10 Jul 24

Wakeham

It was yet another busy day in the back garden, digging over flowerbeds and removing lots of weeds.

Below are a few photos of the wildlife I came across as I dug my way up the garden.

This is a male Azure Damselfly on a Lily Pad in the "Bath" Pond and............

............further down the garden was this female.

This Red Admiral was sunning itself on the wall. But what was that insect that joined it a little bit later. A moth possibly!

It appears that it is a moth and a member of the Cosmopterigidae family. There are.........

.....three very similar looking species to this one, with Pellitory Beauty (Cosmopterix pulchrimella) being the most likely as.........

.............the food plant of this species is Pellitory-of-the-wall (Parietaria judaicais) of which there is an abundance of along the garden wall. The food plants of other Cosmopterix are reeds and hops.

 

...............The second reason I believe it is a Pellitory Beauty, is that this species was first discovered in Dorset in Walditch, 13 Oct 01 and has since spread to much of southern England. More on this moth here and here, and Pellitory-of-the-wall here.

And here is a short slow-motion video of the Pellitory Beauty.

The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)

A Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)

And this is a Four-spot Wingwaver (Herina lugubris)

A male Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

This is a brown coloured variation of a Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

A Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)

A Zebra Spider (Salticus scenicus)

And a Copper Sun-jumper (Heliophanus cupreus)

Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)