Rudge Gallery

Wednesday 14th August, Rudge Farm

Rudge Farm is situated on the Shropshire – Staffordshire border near to Chesterton. It is a large arable farm. On the western side of the farm an extensive area of heathland has been encouraged to regenerate and it is to this area that the group made its way.

I was unable to attend this gathering, but the group managed very well without me!

The only drawback is that I am unable to give a blow by blow account of the day.

In summary, unlike the Grand Old Duke of York, they started at the top of the hill, where they met. They did not march down but ambled at an extremely leisurely pace to the bottom then up the another hill to the heathland. The rest of the day was spent meandering about the heathland area in improving weather before retracing their steps to go home.

I understand it was quite hard work finding species but, to make me jealous, “there was a good range of bugs”. 

And to rub it in I have been sent lots of photographs of what I missed.

Here they are.

The star of the show from an bug point of view, as we do not find this species very often, was a nymph of a Heather shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

Other bugs found included a Spiked shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

A Red-legged shieldbug or Forest bug whichever common name you prefer for Pentatoma rufipes.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A nymph of a Bronze shieldbug.

Photograph: John Martin

A nymph of a Dock bug.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A striking red and black rhopalid bug, Corizus hyoscyami.

Photograph: David Williams

An Ant damsel bug with some friends, a ground beetle and a springtail.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a plant bug, Blepharidopterus angulatus, affectionately known as the Black-kneed capsid (as it has black knees).

Photograph: John Martin

Having grouped the bugs (hemiptera) together why not do the same for the other photographs?

So I will.

Butterflies and Moths

A Small copper.

Photograph: John Martin

A Square-spot rustic.

Photograph: John Martin

A Straw dot.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Apotomis betuletana.

Photograph: John Martin

A larva of a Buff-tip moth.

Photograph: John Martin

A larva of a Vapourer moth.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Finally, a larva of a Mother Shipton moth.

Photograph: John Martin

Bees and wasps

Galls of a gall wasp, Andricus grossulariae, on an oak.

Photograph: John Martin

A bee, Andrena fuscipes.

Photograph: David Williams

A nomada bee, Nomada rufipes. 

Photograph: John Martin

Nomada bees are cleptoparasites. The female nomada lays an egg in the nest cell of another bee. When the nomada egg hatches the larva proceeds to destroy the host bee’s egg or larva and then consumes the food that the host bee has provided for its larva. Nomada bees are often host specific and Nomada rufipes searches out the nests of three or four Andrena hosts including the species of bee in the earlier photograph, Andrena fuscipes.

Another bee, Colletes succinctus.

Photograph: David Williams

A wasp, possibly Ammophila sabulosa.

Photograph: David Williams

And finally for this group a sawfly, Gilpinia frutetorum, was recorded for the first time in Shropshire. Sorry, I do not have a photograph of it. However, more about this species can be found here: https://www.sawflies.org.uk/gilpinia-frutetorum/

Beetles

A 22-spot ladybird larva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And the adult version.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A weevil, Hypera arator.

Photograph: John Martin

Another weevil, Strophosoma sus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a ground beetle which may be Bembidion quadrimaculatus.

Photograph: John Martin

Spiders and Harvestmen

Misumena vatia.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Anelosimus vittatus with its egg-sac.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a harvestman, Nematoma bimaculatum.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Bush crickets

A Roesel’s bush cricket.

Photograph: David Williams

Flies

And finally, a robberfly, Machimus atricapillus.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Other News

You may remember, if you are a regular reader of these ramblings, that a few weeks ago I included a photograph of a 1-day old Pine hawkmoth larva.

Here is the photograph.

Photograph: Tony Jacques

Well, the larva has grown considerably and has now been returned to where the egg was found for it to pupate and mature in time into an adult moth. Whilst it was in temporary care a photographic record of its progress was kept.

Egg.

Photograph: David Williams

12 days – 3rd instar.

Photograph: David Williams

17 days having just emerged as a 4th instar.

Photograph: David Williams

26 days.

Photograph: David Williams

Then it was returned.

Orthoptera and Dermatera

One of the group has become a published author.

Photograph: David Williams

This excellent guide to the Grasshoppers, Groundhoppers, Crickets and Earwigs of Central and Northern Britain and Ireland by David Williams is a lavishly illustrated guide to these insects. Information about each species is provided under various headings on one page with a second page dedicated to photographs of the species showing life stages and variants with pointers to key identification features. See https://www.field-studies-council.org/2024/06/26/orthoptera-and-dermaptera-a-new-aidgap-guide/

It is available from FSC publications – https://www.field-studies-council.org/shop/publications/orthoptera-and-dermaptera/ and other booksellers.

