The bees and their mimics: 136-145

Only just discovered that most of the comments you’ve all been making, have been heading into a spam folder! Woops, sorry about that. I’ve tried to sort it out, hopefully they are all correct now… unless someone wanting me to pay them for their computer services wasn’t actually spam :p

On my days off from my internship I’ve been outside enjoying the sunshine and the wildlife out there, so I haven’t been blogging. But, I realise I haven’t put anything up for ages, so here’s just a selection of some of what I’ve been seeing out there.

I’ve already put a few bees and their mimics up, such as Hairy footed flower bee, Red Mason bee, Buff tailed bumblebee, Bee-fly, and Greater Bulb fly. But, there are still plenty more to go. That’s the wonders of organic fruit and veg farming – you need lots of pollinators and they bring with them more wildlife.

My favourite ID guide for bumbleebee’s is this, but I haven’t found anything as good for the rest of the bees and bee mimics, so for them I still use a general insect guide.

136) Honey bee (Apis mellifera)

Where better to start than with one that everyone should know, our honey bees, or to be precise the Western Honey bee. This bee has been domesticated (as much as an aggressive stinging insect can be) and transported across the world to pollinate our crops. There is a saying in conservation “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” As much as I’m not keen on doomsday prophecies , this is one I would take seriously. Honey bees (along with other wild pollinators) have had dramatically declines in their populations, this winter alone its been reported that in the UK over a 1/3 of our honey bee colonies didn’t survive the harsh weather.

But that’s enough of depressing facts. We’ve still got 13 hives on the farm, after starting the winter with 15, so we’ve done better than the average (but that does include a few new swarms that have settled themselves in our empty hives). Honey bees are not the only pollinators, so on to the next species.

137) Red-Tailed bumblebee (Bombus Lapidarius)

Bumblebees are really not keen on being photographed! After chasing this one around for 5 minutes trying to get it to land long enough to focus the camera one, it tried to fly off as soon as I took the photo.

The photo is still clear enough to tell this is the Red-tailed bumblebee, although there are two similar species the much rarer Bombus ruderarius, and the cuckoo bee Bombus rupestris. Both are also black with a red tail, however, B.ruderarius is stockier, and B.rupestris, being a cuckoo bee, doesn’t have any pollen sacs (those bright yellow blobs on its back legs).

138) Common Carder Bee (Bombus Pascuorum)

Another photo shy bee. The common carder is one of several similar species of ‘brown’ bumblebees in the UK. I’m still trying to work out if we’ve got some of the other species on the farm, however these bees are extremely hard to catch and take good photos off… if only I was as fast and could fly after them!

139) Tree bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)

One of our new species to the UK (arrived in 2011), but quickly spreading across the country. Although it is named the tree bumblebee, it likes urban areas, and often nests in birds nest boxes. Luckily for our birds we have plenty of old and holey trees for them to.

They are easy to recognise, and in the UK at least there isn’t any other bees with the same markings! So if you see a bumblebee with the top half copper and a white tail you know you’ve got a tree bumblebee.

140) Volucella bombylans

You might notice something a little odd with these ‘bees’. They are both actually hoverflies. Notice the skinny legs (no pollen sacs), and the large eyes that make up most of the head. There is also slight differences in how flies hold their wings to bees, but that’s not easy to work out for beginners.

So far I’ve found two subspecies of the Volucella bombylans, on the farm: var. plumata (top) and var. bombylans (bottom). Anyone that knows their bumblebees will recognise that one mimics the Red-tailed bumblebees, and the other mimics white tailed bumblebees like B.lucorum and B.terrestris. They have good reasons for being a good mimic, they lay their eggs in the nests of these species, and as you can imagine Bumblebees don’t like strangers coming into their homes and will attack these flies if they noticed the difference.

141) Eristalis pertinax 

Another hoverfly, notice those large eyes! This one, sometimes called the Tapered Drone fly, is trying to mimic the honey bee. The thought behind why is that it offers the fly protection against predators – after all who wants to eat something that can sting you?

There is another similar species Eristalis tenax, the drone fly. Both produce a horribly named larvae, called the rat-tailed maggot. Which lives underwater, usually in stagnent, oxygen deprived water. The ‘tail’ of this maggot is a breathing tube that reaches to the surface of the water, and can be much bigger than the rest of the body.

142) Helophilus pendulus

Sometimes called the sun-lover or the footballer, due to the strips on its back. The size might be a bit miss leading with this photo. It is sitting on an oxeye daisy, these flowers are about 5-6cm across, a lot larger than your normal daisies.

The adult fly is often found around waterways, but can fly large distances while pollinating flowers. The larvae feed on damp decaying matter (as lots of fly larvae like to).

143) Spotted Longhorn (Rutpela maculata)

Compared to those flies, these beetles aren’t trying hard enough to be good mimics. But the colouration still gets predators confused. There is a tend used when studying evolution called the Batesian mimicry where one (harmless) species will mimic that of a harmful species. There is a whole section in the wiki article that explains where there are so many imperfect mimics.

These beetles are fairly large, about 3-4 cm long plus their antennae (where they get the names longhorn). The adults are generally pollinators, and the larvae tend to eat a mixture of trees and shrubs (not as gruesome as those flies!).

144) Wasp beetle (Clytus arietis)

This poor beetle looks a bit dazed because my dad thought it was a wasp and hit it mid flight. Its capable of making a sound when it is flying that sounds like a wasp, again to confuse predators into thinking this harmless beetle isn’t worthwhile eating. Unfortunately this trick didn’t help it – don’t worry though, I was nearby to point out my dad’s mistake and once it came round again I put it back in some vegetation so it could go on to confuse someone else another day.

