Animals & Insects: 2016

Friday, 17 June 2016

Soloman's Seal Sawfly

Every year, on our Soloman's Seal plants, we get an infestation of wrinkly grey Caterpillars, that eat up the plant in under 3 months.
These are called the Soloman's Seal Sawfly, (Phymatocera Aterrima).

I have plans to take these in and raise them myself, and try them in different environments, for our school's annual Science Fair.
The pictures below are the adult Sawflies, because the Larvae have not hatched yet. I will update this post soon when they hatch!

Soloman's Seal
Photo by Alex Sidne

Soloman's Seal
Photo by Alex Sidney

Soloman's Seal Sawfly
Photo by Alex Sidney

Soloman's Seal
Photo by Alex Sidney

Soloman's Seal Sawfly
Photo by Alex Sidney

Soloman's Seal
Photo by Alex Sidney

Woodlouse Spider

This is a commonly found Spider, which, as its name suggests, feeds on Woodlice and other small invertebrates. They tend not to spin webs, but instead chase their prey around, or creep up on them and pounce.

I'm still not sure about which species it is: Dysdera Crocata, or Dysdera Erythrina.
Both are very alike, with only the smallest differences. They are both Woodlouse Spiders, however.
Any ideas? Post in the comments below!

Alex

Woodlouse Spider
Photo by Alex Sidney

Sunday, 29 May 2016

Ocypus Brunnipes

Originally, I was looking for Staphylinus Olens, the Devil's Coach-horse, which is in my challenge to see, (www.bugchallenge.blogspot.co.uk), but I ended up finding a much smaller species, from the same family, Rove Beetles, and this one was Ocypus brunnipes....

Ocypus brunnipes
Photo by Alex Sidney

Monday, 4 April 2016

Grey Squirrel

My dad took this picture of a Grey Squirrel while it was perfectly posing, nibbling on our Bird food.
I still haven't found a fully Squirrel-proof Bird feeder yet!
Then a Woodpigeon decided to flap in, just as the photo was taken. An additional beauty to the background, I suppose....

Grey Squirrel
Photo by Clive Sidney

Devil's Coach-Horse

I don't think I've posted this one before - Devil's Coach-Horse (Staphylinus Olens)
I think I found it in August 2015. Oh, how fast that year went! I hardly saw it go!
But I suppose I'll be saying the same to 2016 in January 2017....

Devil's Coach-Horse
Photo by Alex Sidney

Wild Rabbit

So, one of the first folders I came across had all the pictures of the rabbit in our garden. I posted about 3 or 4 of them in a previous post, but now I've decided to post the lot!
The post below this one has a picture of a baby Rabbit. Not from these photos. That one, I spent two long hours trying to catch it out of my mum's Polytunnel!

Wild Rabbit
Photo by Clive Sidney

Honeypot!

Looking through all my photos, I found large stashes of photos of wildlife, landscape, plants, and more!
I will be posting as many as possible during the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled!

Baby Rabbit
Photo by Franz Sidney

Sunday, 3 April 2016

Galeruca Tanaceti

I found this interesting Beetle while looking for insects on my list for my BugChallenge.(www.bugchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)
After a lot of research, I found it's Scientific Name, Galeruca Tanaceti.
I looked everywhere for a Common Name, but to no avail. Then I found a links to the Tansy Leaf Beetle, which, on some websites, said that it's Scientific Name was Galeruca Tanaceti, but the majority of websites, such as Wikipedia, claimed that the Tansy Leaf Beetle's Scientific Name was Chrysolina Graminis! What I know for certain, is that it is from the Family of Leaf Beetles, and that, according to Naturespot.org, this is a Female beetle, because of the Abdomen, protruding beyond the Elytra. The website does not state any Common Name for the Beetle.
Some websites also say that this Beetle feeds mainly on Knapweed, and is most commonly found in dry places, between April and September.
I'm quite baffled by these identifications, so I will leave Galeruca Tanaceti without a Common Name, and hope that in the near future, I will find out.
If anybody has any information on this, I would be glad if you could post it in the comments, or contact me on Google+ (Alex Sidney), or Facebook (Alex Sidney).

Galeruca Tanaceti
Photo by Alex Sidney