Pearls, Moth flies and goslings

Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Boloria euphrosyne

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On Saturday morning I joined Neil Hulme’s tour for the Pearl-bordered Fritillary. This was part of Neil’s “Fritillaries for the Future” project for Butterfly Conservation. As usual Neil found roosting Pearls for us to see and photograph and gave us a comprehensive account of the needs of the butterfly and the conservation work required to enable it to prosper. Afterwards I visited Arundel WWT and photographed the micro fauna around the car park area. The following day I returned for more.

Greylag Goose gosling at Arundel WWT, Anser anser

Pearl and tour participants

Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Boloria euphrosyne

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Nomad bee

Bugle, Ajuga reptans

Bugle is a major nectar source for insects in the Spring

Click beetle, id needed

Dance Fly, Empis Opaca

male Green Longhorn, Adela reaumurella

male Green Longhorn

Grey Gorse Piercer, Cydia ulicetana

Lesser Treble-bar, Aplocera efformata

Slime mould?

ant around 'slime mould' above

Wild Strawberry, Fragaria vesca
foodplant of the Grizzled Skipper

Arundel WWT:

Greylag Goose gosling, Anser anser

Chironomid midge

Chironomid midge

Common Flower Bug, Anthocoris nemorum

Common Stretch Spider, Tetragnatha extensa

Common Stretch Spider

Common Cosmet, Mompha epilobiella

Craneflies mating - id needed

Cranefly, Nephrotoma species

Cucumber Green Spider, Araniella cucurbitina

Hoverfly, Leucozona lucorum

Pollen Beetle, Meligethes aeneus

Flea beetle, Phyllotreta species

fly, id needed

Furrow Orbweaver, Larinioides cornutus

Green Alkanet, Pentaglottis sempervirens

Green Alkanet

Green Leafhopper, Empoasca vitis

Hoverfly, Leucozona lucorum

Midge - id needed

Midge - id needed

Midge - id needed

Moth Fly, Pericoma species

The Moth Fly did a dance around a Salix leaf and then moved to an adjacent leaf and repeated the dance. I assume this was a male attempting to attract a female.

Moth Fly

Potato Flea Beetle, Psylliodes affinis

Spider, Dictyna uncinata

St. Mark's Flies mating, Bibio marci

St. Mark's Fly

Crab spiders and an Orange-tip egg

male Early Mining Bee, Andrena haemorrhoa

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

A trip to Rewell Wood yesterday afternoon gave me two Crab Spiders with hoverflies. They were the colour of the Wood Spurge, such camouflage. In both cases I saw the hoverfly first and only spotted the crab spider when I checked why the fly was immobile. I inspected the only patch of Cuckoo Flowers and the tallest of the three had an Orange-tip egg attached. I heard my first Cuckoo of the year.

Early Mining Bee

beetle - id needed

Plant bug, Stenodema species

Crab Spider, Misumena vatia with Hoverfly, Syrphus ribesii

Dance fly, Empis tessellata

Fly, Meiosimyza species

female Green Longhorn moth, Adela reaumurella

male Green Longhorn

Hairy Shieldbug, Dolycoris baccarum

Orange-tip egg, Anthocharis cardamines

Arundel WWT car park:

Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata

Strawberry Blossom Weevil, Anthonomus rubi on Garlic Mustard