An Australian invader

 
I have seen this moth quite a bit around in the garden since the 5th of March, and yesterday I took some shots of it and identified it as Epiphyas postvittana, the Light Brown Apple Moth. This Australian native leaf-rolling moth is a generalist feeder regarded as a minor agricultural pest, mostly of apples, in the UK, where it was introduced in the 1930s. The larva feeds on a range of fruit trees and vegetables, by making a silky retreat from which it can feed undisturbed. Adults are dimorphic and also rather variable, although males have a more sharply defined pattern (I think the one above is a male).
It is the first time I come across an Australian invader in the garden.

More info at UKmoths.

A wet bee on bluebells

Continuing with the rain theme. Here you have a shot I took earlier of a soaking wet Melecta albifrons, during a brief sunny spell. She was still alert enough to offer me her middle leg (a defensive behaviour of bees and bumblebees) when I touched her.

Chameleon bug

I took this portrait of a Green Shieldbug during a light shower today. There are three Green Shieldbugs feeding on the spurge, one of them, is the brightest green:

Compare with one I found at the end of March:

A brown, pinkish-purple individual. It is hard to believe they are the same species, but this colour change, which can happens in a few days, is typical of Green Shieldbugs. There is a single generation per year, with green adults emerging at the end of the summer. In November, the Green Shieldbug turns a dark bronze brown, which merges it better with its surroundings during overwintering. Come spring, adults emerge from their overwintering sites and climb over trees and bushes to feed, mate and lay eggs, and they go back to green again. A true chameleon bug!

Ups and downs of ladybirds

I came across a 2 spot ladybird today on the way home (above, being checked by a garden ant). This ladybird species seems to have been the main loser in the Harlequin ladybird invasion, with a 44% decline since the harlequin arrived. They share habitat, and the small size of the 2 spot makes it easy prey of the harlequin when in the larval stage. The future does not bode well for the 2 spot. The same stretch of road where we found the lone 2 spot is a Harlequin hotspot: today there were tens of active harlequins, and we counted not one...

 not two...

 not three...

but five pairs mating.

A beautiful pair, but not for the lilies!

This pair of Scarlet Lily Beetles, Lilioceris lilii, was mating on my Asiatic lilies a couple of days ago. These shiny leaf-eating beetles have emerged from the soil, where they overwinter, just when lily shoots and leaves are well developed. Both adults and larvae are voracious and can quickly defoliated plants. I have posted on this species before, but you can submit your records to the RHS Lily Beetle Survey, where there is more information on the species.