Natural History

Fine Crop of Insects Pollinating Hogweed at Gunnersbury Triangle

Macrophya (Symphyta) mating on Hogweed
Macrophya (Symphyta) mating on Hogweed: one of two mating pairs, and many individuals around in the warm sunshine this afternoon. Mating lasts for less than a minute, so the photographer has to be lucky and quick
Small bee pollinating Hogweed
Small bee pollinating Hogweed (flying between flowers)
Tiny speckled beetle pollinating Hogweed
Tiny speckled beetle pollinating Hogweed
Rose Chafer on Hogweed
Rose Chafer on Hogweed
Oedemera nobilis on Hogweed
Oedemera nobilis on Hogweed
Strangalia maculata longhorn beetle on Hogweed
Strangalia maculata longhorn beetle on Hogweed
Marvellously slender long-tailed Ichneumon
Marvellously slender long-tailed Ichneumon, on Hogweed of course (just look at that ovipositor!)

OK, and to end, one insect NOT on Hogweed, the Small China-Mark Moth, on a Reed. It and many others of its species were fluttering about the pond, where they mate and lay eggs in waterside vegetation. I was really pleased to get the camera so close to this attractive little insect.

Small China-Mark Moth
Small China-Mark Moth