It is National Insect Week this week (20-26 June) so this morning I was at Cranford CP to have a look around. The weather wasn't great and insects that I expected to see (Dock Bugs, butterflies, Skippers, damselflies etc) weren't showing well at all. I saw one Large Skipper that wouldn't settle for a photo, one Banded Demoiselle that wouldn't settle and several white butterflies that also wouldn't settle.
Before I began my walk and before it was cut short by the rain, I met Alan the local beekeeper. Following on from last Sundays blog (read here) the Honeybee swarm that I found is still hanging high in the ivy above the Secret Garden wall. It's been there six days now and has been fairly dormant due to the horrible weather this week. Alan confirmed it is not one of his Queens and said it was more than likely the Queen from the Stable Block hive. As I mentioned last week, the old Queen will have left her hive after she has laid a new Queen egg. The old Queen won't travel far, they are poor fliers, and her workers will settle wherever she does. Scout bees will be sent out to search the area for a new site. But as the weather was so poor this week, the swarm hasn't moved.....
Alan said they may have already started to construct a comb, but it really is the wrong place to have a large swarm so he is going to go back tomorrow and remove it. They wont be harmed and will be relocated a couple of miles away. Any nearer than that and they will probably return.
It was great to finally meet Alan, and we had plenty to talk about. Not only is he passionate about Honeybees but he enjoys bird watching too.
I checked the other wild hive in the woods, and was pleased to see that is still thriving. You can't see the old comb so much now but hopefully a new one will be built.....
The warm dry morning produced several hoverflies....
Eupeodes corollae...
Eupeodes luniger....
Helophilus pendulus...
and this stunning Chrysotoxum bicinctum....
with a large dent in it's abdomen....
The morning also saw several beetles.
Thick-legged Flower Beetles are generally a fetching emerald green, but I have come across bronze colour variations before. Below is the male with his 'thunder thighs'....
and this is the female, without the 'thunder thighs'....
There was also a few Soldier Beetles out and about, but I only grabbed one poor shot before the rain came and the beetles hid....
There seems to be an abundance of these beautifully marked Speckled Bush Crickets at the moment. This is a nymph. As they get older they lose most of their markings...
There were three species of Ladybird spotted today.
The common Seven-spot....
The tiny Fourteen-spot....
and lots of bad Harlequin larvae. They are so predacious that I found several eating their own kind....
Harlequins are not native. They actually originate in Asia but had been used as a biological control in the USA and across mainland Europe. They arrived in England only 13 years ago across the English Channel, and can now be found all over the UK. It is an invasive species and will attack and eat our native ladybirds, along with butterfly eggs and caterpillars. However, before you go out and kill all the Harlequins, remember that as larvae, pupa and adults they have adapted to some very clever mimicking colours and patterns. Always check the true id before destroying anything.
On the subject of predation and whilst I was sheltering from the rain, I found this tiny spider. It had woven a web across one oak leaf and had already caught a couple of flies. I haven't had confirmation of an id yet, but it was less than a centimetre long and was very green in colour....
When the rain started to get heavy, I decided to head home. Walking back up the alleyway towards Roseville Road I found my last great find of the day....a stunning huge female Stag Beetle....
She was laying across a plastic bag and I thought I had found a dead beetle for a while, but as I went to lift the bag she moved off it and headed for a gap under the fence. Bag disposed of, I headed home fairly happy with four hours insect searching on the patch.
National Insect Week doesn't end there for me. Tomorrow I'm at Maple Lodge NR helping out their Insect Day. Entrance is free and there will be guided walks around the reserve, some insects on display and plenty of refreshments. It starts at 11am and the last guided walk will be at 4pm. For more information and how to get there please take a look at the Maple Lodge website
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