Waking up

I came across this snail on Friday, the first active snail of the year. It was covered on cobwebs; a fragment of its epiphragm - a sturdy yellowish membrane made up of layers of mucus that the snail produces to close their shell opening during their winter dormancy period - still attached to its shell. I am not sure if this snail emerged spontaneously, as I am doing a lot of pruning in the garden these days, but even if I disturbed, it moved all the way down the wall before settling again.

An Adonis ladybird

A bright, mild afternoon brings all the ladybirds out from their hibernation sites. I count over 30 7-spots stirring out from little crevices between leaves or sunbating on fences and trunks. An unusual looking ladybird calls my attention, it's smaller and less round than the 7 spots, with relatively large spots. I bring it to the white bowl to photograph. It is an Adonis ladybird (Hippodamia variegata), an aphid eater that seems to have increased in frequency in recent years, but it is still not a common find.

Ladybird Identification
An ID guide of 23 species of British Ladybirds.

NBN records of Adonis ladybird.

Breakfast bowl spider

I love bug photos on a white background. Macroinstantes, Myrmecos and The Bug Whisperer have great examples. I do prefer bug photos in their environment, but the white background reveals very subtle features that can help with ID, or allows shots of flighty bugs that rarely stay still. Being a minimalist, amateur photographer I have tried the technique on its simplest form, by placing the subject on a white, relatively shallow breakfast bowl. The bowl surface is slippery enough and enhances the light. This was my first take with Amaurobius (probably similis, judging by its size): a very handsome, fierce looking female I found wandering on my kitchen floor a few days ago.

Angle Shades caterpillar

After several weeks of frost and snow, and the coldest December for 120 years, we venture in the devastated garden to get some fresh air. Despite the frost, while brushing the leaves from the path, we came across a lively and fat Angle Shades caterpillar (Phlogophora meticulosa). Larvae of this common species of moth can be found all year round, while adults fly from May to October. Although, considered a pest in gardens due to the wide range of caterpillar feeding plants, the adults are large, handsome moths with unusual curled wings which make them look like a shriveled leaf, with neat brown and pink patterns. The larvae, which can be green or brown, are active during the winter, and hide under the leaf litter feeding on whatever green plants happen to be around. Come the end of March, they are ready to pupate and the fresh generation of moths will appear from mid April. In the summer, these local moths will be joined by migrant ones from the continent, as this species is also a common UK migrant.
Below there are a series of images illustrating the life cycle of this moth.

17/03/07. A large, drowsy caterpillar...

 Falls on its back, and within 24 h...

it has pupated.

The pupa took half an hour to reach the deep brown colour from the photo above.

16/04/07. A freshly emerged Angle Shades dries up on Cytisus bloom.

16/05/08. An adult found in the house quenches its thirst on Iberis.

For more information on moths see UK moths.

November bug magnets

I went for a walk this afternoon to re-acquaint myself with my clean and repaired camera. After spending almost three weeks camera-less, it was great to have it back. I just walked back to the spot where a few days ago I spotted the B. hypnorum and waited around the sweet smelling Mahonia bushes trying to spot more bumblebees. There were flies (Bluebottles and a smaller species) and wasps around, but my patience finally paid when I saw the distinctive large and dark shaped of a bumblebee amongst the flowers. Not a B. hypnorum, but a worker B. terrestris, stayed just for a few shots (top).

 The second bug magnet today was Ivy. There were dozens of male wasps feeding on Ivy flowers on the wildlife garden. Their large antenna reminded me of mountain Ibex males. I am not very good identifying wasps, although in a post in WAB today somebody pointed at a very informative webpage to identify them. I will update the post if I manage to get an ID. Around the ivy there were also feeding Bluebottles and a parasitoid wasp.
 The third bug magnet was a non-native bush related to the Ivy, the Fatsia japonica. Here the ubiquitous bluebottles were the only insects around.