Bees

Bees tend to get only a passing mention in my blogs. Not that I regard them as unimportant - far from it - but because I find them quite tricky to identify. It is easy if you have a dead specimen in front of you for then the finer details may be examined, but when they are restlessly going from flower to flower it is a different matter and, given the plight faced by many bees, I am loth to kill one simply to identify it. I suppose also, what with spiders, bugs and two-winged flies, I don't put in the time required.
Of course some are straightforward, like this Buff-tailed Bumble Bee, Bombus terrestris. The large queens are often about by mid-February and this early emergence and, of course, general appearance make it familiar to most gardeners.


Bombus terrestris on Allium christophii. Our garden at Stefen Hill,
Daventry 1 June, 2017

Another common bee of quite distinctive appearance is the Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius. The head and thorax are all black but the tail is orange-red and covers less than half of the abdomen. It is currently enjoying the cushions of thyme in our front garden.


Red-tailed Bumblebee on thyme in our front garden at Stefen Hill,

Daventry. 6 June, 2017

A very frequent visitor to our garden is the Tree Bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum. First recorded in Britain (Wiltshire) in 2001  it has since been expanding its range rapidly, and is now known from Scotland and even the islands off the west coast. Despite its association with trees it is commonly seen in gardens. Its unique combination of gingery thorax and black, white-tailed abdomen make it difficult to confuse with other species. I photographed this specimen on bramble flowers in Daventry town centre.

Tree Bumblebee on bramble blossom. Daventry town centre. 7 June, 2017

A  bee with a very neat yellow 'collar' and a largely hairless thorax was on dwarf scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, in our front garden. This was a Field Cuckoo Bee, Bombus campestris. It  had an off-white tail (not really obvious in the photograph) and just a hint of white at the scutellum. One feature of a cuckoo bumble bee is the lack of corbiculae (pollen baskets) on the hind legs.

They are social parasites of other bees and apparently, in the case of the Field Cuckoo Bee, the victim is usually Bombus pascuorum.


Field Cuckoo Bee on a dwarf Scabious in our front garden at Stefen Hill,

Daventry. 7 June, 2017

As for the 'domesticated' honeybee, Apis mellifera, this can generally be recognised with ease. The colour can be variable, with pale and dark forms available, the result of beekeepers importing queens from various countries (and sometimes inadvertently importing disease). Some species of Melitta could cause confusion but the 90 degree bend in the antennae of the true honey bee rules those out. The photograph shows what I regard as a typical honey bee and the bend in the antenna is obvious. There is a British 'native' bee, generally black and virtually extinct. There are some remaining colonies on certain Hebridean islands and the importation of other strains of honey bee there is banned.

Honey Bee on hogweed umbel, Yeomanry Way, Daventry.

9 June, 2017

Of course, bee-mimicking hoverflies are there to sow doubt and confusion; I frequently see these two-winged flies featured as 'bees' in television gardening programmes. Species of Eristalis are the usual troublemakers and a male Drone Fly, Eristalis tenax has regularly been joining true bees on our thyme.

A honey bee mimic (male), Eristalis tenax, visits thyme in our front garden.

6 June, 2017

There is no doubt that bees are very interesting - and important to us - but I'll stick to spiders, bugs and flies.

Bedraggled

bedraggle to soil by dragging in the wet or dirt. OE dragan; to drag




Today, Thursday, 8 June, has been dismal - as have the last four or five days. Flaming June? Flaming 'eck as like.
Undaunted, I strode forth during a break in the rain in the direction of Kentle Wood (Ed. Fibber! You went in the car!) only for the rain to return shortly after I'd straddled the stile at the entrance. Bees had donned their fur coats and were also out and about, with this Buff-tailed Bumble Bee clinging in the blustery wind to a hogweed umbel. 

Bombus terrestris on hogweed. Kentle Wood, Daventry. 8 June, 2017

Several of these same umbels were being visited by specimens of Volucella pellucens. It is a regular patron of hogweed although bramble flowers are visited too.