My thanks to the owners for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing and to the photographer for providing his excellent images for this report.

Welcome to my world!

Wednesday 7th August, Llwynderw

An early start was needed to reach this week’s destination. A farm near Llanidloes named Llwynderw.

The farm is a working cattle farm run by a member of the Joy of Wildlife group. It consists of fields, upland grassland, a stream, pools, boggy areas and woodland, which provide a variety of habitats. The River Severn flows along the southern edge of the site.

On arrival we were greeted with tea/coffee and biscuits.

A great start!

For once I was able to rely on someone else to direct the group and, no sooner had he outlined his plans, some of the attendees ignored him and started searching in an area that he hoped we would speed by. Our host's eyes were raised to the sky.

Welcome to my world!

The dissent did not last too long. We moved fairly swiftly, with one or two dalliers, along a path through some woodland to the more open spaces of upland grass on one side with a stream on the other.

Almost immediately we noticed a Red admiral feeding on bramble.

This is only the third Red admiral I have seen in this year of worryingly low butterfly numbers.

The sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm. We spotted a large hoverfly, Sericomyia silentis, taking advantage of the conditions.

Photograph: John Martin

The path we were following rose gently threading its way between the stream and the grassland.

Passing an area of sparse vegetation, we observed a Golden-ringed dragonfly.

Photograph: John Martin

Time had passed quickly and it was time to find a lunch spot. A grassy bank proved ideal.

Whilst we ate, a cooler breeze sprang up. It stayed with us for the rest of the day.

Lunch over, we explored the area around where we had eaten then continued to walk away from the cars.

An Emerald damselfly agreed to perch on a finger.

Photograph: John Martin

A flowering stem of Lesser skullcap was spotted.

Photograph: John Martin

The path passed through an area where there was, in effect, a small cliff face on which there was a rich cover of vegetation.

Checking this habitat out held my attention for quite some time...

The others moved on.

When my attention to this area had waned, there was no-one in sight! As I knew that they had not returned from whence we had come I carried on and, eventually, caught up with them as they were exploring an excellent area of bog which had an abundance of Bog asphodel.

As I was not with the group when the following photograph was taken I am not sure where the Common cottongrass in the following photograph was found. However, as it is normally found in boggy habitats it is likely to have been in this area of bog.

Photograph: John Martin

Whilst we pottered about the bog trying to stay upright, and dry, a cow looked curiously on from above. 

As the path rose above the bog we could look back on the way we had come.

All of a sudden mention was made of homemade Welsh cakes awaiting our return.

This made the return journey much quicker!!!

But on the way we did pause to photograph a couple of flies.

Rhagio tringarius.

Photograph: John Martin

A robber fly, which is probably Machimus atricapillus.

Photograph: John Martin

Once back at our starting point we were treated to the aforementioned Welsh cakes with homemade jam.

Mmmmmmm.

Fuelled by this treat we did not go home but went to inspect a polytunnel. The warmth within these structures often attracts insects but, on this occasion, there were few to be seen.

Then we went home.

Other News

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that we have no photographs in the report of our visit to Llwynderw by one of our most regular contributors. That is because he was on a tour of Wales and Tipton looking for specific insects that are know from certain sites.

The bad news is that he did not find any of the target species.

The good news is that he found lots of other things and has sent some holiday snaps for us to enjoy.

The first port of call was Freshwater West, towards the southwest tip of Wales. Here are a few of the animals he observed.

Great green bush cricket.

Photograph: David Williams

Stratiomys singularior, known as the Flecked General.

Photograph: David Williams

A Small elephant hawk-moth larva.

Photograph: David Williams

A Lesser cockroach.

Photograph: David Williams

A Grey bush cricket.

Photograph: David Williams

And a Sandhopper

Photograph: David Williams

From the south west to the north west for his next stop, Newborough Warren on Anglesey.

Heather shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

A green morph of a Field grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

A purple morph of a Common green grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

And a Brown-banded carder bee.

Photograph: David Williams

Next stop was somewhere more local, Tipton, where he found a Southern oak bush cricket, the first time it had been recorded in the West Midlands conurbation.

Photograph: David Williams

And Finally back into Wales, to Porth Neigwl on the Lleyn Peninsula.

Raven.

Photograph: David Williams

My thanks to the owners for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing and to the photographers for providing their excellent images to supplement my efforts.