I have remarked before how the track leading to Kentle Wood is quite as interesting as the wood itself. Today reinforced the point. A clump of Musk Mallow greeted me as I got out of the car; I cannot recall having seen this species flourishing in so many places as it is this year.
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Musk Mallow, Malva moschata, blooming along Brown's Road, Daventry.
7 July, 2020
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Only a few metres away was a reminder of just why Rhagonycha fulva is often called 'the Hogweed Bonking Beetle'. This very common insect seems to congregate on hogweed, the large umbels acting as a trysting place.
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Rhagonycha fulva was in copula on Hogweed, Brown's Road,
Daveentry. 7 July, 2020
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Likewise, it was made abundantly clear today, as I approached a line of poplar trees, why these plants are referred to as 'cottonwoods' in North America. The 'cotton' consists of the long hairs on the female flower bracts and as I passed the trees drifts of this material bore seeds to - who knows? Poplars include aspens and, along with willows, they are members of the Salicaceae family.
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Poplars with their cottony catkins. Brown's Road, Daventry.
7 July, 2020
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Plants of Creeping Thistle were heavily infested with black aphids and had attracted the attention of numbers of 7-spot ladybirds. As my photograph shows, they were present in imago and larval form.
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7-spot Ladybirds with, bottom right, a larva. Brown's Road, Daventry.
7 July, 2020
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Despite these distractions I did eventually make it to Kentle Wood, arriving at the same time as light rain began to fall. I had brought an umbrella with me and I began employing it immediately - but for insect colleting - with a dog rose as my first target. I was delighted when a nice Herald Moth, Scoliopteryx libatrix, dropped into my brolly.
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A Herald Moth seemed happy to stay in my umbrella.
Kentle Wood, Daventry. 7 July, 2020
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With its warm russet and grey wings I regard it as a very attractive insect, not at all rare, but always nice to see. It is easy to recognise and, if there is any doubt, the deeply scalloped rear edge to the wings are a clincher. The generic name comes from the Greek skolios meaning 'crooked' or 'bent', thus scoliopteryx is 'crooked wing'.
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The Herald Moth has scalloped rear edges to the forewings.
Kentle Wood, Daventry. 7 July, 2020
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The rain eased off and a jay screamed in nearby bushes. Insects re-emerged from sheltered spots and a handsome hoverfly visited bramble flowers. It was a male Volucella pellucens, known as the Pellucid Hoverfly. It is among Britain's largest flies, and its size, combined with the ivory-white band across the abdomen make it a striking insect.
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Volucella pellucens visits a branble flower, Kentle Wood, Daventry.
7 July, 2020
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I was rather pleased to find the mines of a moth, Coleophora fuscocuprella, on a hazel leaf. It is known as the Hazel Case-bearer but I failed to find the insect itself which is rather elusive, being drab and easily overlooked. There are only thirty or so records from the U.K. but in reality it could be quite widespread. To judge the opinions of others I have placed a photograph on Facebook and so far have received two 'thumbs up'.
The cherry crop on the much-planted Prunus avium is clearly heavy and ripening fast. I was surprised to see no birds feeding on the fruit. However, the weather is set to deteriorate and they will probably begin stripping the fruit.
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Hazel Case-bearer Moth? It would be a very interesting record.
Kentle Wood, Daventry, 7 July, 2020
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The cherry crop on the much-planted Prunus avium is clearly heavy and ripening fast. I was surprised to see no birds feeding on the fruit. However, the weather is set to deteriorate and they will probably begin stripping the fruit.
As usual, I returned home with an interesting mix of flies, beetles and a surprising caddis fly - which I will almost certainly fail to identify.
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