Some April Moths

 This April has not only been one of the driest on record but also one of the coldest. During the daytime, the warmth of the sun has pushed the temperatures up into double figures but the night-time temperatures have remained stubbornly cool. 

I have only managed to run the moth-trap on two nights where the temperature was only marginally mild enough to attract a Double-striped Pug and a Brindled Beauty. The Emperor Moth and Engrailed were daytime finds.

I also managed to get close enough to photograph a Comma, which had thus far eluded the camera.

 The Green Tiger Beetle stopped running for about 3 seconds which enabled me to get a quick shot. 

Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia) (female)

My friend Steve sent me a phone image, wanting to know what this fabulous beauty was, resting on his kitchen windowsill. 

Brindled Beauty (Lycia hirtaria) (male)

Double-striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata)

Engrailed (Ectropis bistortata)

Comma (Polygonia c-album)

Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris)

Butterflies and Moths in March

 The species of butterflies that over-winter as adults have been coming out of hibernation for several weeks but the very warm weather over the last few days has brought them out in profusion. 

I have seen multiple numbers of all of our four common hibernators and only the Comma (Polygonia c-album) has eluded my approach with the camera.

Peacock (Aglais io) (male) 

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) (males)

Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) (males)

Here are a few more moths that were attracted to the moth-trap in my wealden garden during March.

Yellow Horned (Achlya flavicornis galbanus)

March Moth (Alsophila aescularia)

Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)

Satellite (Eupsilia transversa)

Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)

Twin-spotted Quaker (Orthosia munda)

Nut-tree Tussock (Colocasia coryli)

Early Thorn (Selenia dentaria)

Some Early Season Moths

 For the last few weeks, the main focus of my lepidopteral interest has been from the moth-trap which I have managed to set up on a few mild nights. The number of species attracted to the light has slowly increased in that time.

Oak Beauty (Biston strataria) (male) 

Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria) (male)

Beautiful Plume (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla)

Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)

Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)

Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda)

Grey Shoulder-knot (Lithophane ornitopus lactipennis)

Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)

Early Grey (Xylocampa areola)

Predation

 Modern European Homo sapiens has largely lost the ability to go out into the wild to feed himself and his family. The use of his hunter-gatherer skills are pretty much confined to pushing a trolley up and down the aisles of the local supermarket.

However, in the wider natural world, the battle to survive is never ending and the contest between predator and prey is played out everywhere. The predator must eat to survive and the prey species must stay alert to avoid being eaten.

When I am out in the field, I regularly happen upon such survival dramas and I have put together some images from my photo-library.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

This is the top avian predator that you are most likely to see in action in a suburban garden.

The first three images are of a female feeding on a House Sparrow catch and the last two images are of a male feeding on a Goldfinch catch.

Invertebrate predators adopt many different strategies for catching prey. The top predators are probably dragonflies and spiders but many other invertebrates are efficient hunters.

Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense)

Male devouring a bee.

Hairy Dragonfly (B. pratense)

This female has caught a beetle and she is happily laying on her back as she grapples with her prey.

Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis)

Male devouring a Meadow Brown butterfly.

Kite-tailed Robberfly (Machimus atricapillus)

Devouring a male Common Blue butterfly.

A mating pair of a Robberfly sp. with Hoverfly catch.

Crab Spider sp. (Misumena vatia)

Crab Spiders are ambush specialists and lay in wait on flower heads for their prey to arrive. They are able to change colour to match their background.

The first image shows a white vatia that has caught a Small White butterfly and the second image shows a yellow vatia laying in wait on a flowerhead (left) as a Small Copper butterfly nectars on a neighbouring flowerhead.

Jumping Spider sp. (Evarcha falcata)

Jumping Spiders will stalk their prey. In the following images this falcata has caught the female of a mating pair of Speckled Yellow moths. The male moth eventually disengages from the doomed female.

Devil's Coach-horse Beetle (Ocypus olens)

This beetle is a voracious predator. This one has caught a species of Ground Beetle and is in the process of dismembering the elytra of its seemingly doomed prey. During the struggle, they both fell from the tree trunk they were on and separated on impact with the ground. Battle was not rejoined.

Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi)

The female Wasp Spider usually constructs her web amongst long grass and her prey consists mostly of Grasshoppers.

Spiked Shieldbug (Picromerus bidens)

Shieldbugs have sucking mouthparts and mainly prey on caterpillars. In the following image, two Shieldbugs, one of which is mating, are feeding on the larva of a Knot Grass moth.