Cardinal beetles

The bright red Cardinal beetles make themselves obvious at this time of year, as they sit about on foliage along woodland rides and edges. We have two species in Glamorgan (there is also a third, much rarer species which inhabits upland birch woods and isn't known from the county). Luckily, the two can be distinguished easily based on the colour of the head.

The Red-headed Cardinal Pyrochroa serraticornis is the commoner of the two, and although it occurs in ancient woodland it isn't restricted to this habitat, and can be seen, for example, along the Taff river corridor in Cardiff. I even had one in my garden last year.

The Black-headed Cardinal Pyrochroa coccinea is more restricted to ancient woodlands. The individual in the photo below was seen on a leaf in the woods near Castell Coch a couple of weeks ago.

Keep an eye out for them, and please submit any records to SEWBReC.

Purple Gromwell

Mike Powell & myself went to the Vale today to count Greater Butterfly Orchids at Porthkerry, which we saw 110 spikes and then went along to Bull Cliff, The Knap to look for Purple Gromwell, again finding a few flowers along side the carpark area. Apologies for quality of photo, from my iPhone & it was windy!

parasitic wasp and aphid

Last week I posted an image of a tiny 'brown bug' which George identified as a parasitised aphid. I sealed this into a container and sometime last night this small (approx 2mm) wasp emerged, the hole can clearly be seen in the back of the aphid. Don't know how it managed to fit in there though!

Fascinating.

failed assault on woodlouse

An odd sighting at the weekend. I was checking the moth trap at the weekend and noticed an odd-looking woodlouse on the wall - it appeared to have something attached to it! The 'something' was black and shiny, paler underneath and a line along the upper side with no noticeable mouthparts or eyes. The woodlouse plodded along regardless. I managed to get the camera and grab a couple of shots, using a torch and flash, before the thing gave up and I lost it as it moved away from the woodlouse.

Grateful for any information as to what it was and what it was doing.

Creigiau this afternoon

Attracted into the garden this afternoon by the first ever visit of a Large Red Damselfly, but I was soon distracted by the activity in one of the raised beds. Black ants and Speckled Bush Cricket nymphs were everywhere

and these were soon joined by brief visits from a Syrphus hoverfly, probably Eupeodes corolla. 

I struggled to get some pictures of a Planthopper (approx 3mm) - a later look at ‘British Bugs’ suggested that this strange looking beastie was a member of the Delphacidae family, possibly one of the Javesella sp..

A speck on a leaf turned out to be a tiny (approx. 1mm) brown bug – no idea what this was, 

or where to start looking, but the icing on the cake was a visit from a couple of Picture-winged Flies. Very twitchy and difficult to get a good view in the camera but the image taken is almost identical to one on ‘NatureSpot’ of Tephritis neesii.

The black ants are everywhere and I regularly see Speckled Bush Crickets through the summer and autumn, but this was the first time I’ve seen the others - a very pleasant hour in the garden.

Green Hairstreak having a good year...?

Green Hairstreak sightings seem to be up this year, with Lucie Bromfield finding one on the Waun in Tonyrefail week before last. Last Monday, Ben Williams then had no less that 34 seen on a tour of Rhos Tonyrefail SSSI open access areas to NE & E of Tonyrefail. I also readily found 5 on bramble just behind the house called "Mountain View" on Cefn Hirgoed, part of Coity Walia common near Bridgend on Friday.

springtails

Apologies, but another query from me and my garden bugs!

Following recent visits from Entomobrya intermedia and Orchesella cincta, I found these two little beasties in the garden this morning - the first was on the sheet under the moth trap and the second was one of several I found under some wood on the decking. Although the colouring is slightly different, I suspect they are the same species .... but not one I've been able to identify. The grid is 2mm and both were of similar size - they even appear to adopt the same pose for photographs!

Once again any assistance appreciated.