145) A Mirid Bug (Dryophilocoris flavoquadrimaculatus)

Try pronouncing that Latin name! Sometimes I wish my school took me seriously when I said that Latin would be more useful than learning French or German.

This bug is another imperfect mimic, using similar colouration but not quite getting it right. Its also a little bit small (6-8mm), to really pull off looking like a bee. But its enough when it flies past you!

Learning the difference between bees and their mimics is a useful skill on this farm, and most surprisingly I’ve never been stung – even if I do go chasing after insects with a pot to trap them.

126-135: The beginning of Summer

Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten about this blog! I disappeared off to see old uni friends last weekend, and I’ve been busy at work, so haven’t had time to sit down and write for a few weeks.

Firstly I must say that the State of Nature report, released 3 weeks ago, is well worth a look for anyone that cares about conservation in the UK. The report revealed that 60% of our wildlife is declining, and as Sir David Attenborough said “This is a call to arms”. You can watch his speech and read the report on the RSPB link above.

As of the 1st June, it is now the beginning of summer. Whoopee! With longer days, more bright sunshine and the occasional bit of rain, everything is flourishing. I’ve been spending most of my time off from my internship, mowing the grass on the farm (with the aid of a big tractor of course).

Even though summer brings with it more work, I still love it, especially as there is soo much out there to see. I’ve been trying to record all the interesting invertebrates and plants that are about at the moment, and barely scratching the surface. Here is 10 of the more interesting new species on the farm at the moment:

126) Turtle Dove (Sterptopelia turtur)

One of Britain’s most declining species (at a rate of 93% in the last 40 years!), Turtle doves are Red listed and lots of work is being down on farms to help them recover. They aren’t easy to conserve, being migratory birds, that are picky eaters, and only nest is very specific habitats.

The RSPB Turtle Dove project has been trying to see what can be done for these birds. We are also trying to do what we can for them, which is why I was so happy to see them returned.

A few days after my last post we had 1 turtle dove arrive on the farm, but one isn’t going to be too great at breeding, so I got more worried than excited by that – especially as we had 3 last year! – but last week we had another one arrive, and they look like a pair!!!

Fingers crossed they are going to be successful, but I am a little concern that it is late in the season. Many of our native birds are already on to their second nest at the moment.

127) Barbary doves (Streptopelia risoria)

Technically a domesticated version of the collared dove, but could be of either African or European Collared dove origin, and can hybridise with both species!

They are smaller than the turtle dove, which is still smaller than the other doves and pigeons you will see in the UK. Barbary doves don’t generally survive that long in the wild, but this pair have been around for the last 4 weeks and seem to be doing fine at the moment.

128) Scorpion Fly (Panorpa spp)

Don’t worry they don’t sting, and its not even a fly! The male of this family, Mecoptera (true flies are in the family Diptera) has what looks like a scorpion’s tail – which is actually their genitals. This photo is of a female. They are quite distinctive as a group; they are generally quite colourful, have patterns on their wings, about 2-4 cm long, and have long faces.

As you might be able to tell from the photo, they eat dead insects, the whole family are scavengers.

129) King Alfred’s Cake (Daldinia concentrica)

Not the prettiest looking fungi, and pretty common. Found this specimen on an old oak tree, but I usually see them on Ash trees. But goes to show that you can find fungi all year round.

130) Ramsons (Allium ursinum)

Sometimes know as wild garlic, which is a dead give away of how to ID this plant. It smells and tasty just like garlic! It is related to onions, garlic, chives and leeks (the Allium genus). Many damp woodlands around the UK have Ramsons, and although they are yummy I would suggest that if you want to pick some, ask the owner of the land, and make sure that you don’t pick too much.

They have white flowers that grow on spikes, like in the photo. The leaves are dark green with clear veins running along the whole leaf, they also broad – like you would expect for a woodland plant.

131) Ramsons Hoverfly (Portevinia maculata)

Ramson Hoverflies eat, yeah you guessed it, Ramsons. The larvae of this hoverfly eat the bulbs, and when the plant flowers the adult males tend to swamp around the plant. You won’t find these flies unless you’ve found Ramsons.

132) Greater Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris)

From one bulb fly to the next. This bulb fly almost tricked me into thinking it was just another bumblebee, it wasn’t until it landed that I realised this was most certainly a fly. Several flies do mimic bees, but there are easy ways to tell a true bee from a fly. A true social bee has pollen sacs, the eyes of a hoverfly form most of the head, while in the bees they are narrow slits down the sides of the face, and flies only have one pair of wings (most insects have 2 pairs, including bees). But otherwise this fly does a very good impression of a small white tailed bumblebee.

If you want to see a more detailed description click here.

This bulb fly is more of a generalist than the Ramson hoverfly, its larvae will eat bulbs from  Narcissus (Daffodils). The adults eat nectar and pollen from Narcissus and Lilium (lilies).

The colouring of these flies are variable, black with an orange tail is also common. But the shape and black legs help to distinguish these flies.

133) Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea)

You might have seen white flowers like these alongside road verges, hedges and it woodlands. They produce plenty of these white flowers. The flowers themselves are their distinguishing feature, with 5 petals that are deeply notched (that is they are spilt down the petal).

134) Shepherds Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

This plant should be one of the first plants any botanist learns, you will find them anywhere – including growing out of concrete given half a chance – and they flower all year round. The name comes from the shape of the seed pods, and it is these heart shaped seed pods make it easy to ID.

135) Goat’s-beard (Tragopogon pratensis)

The last one for today is Goat’s-beard, one of the members of the Daisy family (Asteraceae), and is very much a summer plant. These flowers only open on sunny mornings, and follow the sun around until noon when they close up again.

