Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii.  Three colour forms.
Orchid Bank at High Elms Country Park, 27 June 2013.

Common Spotted Orchids (or hyphenated, as Common Spotted-orchid) come in a variety of shades.  Most are like the middle example, and the others are at the ends of the colour range.

The light coloured ones look white, but are not truly white forms because the spotted pattern is still visible.  Unlike the white form of the Green-winged Orchid, which has no spots.

I thought that bee in the middle picture might have been feeding,  but it seems to have been just resting; I had to prod it to get it to show its face like that.  (It's a Tree Bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum.)

This is a short post!

Some New Moths

White Ermine, Spilosoma lubricipeda.  In my garden actinic light trap in Hayes on 12 June 2013.

 Here are a few moths from my garden traps that I did not see there last year.  In fact, I had not seen the Lime Hawkmoth or Pale Tussock anywhere.  They aren't rare, but I am pretty sure I only get a fraction of what lives in the area, and which ones rest in my trap is probably pure chance.   Here are some of the good-lookers that turned up in June.

Lime Hawkmoth, Mimas tiliae.  In my garden actinic light trap in Hayes on 19 June 2013.

 This Lime Hawkmoth is big as British moths go.  It has a 2½ inch wingspan.  It would be a real treat for a bat.

Shears, Hada plebeja.  In my garden actinic light trap on the balcony in Hayes on 3 June 2013.

The Shears is named for part of its pattern that is said to resemble, well, shears. 

Pale Tussock, Calliteara pudibunda.  In my garden actinic light trap on the balcony in Hayes on 14 June 2013.

This one is so fluffy that I can't tell where it keeps its eyes!

Not Dandelions

Rough Hawkbit, Leontodon hispidus.  High Elms Country Park, 2 June 2013.

 I have posted some flowers that are not Dandelions before.  There are quite a few, including Hawkweeds, Hawkbits and Hawk's-beards, and it can be hard to tell them all apart, specially for non-botanists.  Recently I was looking at some photographs in a London gallery, and there was one set that was supposed to represent the life cycle of a Dandelion; at least one was definitely not a Dandelion, being far too hairy.

Some of them dominate a particular field or area.  At High Elms, there are Rough Hawkbits.  They are generally very hairy, and have sepals that clasp the inflorescence.

Cat's-ear, Hypochaeris radicata.  Spring Park, 5 June 2013.

Cat's-ears can also fill a field.  They do not have hairy stems, but they have little bracts at intervals up the flower-stem.  The bracts around the inflorescence are arranged in helixes, like the Rough Hawkbit, and have a central row of soft prickles.  The tips of the bracts are purple.  (There are other features, but I am describing the ones you can see.)

Beaked Hawk's-beard, Crepis vesicaria.  By Hayes Station car park, 12 June 2013.

This Beaked Hawk's-beard tends to grow at the edges rather than everywhere.  This one is in a crack at the edge of a road.  The sepals are symmetrical rather than spiralled. It is downy rather than hairy, and has an outer ring of sepals that stand out, forming a neat ruff at the base of the flower.  The outer surfaces of the outer florets are usually reddish.

So once you know what to look for, you can tell most of them apart quite easily.  Of course, this is far from the full set, and you sometimes need to see the leaves as well.  Also, some of them flower at different times of year. The true Dandelions have been going for a while, but these three are just at their peak now.

Wasp Beetle

Wasp Beetle, Clytus arietis, caught on the outside of my window in Hayes on 4 June 2013.

These are not scarce, but I had not seen one before 4th June.  Then, I saw one in Spring Park, crawling among a sunny bramble bank, and got a reasonably good photo.

Later the same day, I saw another crawling on the outside of the window of my computer room!  I snagged it the same way I do moths in summer, and this was the best of the resulting photos.  They are fast and jerky movers, so it's not easy to get a closeup that is actually in focus and has the whole creature in the shot.  I had to take lots.  The fact that it's on the back of my left hand shows that I have had a lot of practice in wielding a heavy camera, macro lens and ring flash with just the right.

They are completely harmless to humans.  Like the other beetles I have shown recently, they eat pollen from flowers.  Their colouration is said to fool predators into thinking they are dangerous wasps; this is known as Batesian mimicry.

Pretty!

Hoverfly Tongue

Hoverfly, Helophilus pendulus, on Midland Hawthorn, Crataega lavigata.  Marden Meadow, 25 May 2013.

 The Orpington Field Club visited beautiful Marden Meadow at the end of May for the Green-winged Orchids, and during the lunch break I photographed several insects visiting a Midland Hawthorn in full bloom.   It was a popular bush, and this continues the theme of pollen-eating started in the last two posts.

Here I photographed the way a hoverfly actually picks up the pollen, brushing its tongue over the hawthorn's stamen to ollect the grains.

Hoverfly, Helophilus pendulus, on Midland Hawthorn, Crataega lavigata.  Marden Meadow, 25 May 2013.

More Pollen

Soldier Beetle, Cantharis rustica, visiting a Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna.  Spring Park, 5 June 2013.

Here's another beetle, also eating pollen.  These are sometimes called Soldier or Sailor Beetles because of their red and black patterning, like an old-fashioned military uniform.  They are good flyers, and you might think the air was full of bees as they move from plant to plant, but when they land you can see what they really are.

The black mark on top of the thorax varies a little in detail between individuals.  It's usually described as triangular, but to me it is more of a heart shape.

Pollen Time

Malachite Beetle, Malachius bipustulatus, in a Meadow Buttercup, Ranunculus acris.  Jubilee Country Park, 3 June 2013.

So many small creatures love pollen.  Not just bees, but beetles too.  This showy little creature is a Malachite Beetle, easily recognised by the feature that, in close-up, looks like a hairy red backside.  It's actually part of the beetle's wing-cases.

Malachite Beetle, Malachius bipustulatus, in a Meadow Buttercup, Ranunculus acris.  Jubilee Country Park, 3 June 2013.

It seems to be munching away at this stamen, but it's the pollen that it wants. 

A Meadow Buttercup, Ranunculus acris, with a Malachite Beetle, Malachius bipustulatus.
Jubilee Country Park, 3 June 2013.

The meadow was full of these tall Buttercups, the most conspicuous flower at the moment.  You can see the beetle at the middle centre of the photo.