Vine Weevil

Vine Weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, photographed on the Guardian, 28 September 2011.

I found one of these in my moth trap recently, and thought it looked interesting. Then I discovered as soon as I identified it that they are actually quite a harmful pest; they eat leaves, and their grubs eat roots. Luckily I only saw one .. but then this one appeared in my house. I hope they are not attracted to my pot plants.

Two Garden Slugs

Large Black Slug, Arion ater, going for a chunk of mango in my back garden in Hayes, 7 September 2011.

I used to pick up the big slugs in my garden and throw them over the back fence into a patch of scrub and trees, but then I read that some of them eat the smaller slugs that do most damage to garden plants. Since then I have let them be, and there does seem to be a lot less slug damage.

The creature in the top photo is called the Large Black Slug, but actually varies in colour. Back in Newcastle, they were all jet black. Here, they are mostly this mid-brown, though some are more yellow.

You can clearly see its mantle, its breathing pore and the stripy fringe. At the end of the tail is a little lump of mucus that picks up bits of the environment; bits of grit and plant debris in this case. This slug eats vegetation and carrion, but will not actually attack living prey.

Below is a Leopard Slug, so-called because of its appearance, but this one is also an active predator and goes after the little slugs as well as carrion. A group of these spend the day under the rim of my rainwater butt, cool and wet. Welcome to the garden, Limax!

Leopard Slug, Limax maximus, in my back garden in Hayes.  25 September 2011.

Piece of Treetrunk

Piece of treetrunk in a clearing.  West Wickham Common, 2 June 2011.

This piece of tree was placed next to a holly sapling almost like a sculpture, and seemed to be lit in an interesting way, so I took a shot with my 100mm macro lens. This was at f/2.8, showing how sharp this lens is even wide open.

The wood has been moved around several times since June.

Twenty-Plume Moth

Twenty-plume Moth, Alucita hexadactyla.  Micromoth.  2 October 2011.

This strange small moth appeared on the outside of an upstairs window one evening. After some wild manipulations with a plastic coffee cup I managed to catch it, and I left it in the fridge overnight hoping it would be subdued in the morning and ready to be photographed. But it was still lively; in this shot it is crawling up some paintwork. After this I caught it again and let it out.

As you can see, its wings are split into spines or plumes which are covered with fine hairs. Each wing has six plumes, so there are actually 24 altogether. Whoever named it was distressingly inaccurate, and I do not know why whoever gave it its Linnaic name referred to the plumes as fingers.

It's one of many moths that the books say are common, and yet I do not recall having seen it before. Perhaps because you need to look closely to see the plumes.

Bumblebee on Greater Knapweed

Bumblebee, Bombus pascuorum, on Greater Knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa.  Lullingstone Country Park, 14 October 2011.

Another shot taken during my wild flower course at Lullingstone.

Lesser Hawkbit

Lesser Hawkbit, Leontodon saxatilis.  Lullingstone Country Park, 14 October 2011.

I am taking a course called "Discovering WIldflowers" at Lullingstone Country Park. Last Friday we walked around some of the park, looking for roses but not confining ourselves to them.

This is a common enough flower, one of the many yellow-flowered composites that look a little like dandelions. This one looks as though someone has taken a paintbrush full of grey, outlined the sepals are run the brush up the outer petals.

I also took a shot of the flower full on, shown below, but I think the first one is much more pleasant and  interesting.

Lesser Hawkbit, Leontodon saxatilis.  Lullingstone Country Park, 14 October 2011.

A Popular Oak Leaf

Popular oak leaf on Hayes Common.  18 September 2011.

Oak trees support many other species and are ecosystems in themselves. This single leaf illustrates some of that!

I am no expert on galls, but they are interesting and some of them are easy to identify. Not these, unfortunately.  This leaf has up to three different types. The large round one on the right might be a Striped Pea Gall, caused by the gall wasp Cynips longiventris, though it is not as colourful as I would expect. There are also some small green galls lower down the midrib, possibly younger versions of the same, though if so their timing is odd; and some small black ribbed galls on the side veins.

The tip of the leaf, on the right, is covered with droppings and silk strands, showing that something has been living there, curling the edge of the leaf around for protection. The same has happened where the edge of the leaf is curled under at the bottom of the photo.

The white patch in the middle is where something has eaten out the green goodness from between the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf.

There are holes where something has either eaten or taken away chunks of leaf.

There are some white cast-off skins showing where aphids have moulted.

And finally, I  leave it to you to spot the scale insect, tucked in and hanging on quite happily.