They can grow up to 1m tall, and have thick stems, the leaves give it away as it is the only dandelion like plant in the UK to have grass like leaves (in that they are skinny, long, pointed and are widest in the middle of the leaf).

The name comes from the seeds, like dandelions, they produce ‘feathery’ seeds (called Pappus), that allow them to float along in the slightest wind.

The woodland plants: 121-125

If you go down to the woods today, you’ll won’t find a teddy bear’s picnic. But you are likely to find plenty of flowering plants, like this five:

121) Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula)

If your luckily your local woodland might have a few orchids. Although orchids are never very common, of them the Early Purple Orchid is fairly widespread across the UK and common).

There are many species of Orchids that look similar, but they can still be easy to tell apart. The Early Purple leaves found in rosettes and are spotted (most other spotted Orchids are found in marshes), as seen below.

They also have a specific marking on they flowers, as seen in photo. The bottom petal has three lobes, one forms the landing platform for the pollinator and is marked with spots leading into the flower, the other two lobes form the ‘hood’. Then there are more petals forming what looks like two rabbit ears coming out of the top. The flowers are all on the same spike, which is packed with flowers that are coming out at different stages (starting with the bottom).

122) The Bluebells  (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Our Native bluebells are protected by law against sale,  but otherwise not considered threaten. However half the worlds population is found in the British Isles, and it is very much as British plant. They form blankets of blue in woodland, especially in coppiced woodland (cut down regularly).

They have thin plain green leaves, thin stems that each hold a small group of these dropping flowers. They should not be confused with the introduced Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica),  that is sold for gardens, seen in the picture below.

Which has wider and darker leaves, the flowers are less curly at the end, and don’t hang down as much as our native bluebells.

Bluebells are poisonous, however I have seen our resident Munkjac happily eat our Spanish bluebells while the native bluebells have been left alone.

123) Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)

This blog’s banner is a picture of a Hawthorn (or rather its fruit). Hawthorns are similar to Blackthorns, is that they often grow in hedges, same size, flower the same time of year (and with a very similar looking flower), produce thorns on their stems, and produce fruit in autumn that keeps birds going through the winter. So its easy to see why people can get confused between the two of them. However there are ways to remember the differences:

1) Hawthorns flower after they have grown their leaves, and flowers in groups away from old stems.

2) Hawthorns leaves are lobed, with splits longer than halfway down the leaf, they are also longer than broad.

3) Their fruit is red, long, and looks similar to the fruit of a rose.

 

124) Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)

 

Blackthorns on the other hand:

1) Flowers before leaves, and flowers directly of old stems.

2) Leaves are not lobed (Similar to a willow leaf but with fine teeth along the edge)

3) Fruits (as photo shows) are round, and black (with a white bloom), which gives them a dark blue look. They also make great gin.

The flowers to both these tree species are like many in the Rosaceae family, in that they have 5 small white petals and have long stamens (male part of flower).

125) Wild Cherry (Prunus cerasus)

Another similar looking flower, is that of a cherry tree.  However these are much bigger, and attract bigger pollinators such as honey bees, bumblebees and butterflies. They produce these much denser bunches of flowers, just as the leaves are starting to grow.

 

Cherry trees leaves are all similar to blackthorn, they are not lobed but have teeth on their edge,  but much larger and paler (with a red tinge) than blackthorn. The fruit is (of course) round and red, and is on the end of a new  stem. The fruits are also great for birds in autumn, as well as insects such as wasps, they do tend to get eaten before they are ripe, so we rarely get to have some. However commercial breeds are much sweeter!

The ways to tell a wild cherry tree apart from other Prunus (cherries and plums) trees are:

1) Large, tall tree, up to 25m (although Rum Cherry tree reaches 30m)

2) Red bark, that is not peeling (Peeling bark is most likely Bird Cherry tree)

3) Wild cherry trees has cherry like fruit (red and round) – blackthorn is black/blue, plums are purple/yellow/orange, while Bird, Rum, Laurel and St Lucie Cherry trees all have dark purple/black fruit. Dwarf cherry tree has red fruit but only grows to 7 m and has darker leaves.

The insects (part 2): 116-120

Sorry haven’t had the time to blog for 2 weeks. But I’ve still been recording what I’ve been seeing, and with this warm weather there is plenty. Most of the trees and hedgerows are entirely leaved now, and if you believe in old wives tales, we had oak before ash – so we’re in for a splash! The last two weeks have definitely been warm and sunny, so we can hope for similar weather summer.

So without much ado, lets get some more species on to this blog.

116) Hairy Footed Flower Bee (Anthophora plumipes)

A very distinctive bee, the female is entirely black apart from the long orange hairs on her back legs. I’ll put a photo up as soon as I find one that sits still long enough! They are one of the earliest bees out in the south east. They look very similar to bumblebees, but are slightly smaller (and lacks stripes like most bumblebees).

They nest in mortar in bricks, and our old cart lodge is perfect for them. They can also nest underground and prefer dry heavy clay soils. Hence why they are so common in the south east, and around towns and cities. They are docile, but can sting if you try to squish them. But otherwise harmless.

117) Alderfly (Sialis spp)

Alderflies are the most clumsy fliers, but as they only have 2-3 days to learn as an adult so I can’t blame them, but it does make them easy to catch – hence the pot lid in the background. As a larvae they spend 2 years as a aquatic predators in ponds and slow flowing streams. As adults, all they do is mate and die, and they tend not to move too far from they original pond. However they can be found throughout the UK.

