Weevil

Yesterday (31 July) I snatched an hour from work to visit Blaencanaid forest ponds, S.West of Methyr Tydfil. There wasn't much about, apart from a few Willow Warblers and Chiff Chaffs calling from the scrub.

A stunningly fresh Painted Lady was a nice surprise, as was the hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri.

Inspecting the flowers of some Angelica which was growing alongside the forest ride, I notices a large weevil on a Rosebay Willowherb flower stem and clambering up the embankment to get a closer look, I could see it was distinctively marked. I believe it to be Hylobius abietis, a species that feeds within dying pine and spruce trees, which would explain its presence up there.

I had hoped to look for some dragonflies, but time ran out and rain was sweeping in rapidly from the S.West.