Wonderful wildlife

Self-taught amateur entomologist Sabina George has been snapping super pictures of the creatures you may or may not have noticed in residence on your plots. A keen insect photographer who spends winter recording finds on iRecord (a database for UK Flora & Fauna), Sabina is always looking for new sites to explore and KATA was only too willing to take up her offer of having a looksie at what goes on around us on a sometimes very small scale…

latest sightings

Starting top left: A Cinnabar moth's flash of red caught the attention
of the Plot 80 holders, who kindly called me over. After many photos, I
finally got a clear shot. Nearby, a Red Admiral butterfly rested on a
leaf, followed by two different wasps: a black-and-yellow Digger Wasp
and a 6-11 mm fluorescent Ruby-tailed Wasp tracking prey. Across the
Odibourne plots, Common Field Grasshoppers hide in the dried edge
grasses. Numerous black pollen beetles crowd the flowers, and a Willow
flea beetle disappears under a leaf. A Narcissus Bulb hoverfly feasts on
pollen, while a Syrphus ribesii lays her eggs near aphids (larval food).
Sadly, hoverfly numbers have been down this year. A mating pair of
Long-tail hoverflies stretch out, and a Hairy Shield bug visits a
flower. Less welcome is the Sawfly larva feasting on mustard plants.
Finally, the pollen colour carried by bees shows their foraging habits.
Grey pollen (last row, 3rd photo) indicates poppy or borage feeding.
Female Cuckoo bees (like Bombus vestalis) trick hosts into raising their
young, just like the Cuckoo bird. The last photo captures a 7-spot
Ladybird larva.  Sabina George"

Sabina George

All words courtesy of Sabina George. Thank you for regularly visiting our sites, Sabina, and keeping us up to date on your findings about this vital group of organisms.