There is something prehistoric about them. They have very thick dark veins in their wings, a dark small eyes that stick out. There are three species in the UK that look mostly identical, apart from tiny genital variations. This is most likely the most common Sialis lutaria.

118) 24 Spot Ladybird (Subcoccinella 24-punctata)

As the weather warms up our hibernating ladybirds are waking up, I’ve already mentioned most of them in an earlier blog, but I left this little guy out, which decided my window sill was a good place to warm up.

Lady birds have easy scientific names to remember. The 42 species in the UK are all members of the Coccinellidae family, hence many of the common ladybirds are of the genus Coccinella, such as the iconic seven spot. The rest of the name is usually the number of spots, punctata.

The 24 spot is one of the small (3mm), vegetarian species, and as you can see is hairy! Well as hairy as a ladybird is ever going to get. They don’t necessarily have 24 spot either, although most do. They numbers range from 0 to 26, and even more confusingly there is also a black version to.

119) Cereal Leaf beetle (Oulema spp)

I’m starting to notice a tend with beetles I rescue from drowning, they all tend to be pests! I rescued this little (about 6mm long) beetle from our kitchen sink, before realising that he was a cereal leaf beetle, and, of course, they favourite food is cereal crops. Opps!

They are quite brightly coloured (although my drowned specimen wasn’t a great example), with bright red thorax and legs, and the rest is black but shines either blue or green.

120) Red Mason Bee (Osmia rufa)

If you see a solitary bee, its most likely to be this little bee, usually between 0.6-1 cm long. It has clear strips down the back, of long orange (or yellow) fur with dark strips underneath. The males tend to have a tuft of fur on the face, as you can see on little guy above, on the other hand the females barely have any fur on their face.

Like the hairy footed flower bee they nest in masonry and its mortar. However while the larger Hairy footed flower bee stays away from the house, these bees love the south facing wall to the house, and can be seen buzzing around there in large numbers when the sun comes out. They are very common and widespread throughout the UK.

The insects: 111-115

I did plan on having 5 hedgerow tree species today, but I got distracted by many insects instead. You would think if I went on a walk for 2 1/2 hours, to get photos of trees, I might of come back some. Well I managed to get a few flowering trees photos, with insects on them.

111) Peacock butterfly (Aglais io)

Peacock butterflies are easy to recognise with their four ‘eyes’ on the wings. It is thought that butterflies use this ‘eyes’ as a defence mechanism, by making predators aim for the wings rather than the more essential body.

Although we have had Peacocks flying around the farm for the last 2 weeks, this is the first one that actually sat still long enough for me to get a photo, and it didn’t give me a chance to get closer to it before it flew off again!

112) Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)

A sleeping moth is a lot easier to take a photo off. Although extremely hard to ID, with plenty of confusion species that look almost identical. I had to get the lovely folks on ispot.org.uk to help me out with this one.

Not sure how bright this moth is either, its resting place is on the side of one of our chicken sheds – and I know several chickens that love eating moths!

113) Athous haemorrhoidalis

A type of Click beetle found on the UK. Which if I had known that before I rescued it from a puddle I would have left it to drown. Cruel, but the click beetle larvae is the pain of our life. We estimate that last year alone it ate its way through £600 worth of our potatoes, it also ate its way through 60% of our carrots. Being organic there isn’t much we can do to control it – other than killing every one we find by hand. Or feeding them to the chickens!

114) Zebra spider (Salticus spp)

This photo was taken by my brother, so all rights (and thanks) go to him. His (much newer) camera is a lot better at taking fine detail of small things than mine! My photos just shows a grey spider shape.

This jumping spider is tiny about 5mm long, extremely fast at running, and of course can jump.  Although spiders have 8 eyes (as well as 8 legs), jumping spiders have two very large eyes, which you can just about make out on this photo. Trying to work out jumping spiders to a specific species is near impossible – you would need an expert in spiders for that!

115) Ichneumon stramentarius

 

Saving the best till last. When I was a kid I used to collect caterpillars and look after them until their became butterflies or moths, however majority of my caterpillars turned out to be parasitised by wasps such as this. Well considering there are 6000 species of parasitic wasps in the UK I was bound to get some.

But instead of getting upset by the lack of butterflies, I started finding these parasites interesting. I know weird, but put it this way, for every living thing on this planet there is a parasitic species, including other parasitic species. So inside a caterpillar could be a dormant parasite, and inside that parasite, could be another parasite (and so on!). One of my lecturers at university once told us that there was a specialised parasite that only used the host of a specific parasite,  which itself used the host of another specific parasite, which used another one, and that used a specific host caterpillar. Now that is some twisted specialised evolution!

There isn’t much on the web about this specific parasitic wasp, but wiki does have an article on its family Ichneumonoidea. Its fairly large for a parasitic wasp in the UK, about 3 cm, but I have seem some in Ecuador that were about 12 cm long! But it is in most of my insect books as a common species found in most habitats around the UK, so it might be in your garden to!

The pollinators: 106-110

We’ve been having some glorious weather this week, although unfortunately it is turning to April showers just in time for the weekend. It has meant that with the sun comes flowers, and with the flowers comes their pollinators, and you don’t need a large space for these guys! Although I am interning in Vauxhall (right in the centre of London) that hasn’t stopped me using my lunch breaks as a time to get to know London’s wildlife. There is of course the typical urban birds around (feral pigeons, starlings and house sparrows), but more interestingly there is also plenty of pollinators. I have managed to find a park that doesn’t have a strict mowing regime with lots of flowers in its lawn! Including chickweed, Red dead-nettles and White dead-nettles, which are all good species for pollinators. I’ve found 3 bees there that I don’t see on the farm; forest cuckoo bumblebee, hairy-footed flower bee, and common carder bumblebee.

