbug, Pentatoma rufipes. Not sure if it's the same as the one I found a couple of days, but it was certainly in the same bramble.

A male Swollen-thighed Beetle, Oedemera nobilis

Judging by the size of this cricket I suspect it was a Great Green Bush Cricket, Tettigonia viridissima. As soon as I got down to ground level to check it disappeared!!

A Crab Spider, Xysticus audax and a new one for me on Portland.

Garden Snail, Cornu aspersa

The caterpillar of the Lackey moth

This is either a 5 or 6 spot Burnet Moth. I'm not sure how you actually separate them.

The Burnet Moth caterpillar was actually on the bottom leaves of this plant.......

.........which I believe is Yellow-wort (Blackstonia perfoliata)

And another flower which is about to come into bloom is this Weld/Dyers Rocket (Reseda luteola) which was very popular with the Red-tailed Bumblebees

And Finally 😥

As I made my way home I crossed the road and just up the road were several Herring Gulls squabbling for food that had been thrown onto the road. Unfortunately, as is the norm here in Wakeham, a speeding motorist drove straight at them and killed this individual.


Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

Butterflies Recorded: 3 Common Blue, 1 Holly Blue, 1 Red Admiral and 3 Meadow Brown.

Moths Recorded: 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella), Silver Y (Autographa gamma) and 1 Hook-streak Grass-veneer moth (Crambus lathoniellus)

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees, Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) and an Andrena sp.

Wasps Recorded: Potter Wasp (Ancistrocerus trifasciatus)

Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: 2 Amblyteles armatorius

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and an Epistrophe diaphana.

Flies Recorded: Common Fruit Fly (Tephritis bardanae) and a Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea), Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), 3 Common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina), 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami), a final instar nymph of a Red-legged Shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes) and a Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus).

Slugs and Snails Recorded: White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis) and a Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)

Grasshoppers and Crickets Recorded: Dark Bush-cricket nymphs (Pholidoptera griseoaptera) and a Great Green Bush Cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)

Caterpillars Recorded: 5 or 6 Spot Burnet Moth and a Lackey moth

Spiders Recorded: Crab Spider (Xysticus audax)

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On this day..........

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

2017
Today's Sightings Here.