Know your larvae

So you come across a caterpillar. But is it lepidopterous (a moth or butterfly) or symphytous (one of the sawflies)? The answer is to count the legs. Ignore the true legs near the head, there will always be three pairs of them. Count the prolegs, which normally start a little way behind the true legs. Butterfly and moth larvae have four or five pairs whereas those of sawflies generally have six or more. There are a few sawfly larvae with fewer prolegs but they tend to be those that tunnel inside plants. So which of the following are lepidopterous and which are not?





They are:
1. The Drinker (Euthrix potatoria) - a moth
2. Tenthredo mandibularis - a sawfly
3. An unidentified micro moth
4. An unidentified sawfly larva

If you can help with either of the unidentified beasts, please comment.

Scarcely Chasing the Dragon

I've heard a fair bit about these here Scarce Chasers at Woodwalton Fen so, having had a glimpse of one at the PBC field trip a few days ago I decided I would take advantage of the slightly warmer day to take a look. As well as the target species there were Brown Hawker, Four-spotted Chaser, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter, a probable Ruddy Darter, Azure, Common Blue, Red-eyed and Blue-tailed Damselflies. Not a bad little haul for a quick lunchtime dash.

Female Banded Demoiselle - or is it?

I learned recently about a colony of Beautiful Demoiselles (Calopteryx virgo) at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough. This species' usual range is well away from here so went for a look on 29 June. I only saw Banded Demoiselles (C. splendens) for certain but this female was very obliging and appeared to have very dusky wings. Several people have commented that it looks fine for C. virgo but I think I will wait to see a male.

Much Mulleined

This blog is largely moth free at the moment for reasons which may or may not become apparent but here is a smashing larva. Swarms of Mullein larvae can decimate some plants while leaving others nearby completely untouched.

Blue-tailed Damselfly

This is an immature or it may just be a bit cool, which gives it that extra bit of colour.

Fox Cub

Not the greatest photo and it was taken by digibinning (taking the shot through one lens of binoculars). This cub somehow remained oblivious to my presence. I got much closer, even though I was walking out in the open, but I had put the camera away and it ran off as I started to get it out again.

Get the point!

This is probably Alex's finest find to date. An eight-year-old is that bit smaller (and very keen), which seems to make it easier to find such items. We are still finding out about this tooth but it seems likely it came from a marine reptile. He found it in a pile of clay/shale dumped next to one of the footpaths in the new Hampton housing development near Peterborough. It ain't all that big (the scale is in mm) but it is in excellent condition considering it is over 65 million years old.

Fragrant and Pyramidal Orchid

Fragrant Orchids were showing spectacularly well on a trip to Barnack Hills and Holes and Pyramidal Orchids were just starting to open. Man Orchids were also still out.

Once in a lifetime

Well that's how it was billed anyway. In the end I felt the traverse of Venus was a little unedifying. Much as I reckon could be expected a small black dot passed very slowly across the sun's disk. Er... that's it! This is a snap of the event projected onto a piece of paper using an old telescope.

Urban Bee Orchids

Talk about getting a Bee in your bonnet. The Bee Orchid is not exactly a rare plant but it is great when you can see them in and around our urban spaces. Trouble is civic tidying often means these get mown at the height of their flowering season. This not only deprives us of the sight of the flowers but also means they are unable to set seed. In the case of the ones pictured here near Hampton on London Road, Peterborough a quick email to the local Wildlife Officer in the council means mowing of this verge is now delayed to allow the plants to complete their flowering. Round one to the orchids :)





Hopefully the same can be done for the 120 or so seen flowering at the Boongate parkway junction sliproad this year. All but about 6 were mown before I contacted anyone but hopefully they can be avoided next year. Look out for them.

Common Tern taking bread

This may be a first. We are all familiar with gulls and other birds taking bread but it was a big surprise to see a Common Tern swooping down to pick up bits of bread thrown into the water. It was quite agressive towards other birds trying to get the food. This was in the middle of Malthouse Broad in the Norfolk Broads.

Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)

Nikon CP995.

Damsels on Broads

There were some excellent insects about at the north end of Somerton Dyke near Martham Broad including Swallowtail butterfly. Among the many damselflies were these little crackers. The first two are a male Variable Damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum) and a superb female Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) of the form rufescens.



These next pics are two shots of the same female which I took to be a female Variable at the time but on closer inspection I think it must be a female Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella). Comments welcome.

Longhorn Beetle

Got a bit of a soft spot for these large beetles with the outrageous antennae. This one was on the banks of Candle Dyke on the Norfolk Broads and has unfortunately lost a large part of one of the its antennae. Oh yes and the species is Agapanthea villosoviridescens.

Otter Holt

While canoeing on a quiet stretch of river on the Norfolk Broads one evening we were lucky enough to come across an Otter swimming along in front of us. Our second Otter this year after one in Scotland. I didn't get any pictures of it but we did find a holt in a different area.


Nikon CP995.

Great Crested Grebe

Snapped from a boat while on holiday on the Norfolk Broads near Irstead.

Nikon CP995.

Courting Coot

I've never noticed this before. This pair performed this slow bowing dance many times. It is difficult to portray in a photograph but hopefully this gives an idea of what is going on.

Common Coot (Fulica atra)



Nikon CP995.

Froghopper and Beetle

This is a highly distinctive and striking froggy going by the name of Cercopis vulnerata. Found during a succesful daytime lepping trip to Old Sulehay Quarry where Dingy and Grizzled Skippers were showing well.


Thanks to the good folk on the British Insects YahooGroup forum for pointing me at the ID for this beetle: Oedemera lurida.

Teneral Four-spotted Chaser

This was a bit of luck. It was disturbed from dense undergrowth (otherwise known as the footpath from Stonebridge Corner to Prior's Fen) and being fairly recently emerged wasn't up to much flying making this shot possible.

Old Sulehay Leps

Another highly successful lunchtime outing to Old Sulehay Stonepit Quarry, where several Dungy and Grizzled Skippers and a Green Haristreak showed very well.

Daytime Tawny Owl

A quick check for Little Owls at a regular spot along the Billing Brook near Haddon I came across this chap. He didn't sit out in th open for long but managed a quick snap.

Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)

Nikon CP995