There is many native pollinators that are in need of help,  they are lacking in enough food (ie. native flowers) to feed them. It is easy to help, if you’ve got a garden or a window box try planting wild flower seeds, then you can have your own mini wildlife reserve! Friends of the Earth have a vital campaign called The bee cause. The website is well worth a check, and see what its all about. They also send out packs of suitable wild flower seeds, for a donation.

But enough yapping, time for 5 pollinators that are on the farm:

106) Comma (Polygonia c-album)

Comma butterflies are named after the white comma shaped mark on their underwings. They are much easier to recognise because of the ragged shape to the edge of the wings, and their wing patterns that look like the closely related fritiallary. They are about the size of a Small tortoiseshell (20-25mm).

Their caterpillars eat a number of things, but mostly stinging nettles, and willow trees.

107) Pollen beetle (Meligethes aeneus)

Daffodils are great places for finding tiny pollinators, 99% of what you’ll find is pollen beetles. As you can see they will infest your flowers and they love nothing more than knocking the pollen off (after eating some of it). Some people do consider them a pest because they can be found in such large numbers in spring, but they don’t do any real harm. They are tiny, 1-3mm , and flowers produce much more pollen than needed anyway, so their overall effect is minimum.

108) Buff tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

One of the earliest queens to come out, the first one I saw this year was 2 weeks ago. Since then she has started her nest and this is one of the workers. The queen is easier to recognise because of her orange/brown tail (hence buff tail), many of our true bumblebees have white tails like this worker. They are also one of our larger (2 cm queen and 1-1.5cm for workers)and most common bumble-bees.

Natural history museum has a free online guide for identifying bumble bees. But there are also cuckoo bumblebees that look extremely similar.

109) Common Flower Bug (Anthocoris nemorum)

Saw this one as I was rushing out the house to get to work, so didn’t manage to get a photo. This flower bug is tiny, 3-4mm, and probably not a big player in pollination, as it eats aphids instead. Its named flower bug because it can usually be found on flowers, but it spreads itself around most plants.

110) Bee-fly (Bombylius major)

I’ve given you a butterfly, a beetle, a bumblebee, and a bug, so I better give you a fly to. But it looks like a bee you say? That is because it is a mimic, it is a parasite of mining bees so needs to be able to get into the nest of mining bees, that and its a good form of defence to look like something that would hurt you. But it is completely harmless to us, even if it does have a tongue (probocis) that permanently sticks out – you can see a thin black line coming out of its head. Although it is a robber fly (and that family tends to eat other insects) it actually spends most of its time sucking the juice out of flowers instead (at the moment anyway). This species of bee fly tends to be larger, and has a distinctive dark brown front to its wings – if you can ever get it to stay still.

Which brings me to another conservation idea for people’s back gardens, as this fly is so expertly showing, invertebrates like to warm up in the sun (don’t we all). But invertebrates prefer bare ground to do this. And yes I did just put the words conservation and bare ground together! Sometimes the best action is to not do anything at all. And with that I’m off to go join them in the sun.

The Centenary: 91-105

Firstly the good news, I have started interning at a lovely organisation called Wildlife and Countryside Link, so I’ll be working on invasive species issues for the next 3 months! Bad news is that this means I don’t have as much time to do a daily blog! But I will try to post a few each week, as there is still plenty out there to add to this list.

As such today’s post Is going to contain 15 new species to make up for the days I’ve missed, plus now that its finally spring there is a lot of new things on the farm! So lets get started.

91) Grape Hyacinth (Muscari spp)

Grape hyacinths are not related to hyacinth (hence Muscari instead of hyacinthus). There are many different species of grape hyacinths, and to be honest I have no idea which one we have. I know something about it though, these are not native, but are garden escapes so you may find them in the countryside, usually by hedges or roadsides. There is a native species of grape hyacinth (Muscari neglectum) which is very rare and can be found in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

92) Forget-me-not (Myosotis spp)

I’m not sure which Forget-me-not species we have on the farm (and is flowering at the moment), there could easily be several. The most likely candidate is Field Forget-me-not. But which ever one it is they are produce a lot of little flowers (about 5mm across) that attract tiny pollinators.

93) White Dead-nettle (Lamium album)

Another flower good for pollinators, but a favourite of larger pollinators such as bumblebees and honey bees. Similar looking to other members of the Labiaceae family (leaves similar to mints and nettles). The White Dead-nettle, has white flowers that are much larger than the Red Dead-nettle, and rest of the plant looks a much better copy of stinging nettles as well. The reason it mimics stinging nettles is because animals learn that stinging nettles hurt and avoid them, by looking like them they don’t have to put so much resources into defence because they are avoided too.

94) Hairy Bitter-cress (Cardamine hirsuta)

A very common, native, garden weed. Many bitter-cress species look very similar. The simplest way to tell them apart in the tiny details. Flowers greater than 5mm its most likely a Large Bitter-cress, if base of stem looks like a clasp around the stem then its most likely Narrow-leaved Bitter-cress. If flowers have 6 stamen its most likely Wavy Bitter-cress (and also has a wavy stem, with hairs), and finally if its got only 4 stamens its Hairy Bitter-cress.

95) Sweet Violets (Viola odorata)

Sweet violets can either be rich violet colour, or white. Ours are white, while our neighbours have purple. They are a great early flower for pollinators (usually coming out in February), attracting small bees and hover flies. The plants are small, about 5 cm tall, with large flowers (1.5cm long). They pretty much grow anywhere given a chance (including out of our kitchen wall!), but most can be found in lawns, and hedges and woodland margins.

96) Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

An unusual find on the farm. I was trying to get a photo of a White Throat (another uncommon visitor to the farm), and was following bird songs that I didn’t recognise this morning, and realised after a while I was following the wrong warbler. But still a pleasant surprise. The male Blackcap has a blackcap, but the female has a chestnut coloured cap. They are summer visitors, and the way this one was singing to another a nearby I have a feeling they might be considering staying to breed.

97) White Throat (Sylvia communis)

My local postman spotted this little bird a few days ago (he’s a twitcher type). Since then I’ve been trying to spot the bird, there is a small group that I can hear singing, but I haven’t managed to get close enough to take photos (yet!). They are also a summer visitor, and prefer breeding in the countryside, so we may get some baby warblers if they stay here.

98) Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)

Mistle Thrushes sound to me like a shy quiet blackbird, they are about the same size as blackbirds too. They have a white front, with lots of black specks and a grey/brown back. They are the rarer thrush of the two on the farm (even though they are more common in the UK), but very protective of their favourite berry bushes during winter!

99) Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

One of the many Red listed bird species on the farm. Its easy to distinguish by its call, it likes to repeat things it hears, and it will repeat bits of calls twice. The link (in the scientific name) is to the RSPB guide, and includes an audio track. I had one in the garden last night that was repeat a short section of a blackbird alarm call, which was a bit confusing!

100) Lapwings (Vanellus vanellus)

As I mentioned in a previous post, the lapwings arrived last week! Lapwings are one thing I suggest everyone to learn their call, because there is nothing quite like it. It sounds like some sound effects of a sci-fi programme to me. They are beautiful birds, with distinctive curves to the wings end and a spiky hair-do. We have two that have been displaying to each other this week. Fingers crossed they stay here, we have had a pair successfully breed around here, and lapwing chicks are cute! They are also on the Red list for birds, partly because of the changing in farming practice. But I’ve found more problem with other people’s dogs, they are ground nesting birds and dogs are very good at sniffing them out and killing the chicks and the parents. So keep them on the lead when in the countryside during the breeding season!

101) Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Another summer visitors (this is one fledgeling from a few years ago, hence the fluff and short tail). Soon after the weather started getting sunnier they arrived with our other summer visitors. Hopefully they won’t be put off by the frosty nights at the moment. We’ve had swallows breeding on the farm for several years, they often like sitting on our electricity wires like this. The reason they do so well is because their are insect eaters, and we have plenty of flying insects for them. They are amazing to watch flying around, quite acrobatic.

102) Swift (Apus apus)

We don’t have as many Swifts as Swallows, but they are worth mentioning together. They are very similar birds in terms of feeding preferences, and both are often seen together catching insects on the wing, especially in summer. They are both similar sized birds, and can be easy to confusing when all you can see is the outline. Both have backwards pointing wings, short necks, and forked tails. But the swallows tail is much longer than the swifts. An amazing fact about Swifts is that they can sleep on the wing!

103) Meal-worm (Tenebrio molitor)

Somehow these things have got into our chickens food, probably something to do with it being home grown and organic. More worryingly is that I have some very fussy cockerels that turn their noses up at the larvae. The chickens go mad for them though.

104) Fur Beetle (Attagenus pellio)

Another worrying insect to find, although luckily I found the adult version rather than the larvae. Fur beetles like to eat furs, leather, carpets and blankets. And I found it on the blanket on my bed! Woops, so I’ve been spring cleaning, and haven’t found any more, luckily.

105) Angle Shades Moth (Phlogophora meticulosa)

Discovered this caterpillar crawling across a newly bare onion bed so thought I better put him somewhere a bit greener. I wish this little best of luck because Angle Shade Moths are amazing and I want to see one later in the year (have a look at the link, or image search for them).

The creepy crawlies: 86-90

The wildlife definitely think it is spring around here, even though today is damp and cloudy, but it isn’t cold! My robin threesome have finally decided to split up, which means that one lonely depressed robin sitting outside my window singing its sorrows. But its been drowned out by a ‘peewit’, and bird lovers should know that means the lapwings have arrived! We have a pair of lapwings that usually arrive mid spring and spend the summer trying (and sometimes succeeding) to breed. But today my theme is something your more likely to find closer to your door step. As it is damp, but still warm our detritivores and other invertebrates, are on the wander.

86) White-legged Snake Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)

Millipedes are always going to be one of my favourite organisms. As a kid I always dreamed of having a giant millipede as a pet – who wants a fluffy cat when you can have something with  100-400 legs, and its vegetarian so you don’t have to worry about it eating your garden birds! I have to admit that when I was in the ecuadorian rainforest I spent much more time looking out for millipedes than anything else – but how often do you get the chance to find giant colourful millipedes in the UK?

What your much more likely to find in the UK is the very common white-legged snake millipede. Which, of course, has white legs. But can be confused with the almost identical looking Cylindroiulus londinensis, but if you can get magnifying glass (and it to stay still) there is a clear difference between the tail – the common WLSM has a point, while rarer C.londinensis  has a much smoother end.

They vary in size (depending on how many times they moult), but mine are mostly between 3 to 7 cm. They have been wandering slowly around the house all winter, but now that its got warmer they are appearing everywhere!

87) Common Rough Woodlouse (Porcellio scaber)

Woodlice aren’t easy to tell apart, but the Natural History Museum have an easy to follow questionnaire to help you out, called Walking with woodlice. Although they generally give you the most common species, so best to double check. There are 5 common species throughout the UK, and several others that are listed on wiki.

