Lepidoptera [ not Butterflies ]

[Shirley Roulston]

You live in a beautiful place Dave, its always nice to see a Ladybird, got this one this morning I'm surprised I managed a good photo for once, I know its all about keeping the camera steady, so I rested by elbows in the grass but you cannot do that with butterflies.

Shirley

[Shirley Roulston]

It was the deepest of red whilst it flew and quite stunning when it landed, this Six-spotted Burnet.

Shirley

[Shirley Roulston]

A Brimstone moth this afternoon.

Shirley

[eccles]

I saw a couple of brimstones yesterday at Bentley Wood, but I didn't manage to snap any. Wonderful little moths aren't they?

[Shirley Roulston]

It really stood out on the green leaves, but this other photo may not be such good news, which species of Ladybird is it does anyone know?

Shirley

[eccles]

Are you sure this is a ladybird larva? It looks like a shieldbug nymph to me.

[ChrisC]

My money would on harlequin Ladybird for that one

Chris

[Dave McCormick]

Are you sure this is a ladybird larva? It looks like a shieldbug nymph to me.

Thats a ladybird pupae, I don't know much about the pupae if they look different depending on species so I can't say what it is

[eccles]

Yes, you're right - thanks for the correction.

[Shirley Roulston]

I took this photo in raw, its taken me some time getting it off the camera,

. Thanks Jerry for the advice. Its a Grasshopper
Shirley

[bugmadmark]

One of the pairs of Hawkmoths caught in a mercury vapour trap in June, mated and left me to look after ~100 eggs. These hatched out after 5 or 6 days. I attempted to record the moment on video. I dont have good close up on my camera, but it is still fascinating to watch. Hope you enyoy!
PS sorry about poor lighting - I relied on using natural window lighting as time was of the essence as they were all hatching out at the same time. The trouble was the sun kept going in and out and the contrast changed rapidly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRKe-ywA4eQ

[Denise]

Hi Mark,
That was amazing! I've never seen a Privet Hawk-moth, let alone the larvae. Brilliant.

Denise

[Dave McCormick]

Mark taht was great! Got to do something like that myself some time I get the chance. I have never seen a privit hawk moth but they looks great, larvae look interesting.

[bugmadmark]

Privet Hawkmoths (and other Hawks) are great for rearing. The only thing is the larvae do get quite big - perhaps 2 - 3 inches so consume a lot of leaves and need a lot of space. Each caterpillar wants its own leaf in the early instars (they attach themselves to the underside of leaves (in the same direction) and adopt classic hawkmoth Sphinx positon - with 1 caterpillar per leaf). Once they get bigger they need their own branch of leaves so will need to be kept reasonably separate from the others. Ive got around 100 to care for although intending to release a few back onto local privet and ash when the larvae get bigger. After they reach final instar you watch for the larvae to stope eating and start roaming around then place them in a bucket full of clean moist potting compost. You need around 9 inches of clean moist compost and they will bury themselves, creating a silk lined cavity in the soil in which to pupate. After a few weeks of being a pupa they can be removed and stored in cool garage until next spring.

If I did this sort of filming again I'd take more care over the lighting - but it was a case of do it quick or I'd have missed themhatching.

[bugmadmark]

Oh by the way, just to confirm that that is definately a ladybird pupa and if you want to identify ladybirds, their larva and pupa check this site out.
http://www.ladybird-survey.org/ladybirds.aspx
They really want people to send in their ladybird sightings around the UK. There are useful free pdf ladybird and larvae photo guides here too.

Whilst the adults Harlequin ladybirds are incredibly variable and not the most straight forward to identify, their larvae are ( I beleive) easier. Harlequin larvae are elongated and black and looking down the body from the head there are two bright orange L shaped rows of spikes, plus and additional 4 orange spikes. The latter is very indicative of this species. My Golden Hop has (for the first time in 10 years) been covered in aphid , and is now covered in harlequin larvae and pupae. For more on Harlequin see here
http://www.harlequin-survey.org/recogni ... nction.htm#

[Denise]

It's a shame that I don't live closer to you Mark. I would love to have a few, and watch them grow and turn into moths.

Denise

[bugmadmark]

Hi Denise
If I have success and manage to breed from these next year I can send some eggs through the post as they take around 6 days to hatch. I could send larva - but not so good I feel!

[Denise]

Hi Denise
If I have success and manage to breed from these next year I can send some eggs through the post as they take around 6 days to hatch. I could send larva - but not so good I feel!

That would be brilliant Mark. Fingers Crossed.

Denise

[Susie]

That was a great film, Mark, very enjoyable.

[bugmadmark]

This beautiful Lime Hawk graced my MV light last evening...

A really stunning Hawkmoth indeed. Not seen one of these since I was a kid, but had kind of hoped that I may have caught one in the MV trap given the success with the other 3 species. My son is certain he saw one on a tree at School half a mile up the road, so I was sure they would be around. Ill try again soon in the hope that they are still on the wing.