Jack Harrison

[millerd]

Jack,

I think this lovely beastie is a Common Green Shield Bug (Palomena prasina). There's a (less good) picture of one in my Collins Complete Mediterranean Wildlife - though I would take the "complete" bit with a pinch of salt, as this is a medium sized paperback with everything from ants to trees to fish to hedgehogs in it.

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

29th July

Thanks Dave for the Common Green Shield Bug i/d. By the way that i/d poser I set a week or two ago was the antennae of a Small Copper not WLH as you suggested.

Another Shield Bug today found on an indoor window ledge! I’ve seen it before but can’t put a name to it.


We have house painters working today. This proliferation of Marmalade Hover Flies intrigued Jed.



This larger one (hoverfly?) with the black and white stripes has not been identified.


Jed was fascinated by Humming Bird Hawkmoth (what an impossible insect to photograph!)


He tells me that he will look up HBHawk when he gets home and explain to daughter. Maybe two new Lepidopterists in the making?
And he now knows the name of this common butterfly.


Jack

[millerd]

Jack,

It's the Oxford Book of Insects this time... According to this learned work (pocket-sized), the other bug is a Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea) and the big stripy hoverfly could be a Scaeva pyrastri, unchristened with a common name.

I had no idea the other hoverflies had such an evocative name!

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

Dave wrote:

... Scaeva pyrastri, unchristened with a common name....

OK, henceforth know as the Atheist Hoverfly.

Jack

[millerd]

Definitely not a Confirmed i/d then...

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

Maybe Atheist Hoverfly isn’t such a daft name after all. After all, there are moths called Quaker, Conformist, Nonconformist , Hebrew Character. It’s somewhat discriminatory not to give non-believers their own insect.

I’m sure that biologist Professor Richard Dawkins would be delighted to perform the official naming ceremony.

Jack

[millerd]

Would it be a form of sect-ual discrimination?

Dave

[Jack Harrison]

I have a busy day tomorrow (circular tour of the M25!) but at the weekend I'll write to my friend Dickie Dawkins

Jack

[selbypaul]

28th July – long distance to ....

.... Lindrick Common west of Worksop, specifically for the introduced/released Scotch Argus. I have seen them before in their real habitats in Scotland where they can be common roadside butterflies. I saw five or six today, all looking worn.


I was told by another photographer that in addition to Scotch Argus (five or six seen today), Dark Green Fritillary (three today), Marbled White (three today) and Silver Studded Blue (none today) are all down to releases of surplus stock by a “butterfly breeder in Worksop”. The Tropical Butterfly House (not mentioned by my contact and I didn’t find out about Butterfly House until after I got back home today) is close to Lindrick. I am not putting two and two together however tempting. The photographer also told me that the Marsh Fritillaries at Chambers Farm Wood near Lincoln (now seemingly a self-sustaining colony) have been shown from DNA sampling to be of Continental origin.

Lindrick Common. Lindrick Zoo is more appropriate.

On the return, I diverted for a brief visit to Barnack Hills and Holes near Stamford. Countless Chalkhill Blues, several spilling over on the adjacent roadside verge plus all the usual. Essex Skipper positively identified from a (poor) photo.

Jack

Hi Jack
I re-visited Lindrick myself yesterday. Saw 4 to 5 Scotch Argus, two of which looked quite fresh.

Two questions to you or anyone else out there are:
1) Are the Scotch Argus's at Lindrick a native sub-species, or are they a non-native sub-species?
2) Is it a self sustaining colony?

Clearly the habitiat is quite different from the rest of their UK colonies. So if its a self sustaining colony, this would lead me to suspect they are non-native. Then again, with what you say about it being "Lindrick Zoo" it's highly likely that there are releases each year.
Paul

[Piers]

Two questions to you or anyone else out there are:
1) Are the Scotch Argus's at Lindrick a native sub-species, or are they a non-native sub-species?
2) Is it a self sustaining colony?

1) Ex Lakeland I believe
2) Yes

How different is the habitat to the former Yorkshire (natural) colonies at Grassington? I don't know the area I'm afraid.

I wrote something once on the forum not too long ago about the intros at this place....

Felix.

[Jack Harrison]

1st August

An e-mail from Phil Bromley prompted a change of plan. He had seen several Wall Browns at Engine Bank (Ouse Washes) near Mepal, Cambridgeshire, on Saturday. TL441822

I had first heard about Walls being here from what was almost a casual throw-away line in a birders report last summer. I found two or three in August 2009 but Phil has now tracked down a decent sized colony.

I joined Phil Bromley and Rosalyn Payne on Sunday morning. We were soon in luck with a male not far from the car park. But further along and down the bottom of the bank was clearly “headquarters”. I saw perhaps ten including a mating pair, but the others managed about twice this number.

Male above with extra wing bar, female below.


Plenty of other butterflies were present including a few very fresh Painted Ladies. This is clearly a good spot for Small Coppers.

Many of the female Green Veined Whites were very strongly marked.