The Common Rough Woodlouse, is one of the most common, and we’ve got a little colony in the cellar. Just to be confusing woodlice come in all different colours, these can be grey, yellow, brown or orange, and different sizes, most of ours are small about 10mm, but can be twice that size. The general ways to tell them apart are explained in the NHM link. One feature of the rough woodlouse is that the rough name comes from the bumps on its shell, that are often a different colour to the rest of the shell.

88) Common Shiny Woodlouse (Oniscus asellus)

Shiny woodlouse, is of course shiny (ecologists aren’t very original with names). More importantly it is still one of the common 5, it is also a little larger than the rough woodlouse. But it also has pale spots on it shell, but are generally smoother. Ours can be found in the cellar and in the wooden frames. But if you are a normal person and don’t have an old damp farmhouse, you are more likely to find woodlice in decaying wood.

89) Sylvicola genus

We’ve had quite a few gnats appear in the kitchen window over the last few days. But gnats are hard to tell apart, I think they are most likely Sylvicola punctatus but there is no easy way to tell. But if they are of the Sylvicola genus then they aren’t going to bite, they tend to eat decaying vegetation instead.

90) Wood Ant (Formica genus)

There are nearly 200 species of wood ant, and all look pretty similar to me. We most likely have the Southern Wood Ant (Formica rufa), but again I’m not 100% sure.

Most wood Ants are red and black. Usually with a black abdomen and head, but some species’s heads can be dark red or red. The legs also change colour between species. The Southern species is small, about 4-8 mm, has red legs and a dark red head.

 

The beginning of spring: 81-85

Without trying to jinx spring, I do think things are finally starting to change! Even though it was still snowing quite heavily last week. The sun has been out (and I’ve been outside with it!), and it is even warm enough for the insects to come out, even if some are still a bit sleepy. There has even been some flowers out to greet the few pollinators that are about, including our primroses and daffodils. Most of the trees are starting to bud now, so I can expect some green leaves soon. So today’s 5 are to some of the new arrivals of spring.

81) Long Tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Just as I came in today as saw a group of Long Tailed Tits come flying through the garden, which is the first time this year. These cute little birds mark spring time to me, as they always disappear in autumn and winter. They do tend to breed successfully here, so hopefully in a few weeks time I’ll come across a little family like this one above. For the last few years our long tailed tit families have an tradition to bring their new fledglings into the garden, most likely for the easy access to the bird food (the table is about 1m to the right of this bush). The young tend to prefer their parents to bring them seeds from the table, but when the parents stop feeding them they tend to try and beg food of the other garden birds. I’ve even seen one lazy one sit on the bird table begging for food, even though there was plenty under its feet!

Long tailed tits are easy to recognise. They tend to travel in pairs or groups, they have long tails (of course) and are generally white with black markings along the face and back. The adults have a pink tinge underneath and across their backs. They are very small, weighing between 7-9g, and quite fluffy, even as adults! They only species your likely to get confused with is the Pied wagtail, but long tailed tits don’t wag their tails, and act more like a blue tit, and they are much smaller.

82) Skylark (Alauda arevensis)

If you have never heard a skylark you clearly have never been in the countryside in summer. You can listen to it’s call, as always, on the link in the scientific name. The call is very variable, but easy to learn (and the only way I can ID the bird!), its long, and doesn’t sound like the bird takes a breath. I heard it for the first time this year on Sunday  although I couldn’t see the bird as it was flying high in the sky and towards the sun. If you do hear the bird it will be flying high, and tends to hover, it is just smaller than a starling.

83) Dandelions (Taraxacum spp.)

Dandelions are actually a very large genus in the daisy family (Asteraceae). Such a large group that there is 232 known species in the British Isles alone. I say ‘known’ because they are often overlooked and clumped under the name Dandelion, it could be quite possible there are many more that haven’t been formally describe (ie. there is possibility of finding your own unique species – if you’ve got the patience to learn all the differences between the 232 recorded species).

Usually considered a weed, but it is actually very important for pollinators, because they flower from March till October, so are one of the earliest flowers in any great number. Ours finally flowered this weekend – which means our honey bees have finally got some food and aren’t annoying me anymore! If you ever want to get decent photos of insects easily, just lie down next to a few of these and let the insects come to you. They not only attract plenty of bees, but butterflies and hoverflies too. The leaves are also edible and make a great addition to a spring salad.

84) Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

First butterfly I’ve seen this year. They usually hibernate over winter, waking up in Feb, but because of the cold start to this year it (and everything else) is late. The caterpillar’s host plant is stinging nettles, which is one of the reasons this once common butterfly is in rapid decline. Stinging nettles are hosts to many species of butterfly, but at the same time are considered a painful weed and nationally have been destroyed in vast numbers. On the farm we try and leave nettles to grow in areas which we don’t use, and over our compost heap. We do this for two reasons, one for the wildlife (ladybirds love them too because they attract aphids), two nettles are great for increasing soil quality. Nettles are also edible, although I never got the knack of picking them without stinging myself!

Butterflies can be hard to tell apart, the way I manage is by learning what the family groups tend to look like then use guides to identify the individual species. The book I’m using at the moment is the collin’s guide to Complete British Insects. Its great for butterflies, but a bit of a let down on the other insects groups. The small tortoiseshells have a distinctive banding to the upper wing, as you can see in the photo above.

85) Bluebottle (Calliphora vomitoria)

Not the best fly for the first one seen this season, but is typical of this very common species. Bluebottles and its other relatives in the blow-fly family are my most disliked things in the world. But I do generally like the rest of the order of true flies, excluding horse flies and mosquitoes. There is a surprising amount left after removing those, including hover flies which have the amazing ability to look like bees, and are great pollinators. And yes I admit I love invertebrates more than I ought to, but they are fascinating creatures, and can be quite colourful to, and I’d much more prefer to work in conservation with invertebrates than any other group in the world.

