Marjoram, a characteristic flower of Chalk GrasslandParasitic WaspChrysomelid Flower Beetle on ? Rough HawkbitPlume MothPyramidal Orchids in Chalk Grassland
In the evening, I gave my ‘Urban Nature Reserve’ talk to a local group
6-Spot Burnet Moth side view with proboscis nectaring on Marjoram, antennae iridescent blue. Extremely flighty on a really hot day!6-Spot Burnet Moth on Marjoram, Red on Iridescent Green (like the related Forester Moth, which flies here earlier in the year)6-Spot Burnet Moth on Marjoram, same insect, looking Red on Black. The brilliant conspicuous coloration is evidently aposematic, more or less honestly warning that the insects are toxic, containing cyanogenic glucosides. A recent article finds, however, that the most toxic burnet moths are not more aposematic, i.e. there is no quantitative relationship. (But wouldn’t the less toxic moths evolve to look like the most toxic ones, as it’s safer…)
Moulting Grasshopper
Hoverfly on St John’s WortA magnificently large Parasitic Wasp on HogweedSoldier Beetle on HogweedPyrausta nigrata: a beautiful chocolate-brown Micro Moth of downland with a wavy wing bar, among the wild Thyme (that’s how small it is)
Common Blue butterfly on Self-Heal
Marbled White on ScabiousDark Green Fritillary (with quaking-grass above). Not only rare, but very flighty! I was happy to get this long shot through the grass.
There were also Small Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Small Skippers, and possibly Chalkhill Blues about.
A magnificently short, gnarly Beech getting a good toe-hold on the Chalk
Well this probably is a Chiltern Gentian, the flowers are large, and showier than the Autumn Gentian; pinker than the camera has made it look, too
Ancient Olive Grove near Ostuni, Puglia. One tree here was measured at 1,400 years old. Mating Flower Beetles on Greater Pignut. The species has brown elytra, unlike the iridescent green elytra of the thick-kneed flower beetle familiar in northern Europe.The Olive Groves harbour an attractive flora of herbs and grasses, and a rich fauna of butterflies (here, Common Blue), grasshoppers, bugs and beetles. Birdlife includes Hoopoe, Serin, Swift, and Swallow and the occasional Kestrel, and plenty of Italian Sparrows.Scabious in Olive GroveMulleinStone Grasshopper: this marvellously camouflaged insect is practically invisible unless it moves. Its bold disruptive coloration effectively breaks up its outline and misleads the eye about its shape and shadow. Fallen fruits of grasses and vetchSpirit of the Olive Tree? A gnarled olive trunk resembling an ancient faceAnt-lion (Myrmeleontidae), another well-camouflaged insect. This is the adult; the larva lives in a burrow, where it traps ants in a conical pit by digging the sand away beneath them.Olive Grove pruning: neat rows of brash, and the occasional stack of logs. Ant Road across Olive Grove trackLarge Grasshopper rescued from swimming pool. I also saved a brown lizard but didn’t have the camera with me to record it. Painted Lady
Scarlet Darter
Limestone boulder handsomely lichened in orange, grey, black, and white
Passenger moth, Dysgonia algira. It was easy to see when it moved but not at all badly camouflaged among the limestone blocks of the field wall.
Spider-hunting wasp (Anoplius: Pompilidae) with much larger prey, which she dragged off to her burrow, paralysed but alive, for her young to live on until they pupateHouse Gecko on wall of old farmhouse (a Masseria)Italian Sparrow with food for nestlings, waiting for a moment to fly unobserved to the nest hole in the Masseria
The English seem unemotional … except for their passion for nature
