Waking Up??

With the weather continuing to be poor the local patch is at least producing some immature stages to keep a little interest going. I, along with most, just wish the weather would warm up so a few more species of insect would be flying. By this time last year Orange-tips were really into their season and Green Hairstreaks were active on some sites. Still, when it does happen I'm quite hopeful that some species could have a pretty good year. 

With the sun shining yesterday I did have a bit of a search for a Wall Brown pupa. This is the hardest stage to find by a long way, but having found so many larva this year I am slightly more hopeful than usual that I might just find one or two. As it is the larva have become harder to find which could be because some have pupated, although it could be because some of them have become nocturnal to help evade predation. A night-time search may provide the answer!!

I was pleased to hear a Common Whitethroat singing in the bushes, it seems a few flew across the Channel today going by the reports.

The Speckled Wood larva is still showing and yesterday I found it covered in water droplets following the morning rain.

Speckled Wood larva with rain droplets.

Near fully grown Wall Brown larva feeding.

It was also good to see several of the early season micro moths flying which included the tiny Ancylis comptana, a moth which is only 5mm long. When it flies it is very hard to spot where it lands for my aging eyes!!

Ancylis comptana.

Today it was back to really dull dreary weather. As I couldn't decide what to do I once again headed for a stroll around the patch. In the breeze it was a bit chilly, however, several more of the tiny micro  moths were flying. A few different Wall Brown larva were also seen. I did get the camera out to photograph an Oak Eggar larva. This one was quite a bit more advanced than the one I photographed a few weeks ago, it had also grown a lot more hair. Very nice to see, and it made the stroll just about worth doing.

Oak Eggar larva. Approx half grown.