Nature Notes #34 (Part 2)
I decided on a walk along the track between No.5 and 6 tanks to see what insects were about. It was annoyingly breezy and cloudy at times and the vegetation was swaying about, not very good when you’re trying to take photos of tiny creatures that are a few millimetres long. A little cursing was tempered when I got a call from Bill to say that he was watching from the banks close to my parked car and needed a drink., I headed back and we both drove along the vertebrate pounding pot-holed track, fortunately I have a car that can cope with most terrain but some of these holes tested its capabilities.
I had managed to take a few pictures and including a Solitary Wasp (4th picture), some of which are difficult for identification.
As an aside, the Ichneumon Wasp (pictured again here from in my previous notes) was confirmed as a ‘Amblyteles armatorius’.
The Semaphore Fly, ‘Poecilobothrus nobilitatus’, is named because the male displays to the female by waving one wing at a time, showing off the white spots, like a signalman sending a message. They are fairly common around fresh water.
A Furrow Orbweaver, ‘Larinoides cornutus’, one of many Orbweaver spiders and common in grassland especially near reeds.
Solitary Wasp, ‘Crabro (peltarius)’, one of many very similar wasps and a problematic identification, although this fitted the photos that I’ve looked at and they are one of the commonest. They’re a beautiful insect and usually very confiding.
Barred Straw, ‘ Eulithis pyraliata’, a common moth in a variety of habitats.
Tony Broome (words and images)