But back to bluebottles. Its not quite warm enough for them yet but they are still about. They make easy targets at the moment as they are still slow and reluctant to fly – invertebrates need the heat from the sun to warm up before they can use their muscles effectively. They will breed in any meat they can find, including in live animals. This time of year they are much darker, as its the sun that makes them shine blue.

The rodents: 76-80

My original plan for identifying what rodents (and other small mammals) there are on the farm was to try and find some owl pellets. But I haven’t had much luck locating them. Owls (and hawks) tend to regurgitate any indigestible food such as bones, which sounds disgusting, but is one of the best methods of working out what small mammals there are around. As skulls are easy identify if you follow simple keys like this one.  They are a great thing to do for kids to. Although if you are planning on dissecting a pellet I advise you to sterilise it before hand (microwaves will do), make sure its dry, and use tweezers. And Always Wash Hands Afterwards!

But I can still tell you about five rodents that I know are on the farm. Rodents (order Rodentia) have continuously growing incisors which must be kept short by gnawing, as anyone that has keep them as pets knows. Most rodents don’t cause us any problems, but some such as brown and black rats, and house mice do tend to live closer to us and will eat food stores, and because they have to gnaw, they will gnaw at almost everything, including electricity wires. For wildlife they are a vital source of food in the food chain, I certainly wouldn’t have as many birds of prey, owls, stoats or weasels without them.

76) Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Starting with the most well know. Brown rats thrive in human made environments, they will eat anything (omnivores) from seeds to bird chicks, and will ruin food stores and stored goods. They reproduce quickly, reaching sexual maturity in 3 months, have a litter size of 7-11 litter, reproduce throughout the year, and up to five times per year.

Brown rats are not native to the UK, they arrived here in the 18th century, and have spread around the world. They tend to cause quite a few conservation problems on tropical islands, as they like to eat bird eggs and chicks, and those birds haven’t evolve to deal with predators. However in the UK they are hunted by our predators, and numbers are generally kept in check. Aggressive brown rats are thought to be the reason why black rats are now so rare in the UK (its also the flea on black rats that spread the black death, not the rat itself)

77) Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

People either love or loath squirrels. They can be entertaining, cheeky and many urban ones don’t mind eating out of peoples hands. They are easy to recognise with their big bushy tail white belly and a grey with pale brown fur. They also are important in planting many of our tree species, although Jays still hold the record on oak trees, with a single bird planting up to 3000 acorns per month.

On the other hand they have been introduced from the United States in the 19th century, and have pushed our native Red squirrel into a rapid decline, by out completing it and introducing squirrel pox. They also, like rats, will eat bird eggs and chicks, but because they are much more agile in trees they tend to cause more damage. There is also a genetic variation of grey squirrel called the black squirrel, they are actually the same species. The black squirrel was introduced much later (101 years ago to be precise) and hasn’t spread as far, we don’t get either red or black squirrels here, but if you have seen either you can help the squirrel project by telling them following this link. They are trying to access the spread of different squirrels throughout the country in order to help conserve the red squirrel.

78) Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)

I have already mentioned the House mouse as a visitor to the house, but there are actually four types of mice in the UK, all of which have been seen on the farm. Although the fourth, the harvest mice, haven’t been seen here in many years, and I never saw any when there were, so I’m not going to list them.

The wood mouse is similar to the house mouse, but is more sandy coloured and has larger ears. It is 9.5 cm long, not including the tail. Its one of the UK’s most widespread and abundant mammal, and is not confided to woodlands. But you’ll probably won’t see it as its nocturnal, but it has been known to live in garden sheds.

79) Yellow necked Mouse (Apodemus flavicollis)

The Yellow necked mouse was the last small mammal to be recorded in the UK (in 1894), it looks very much like a wood mouse (and is in the same genus – Apodemus). However where the wood mouse has a white belly with a small yellow streak down the neck the yellow necked mouse, of course, has a yellow collar. It also has a more distinct flank (where the white fur of the belly meets the sandy brown fur on top), the flank is also orange/brown. They are also on average 0.5mm larger than the wood mouse, and usually has a longer tail.

The have the same behaviour as the wood mouse, being nocturnal  eating the same foods and can be found in the same area – although yellow neck is only found in the south. All in all these two species confuses the biological principle that no two species should fill the exact same niche, because one should out compete the other. Yellow neck populations also have a strange habit of dramatically increasing in one year and then almost disappearing the next. The species is definitely in need of more research to understand this behaviour.

80) Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus)

I may have this species wrong as I’m not 100% sure we don’t have field voles instead. We could easily have both as well. If I had found those owl pellets I would have worked it out as voles tend to make up about 90% of an owls diet. There are three types of voles in the UK, the third being the water vole, which is the fastest declining mammal in the UK. I am presuming we have bank voles as they are most likely (being the most common).

The bank vole is thought to be the 2nd most abundant small mammal (after the wood mouse).  Unlike the mice it can be seen active during the day, and it looks very mouse like, It is much chubbier in appearance to mice, and has a blunt nose, smaller eyes and ears and a short furry tail. Its about 9cm long, not including tail. Bank voles have a red coat with grey on the belly, while the field vole is more brown.

These voles are herbivores, eating mostly grasses, but the bank vole will also eat seeds, berries  nuts and fungi. Voles are vital for the survival of predators. Kestrels, foxes, stoats, weasels, snakes, and owls all depend on voles for a constant food supply.