A beesy beesy day

We've had a lovely, mild, quite sunny day today. Bees came out of their various hiding places and gorged on the garden flowers. Top bee magnets were the hardy geraniums and the hedge woundwort. At least one old Osmia rufa was still about, very late for this spring species. The first Anthophora furcata of the year turned up, at the usual time of the year. She fed on Hedge Woundwort (above, note how thick the bright red tail looks) and Iris. A male was also about.

Bombus pascuorum entering Iris.

 The only B. lapidarius I saw today

Osmia caerulescens female sunbathing

Competition for the hardy geranium, Bombus hypnorum and Osmia rufa

Osmia rufa leaving hardy geranium, note the visible 'horns'

Megachile centuncularis on Bird's foot trefoil

 Bee list

1. B. hypnorum hardy geraniums, cotoneaster. Males and Queens about.
2. B. pascuorum foxglove, purple toadflax, hedge woundwort.
3. B. hortorum foxglove, hedge woundwort, lamium maculatum
4. B. terrestris, Stachys byzantina, trying to feed on Lamium maculatum
5. B. lapidarius poppy, just one.
6. B. pratorum hardy geraniums, cotoneaster
7. Megachile willughbiella male on thyme, stachys
8. M. centuncularis birds foot trefoil, hardy geraniums
9. Anthophora furcata male patrolling, 1st female of yr., Teucrium, Iris, Hedge woundwort, Herb robert.
10. Osmia rufa, hardy geranium
11. O. caerulescens, sunbathing
12. Honeybee Philadelphus

A scarily beautiful ichneumon

This is the largest and most spectacular ichneumon I see in my garden, Pimpla sp. They are parasitoids of moth caterpillars. The females walk jerkily over the vegetation, constantly tapping the surface of leaves with their twitchy antennae searching for caterpillars. Once they find a suitable host, they use their dagger-like ovipositor to hypodermically inject the caterpillar with an egg, which will develop into the wasp larvae. The larvae feeds on the caterpillar's organs and kills it before emerging like an adult wasp. There are over a thousand ichneumon species in the UK, and they are often difficult to determine without microscopic examination. They are also quite tricky to photograph due to their nervous disposition, so I cooled this one in the fridge for 20 minutes before photographing, and it only took a couple of minutes to fly away!

Showing its plumes

This Morning Glory Plume Moth was resting on a fence in a unusual posture, showing its feathery hindwings, the reason for its name. Normally, the moth will rest with wings folded and stretched in perpendicular angle to its body, making a T shape. Maybe the breeze disturbed it. I like the shadow of its forewings on the grainy, stained wood. I have found no photos of live E. monodactyla in this position.

Fat lily beetle larvae

While checking the underside of my lily leaves for lily larvae I found this giant on the 22 of June. A fully developed larvae, no longer protected by its own poo, but ready to drop to the pot soil to pupate. Still haven't found any pupa, might try later in the year when I repot some congested lilies.

A Pellucid Hoverfly

This is the striking, and relatively common hoverfly, Volucella pellucens. Yesterday afternoon I watched this female feeding on dogwood blossom. It is a very large fly, mostly black, with a translucent, pale first abdominal segment. Males are very obvious this time of year, as they hover, a few meters high, near trees. Even in flight, their colour pattern and size makes them easy to identify. They live in woodland and park glades, although I have also seen it a few times in my garden.
The adults feed on umbellifers, buddleia and bramble flowers, amongst others. An interesting aspect of this hoverfly life cycle, although still relatively poorly known, is that its larvae are found inside the nests of social bees and wasps. Adult hoverflies are apparently able to enter unnoticed the well guarded nests, and lay their eggs in the nest. The larvae feed at the bottom of the nest, scavenging on dead adult bees or wasps or grubs, pollen and dropped food and other debris. In the autumn, when the nest is vacated, the larvae might move into the combs, when they finish off any late grubs.

More information
Stubbs, A. E., & Falk, S. J. (1983). British hoverflies. An illustrated identification guide. British Entomological and Natural History Society.