Finishing a job a little earlier than expected, I took the opportunity to visit my local country park, to look for Cobalt Crust fungus (Terana caerulea). I searched for the couple of hours available, but failed to find any. However, the visit wasn't in vain as I came across a Kidney-spot Ladybird clamped down on a fallen Sallow branch and on another Sallow branch I discovered groups of slime mould sporangia, though of what specific slime mould I don't know.
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| Kidney-spot Ladybird |
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| Slime Mould Sporangia |
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| A different group of sporangia. Note the stalks on those to the right. |
We found a kidney-spot ladybird at Parc Slip last week - I don't think I had ever seen one before.
ReplyDeleteI found my first, late summer last year, then found several more through the autumn. This the only one I've seen this year though. They always seem to be associated with Sallow.
ReplyDeleteI've had them in the garden here in Cardiff on the odd occasion - from memory I think they were mostly on our Noble Fir (now gone after someone nicked the top of it for a Christmas Tree last year).
ReplyDeleteThe thieving so-and-so's! I've only ever seen them on Sallow. Speaking of ladybirds on conifers, years ago, both in the forestry and in the surrounding area, Eyed Ladybird was quite common, but I haven't seen one in well over a decade, even though the conifers are, in the main, all still there and thanks to cropping, there is a good mix of ages, but seemingly no Eyed Ladybirds around here any more.
ReplyDeleteThe strange thing was, the tree theft happened on Christmas day night! We used to get Pine as well as Kidney-spot Ladybirds on that tree.
ReplyDeleteThe only place I've seen Eyed Ladybird in Glamorgan was on a fence post near the rowing club in Llandaff. There are conifers across the road in the grounds of the BBC studios.