I came home early to watch the Big Prize***

*** One Monday morning some years ago, I flew into Nice on a routine service. I commented to the handling agent that there seemed to be far more aircraft parked than usual.
“Ah yes monsieur, we had the Big Prize yesterday at Monaco and lots of people flew in to watch”
I tried my best to explain that in English we call it a Grand Prix. I always refer to it nowadays as the Big Prize!

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Felis wrote:

I wrote something once on the forum not too long ago about the intros at this place....

I vaguely remember that but cannot recall the details or where to find it now.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Monday 2nd August
I had to take my daughter to Bookham in Surrey so decided to stay in the south for a few days. So on Monday afternoon, it was Denbies Hillside. Goodness, there had been a veritable explosion of Chalkhill Blues. They were uncountable but must have numbered in excess of 1000 males. One striated aberration was seen but when I followed it with the camera, it sparred with another male. I subsequently chased the wrong one! Presumably a similar number of females but they were far less willing to fly and tended to crawl around searching for egg laying sites and were much less noticeable than the males. Indeed, when I took this picture, I hadn’t even noticed the female!

I came across this Wasp Spider and the remains of ten Chalkhill Blues (wings only) were beneath its web.

(Possibly the butterfly on the right is a Common Blue – hard to tell).
I had hoped for plenty of Silver Spotted Skippers but only one was seen and that soon disappeared across the downs.

Tuesday 3rd August
I had arranged to meet Neil (Sussex Kipper) at a site by the River Mole near Gatwick airport where a Brown Hairstreaks had been reported. I honestly don’t think I would have found them had I been on my own. Neil can spot a twitching antenna at the top of a 20 metre high tree. I suppose his eyes are much younger than mine! As many as four males were seen but none posed for me. A stick was used to pull down a twig and Neil got some superb photos; my pictures were decidedly second rate being taken from long range.


Take note: If you want to see rare butterflies, don’t be afraid to ask an expert.

We went our separate ways, he to investigate a new Wood White site nearby, I to go to the utterly reliable Botany Bay near Chiddingfold. Scores of second brood Wood Whites patrolled the rides. The courtship wing flicking is difficult to capture on camera; this is the best I could manage.


The usual common species were seen (roosting Common Blues for example)

and a few elderly Silver Washed Fritillaries completed the scene.

I stayed overnight again in a hotel in Henfield. There was the most appalling background music in the bar (music is an exaggeration). A male vocalist kept doing “speak -overs” in an absurdly deep voice. I suppose it was to create “mood”. Well it certainly put me in a mood. I adjourned to a nearby pub where comparative silence reigned – and it served decent enough food to boot.

Wednesday 4th August
With heavy rain forecast (and so it turned out) I gave Steyning a miss for a further search for Brown Hairstreak and meandered my way back via Ashdown Forest where there was a brief burst of sunshine. This almost-white butterfly feeding on heather threw me completely until I got close.

It didn’t seem to be the sort of habitat to find Holly Blue. There were no late Silver-studded Blues but several Common Blues.

I had hoped for Graylings but no luck.

The rain was intense as I drove home along the M11.

Jack

[David M]

Hi Jack. You asked me about Old Castle Down the other week. Went back there today and I took some photos of the climb up to the top of the down.

Take a look and judge whether your legs can manage it

Taken from the south facing slope across the road (now this IS steep)

This is the routine way up. Starts off okay but gets a bit steeper near the top.

[Jack Harrison]

8th August

Made the trek to Whitecross Green Wood where just one high flying Brown Hairstreak was seen. Then I moved to Piddington Wood where I joined Phil Bromley who had had little better luck. A decent enough total of 20 species were seen during the day.
Numbers of Common Blue were impressive. At Whitecross Green, a large proportion of females had extensive blue.

A newly emerged Brown Argus posed well.

Commas old and new.


Jack

[Jack Harrison]

13th August - The Compleat (sic) Bugger

Not ideal weather for butterflies, but the garden was fun for bug watching between the showers. This beastie is ENORMOUS being best part of 20 mms long; I’ve never seen one before. Two pictures of same bug. Any ideas?


And the spider was still making his web when a hapless hover fly blundered into it. He rolled it over and over in his silk and carried it away for supper.

Jack (FZ38 +2 diopters achromatic)

[millerd]

How about Volucella zonaria for the hoverfly?
There is a website: hoverfly.org.uk which might be interested in the sighting, too.

Dave

[robpartridge]

Hello Jack,

I'm a complete newcomer to this site but read your diaries as I know you record in Cambs. I just wanted to ask whether all your recent photos were taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ38 - to my, admittedly inexpert, eye they look stunning! I could be seriously tempted!

Rob

[Jack Harrison]

Thanks. Yes, all on my diary this year were with the Lumix FZ38.

For the smaller insects, I add a +2 achromatic close-up lens. If there's the slightest wind, I use a diffused fill-in flash, a small plastic bottle (a moth holding pot) wrapped in translucent tape and pushed over the extended camera flash. The flash freezes any vegetation shake.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

Dave:

There is a website: hoverfly.org.uk which might be interested in the sighting, too.

I looked at the group, registered but it seems a bit of a fag to post a simple sighting. Is that bug so unusual as to warrant a report? I'm not likely to be a regular recorder.

Jack