Aston Rowant, full of chalk grassland flowers and insects, the Cretaceous escarpment above the Oxford Clay (Jurassic) plainMale Adonis BlueFemaleSilver-Spotted Skipper Hesperia commaSphecid digger waspMeadow Grasshopper, a fine insectHarvestman cf Platybunus triangularisRed Kite overhead … and a moment later, a Raven, calling loudly, too
Black Darters in wheeL The pools were very low from a month of drought, and many of the dragonflies correspondingly distant, but this pair came obligingly close.Keeled Skimmer male sunbathing on boardwalk. Some definitely like it hot. Ask me about poikilothermy sometime, I’ll explain it to you.Thursley Common boardwalk, bog, pools, pines, birch scrub, distant hills. A Hobby flew up, its back rather uniformly grey-brown. Seen soaring later from the side, its moustachial stripe was conspicuous.Bordered Grey Moth, Selidosema brunnearia (a Geometrid)Â in heather, its caterpillar’s favourite foodBeautiful Golden Y Moth, Autographa pulchrina (a Noctuid), hiding in heatherRobber fly on bell heatherSmall Sand Wasp, Ammophila pubescens, continually in motion on a sandy path
Right at the end of the walk, a huge leaf-green Emperor Moth caterpillar (Saturnia pavonia), whorled with black tufts on each segment, walked briskly like a self-propelled cylindrical concertina across the boardwalk. Just as I grabbed my camera and leant up close, it fell down the gap between two planks and disappeared into the thick green grass below. It was a sight to behold, as long and thick as a finger.
Miller Moth (Acronicta leporina), a big insect with a chunky body, found crawling and fluttering about on leaf litter atop the mound in Gunnersbury Triangle. The wing edge is chequered, and there is a black V made of a crescent next to the small kidney-spot on each forewing.
Purple Hairstreak found in pond (worth a look at full size, click and see)Bug Day pond dipping – water level alarmingly low(Prob. Southern) Hawker Dragonfly Nymphs, Pond Snails. We also saw plenty of Ramshorn Snails, a flatworm, a leech, small diving beetles, damselfly nymphs, water fleas, Greater Water Boatmen (Backswimmers), young newts (with 4 legs and gills) and more.Identifying Birch Catkin BugsCream-Spot LadybirdDevil’s Coach Horse (Ocypus olens) – a Rove Beetle (Staphylinidae), splendidly fast and wrigglyThe magnificent Fibonacci spirals of a Teasel flowerheadUrban Green-Veined White on BuddleiaYoung Entomologist at Work
Ink sketch of the Orto Botanico, Florence, one of the 3 oldest botanic gardens in Italy, and the worldBotanic Garden, FlorenceEmperor Dragonfly (note the curved abdomen) at fountain, Orto Botanico, Florence. It seemed to me that the insect was darting at falling drops as if they were prey. It spent many minutes at this task.Just checking that it really was an Emperor Dragonfly – nearly unmarked green thorax, blue abdomen with small black lines, eyes green below, blue aboveCanna Lilies and plant house, Orto Botanico, FlorenceRoots of Spindle Palm Hyophorba verschaffeltiiRed and Yellow Water-Lilies, Orto Botanico Florence
