Nantyffyllon moth light last night.

                                   Winter moth (x4)

                                  December moth (x2).

Another late insect

Spotted this Common Darter basking in the sun this afternoon on a south facing wall in the garden.

There are only two later records than this one on Mapmate for Glamorgan , both in 2006.

Some late butterflies

Despite the nights becoming increasingly cold, it's been nice to see some butterflies flying this late into November. A peacock was seen here at Parc Slip yesterday and today at Cwm Colhuw (near Llantwit Major) there was a red admiral flitting over the scrub. The highlight was definitely seeing a rather fresh-looking clouded yellow there however - brightened up a chilly autumn morning!

Publishing to this blog

Just a reminder that George and I are keen to receive posts to the blog from others.  Indeed it would be good not only if more people were posting, but also to expand the range of topics and taxa. 

If you would like to have the option of publishing on here, please send your email address to me on amantell20(at)gmail(dot)com and I will add you to the list.

Late record of a Common Wasp

Nothing particularly unusual about this insect, other than it is the latest date in the year I have seen still flying.  It was feeding rather lazily on the blossom of a False Castor Oil plant (Fatsia japonica).  I am pretty sure it is a Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) rather than the similar looking Tree Wasp.  The Fatsia must be one of the latest flowering plants around as it is just getting into the swing of things and looks like it may keep going a while longer.  It was attracting a surprising number of insects in the weak sunshine this afternoon despite the low temperatures.

There are surprisingly few records of this species in Mapmate (124) but I guess people tend to not record such a ubiquitous species!  This is the latest November record, the only other being one of Barry's from 2nd November.
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Here are some close-ups of the wasp, which if you read the comments below you'll see I am struggling to id.  If anyone reading this can offer any suggestions I would appreciate it! 


Also a late record of the very common hoverfly Eristalsis tenax from the same plant on the same day.

 

 

Rare insects from the Llynfi valley, Maesteg.

                             Vagrant emperor found by Craig Furlong on 12th November

                      The horsefly Atylotus fulvus,  found by Paul Tabor in July.