Volucella pellucens is a frequent hogweed visitor. Kentle Wood, Daventry.

8 June, 2017

A few micro-moths were also braving the rain, although as it increased these disappeared. Notable among these were several specimens of Nemophora degeerella, with the male antennae almost four times the length of the forewings. Its common name of Yellow-barred Long-horn could hardly be more descriptive.

Nemophila degeerella was common at Kentle Wood. 8 June, 2017

Common too was the Yellow-spot Tortrix, Pseudargyrotoza conwagana. Its main food plant is ash, a tree which is present in Kentle Wood in (unnecessarily) large numbers. I have commented before on how the length of the Latin name appears to increase as the specimen in question gets smaller. The examples I took measured a mere 5-6 millimetres.

I did not see these very variable moths until I checked the contents of my increasingly damp sweep net, finding dark and much paler specimens.

The Yellow-spot Tortrix came in pale and darker forms. Kentle Wood,

Daventry. 8 June, 2017

Seeming unbothered by the conditions was this rather handsome soldier beetle, Cantharis rustica. It can just be seen from the photograph that the femora ('thighs') are reddish, helping to distinguish it from the black-thighed Cantharis fusca. As I have commented elsewhere (blog, 1 June) these beetles were invariably - and unjustifiably - known to us as kids by the general name of 'bloodsucker'.

Cantharis rustica, one of the larger soldier beetles, at Kentle Wood.

8 June, 2017

By now quite bedraggled I turned towards the exit, ducking under a tree to photograph the common sawfly, Tenthredo mesomela. It is surprising that such a widespread insect appears to have no common name. Sawflies generally need an expert for identification but as it happens, this species is very distinctive.

The sawfly, Tenthredo mesomela, is common and distinctive.
Kentle Wood, Daventry. 8 June, 2017

Near the entrance, on disturbed ground, were several plants of Common Fumitory, Fumaria officinalis. Rather absurdly, I am always pleased to find this plant, common weed though it may be. The finely divided  leaves are often greyish, looking from a distance like a wreath of smoke, thus giving rise to its common name.

Several clumps of fumitory grew on disturbed ground.

8 June, 2017

Its racemes of delightful, purple-pink flowers would surely make it a much-prized plant - if only they were much larger. The flowers are visited by species of small bee but failing that, they are self-fertile. I have never witnessed an insect visitor on fumitory and in the increasing rain this clump wouldn't be getting a visitor in the immediate future so I didn't hang around. Home and a cup of tea was my aim.

 

The Lovely Nigella

No, no, no - not Nigella Lawson! Actually there is a culinary connection and I'll deal with that shortly.
I am referring to Love-in-a-mist, Nigella damascena. This pretty blue-flowered (occasionally pink)annual was present in our front garden when we moved here some three years ago. Every spring I pull out dozens of seedlings; every year more appear. I don't mind as long as they don't get out of hand.

This member of the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, is widespread around the Mediterranean but, despite its specific name, it has no particular association with the Damascus region and this may instead refer to damask, the 'petals' and fine leaves suggesting a fine textile fabric. As for the generic name, Nigella, this is from the Latin niger, black, and refers to the colour of the seeds. Like so many of the buttercup family such as Clematis and Anemones, what appear to be petals are coloured sepals; the true petals of Nigella are tiny and not noticed unless a flower is closely examined. Instead they serve as nectaries, thus attracting insects.

The upper leaves of the plant are very finely divided, forming a misty whorl around the flowers and giving rise to the common name and also an alternative, Devil in the Bush. These leaves are more clearly shown in the second photograph.

Although not native to Britain it has escaped from gardens and now has some self-sustaining populations on areas of chalky, dry soils. In fact it was once a cornfield weed in some parts of Britain but modern herbicides have put paid to that.

Like most members of the family Nigella may have toxic properties. An alkaloid, damascenine, is found in the tissues and is under suspicion but this hasn't prevented the seeds, held in a large, inflated capsule, from being used in cooking, although the ones normally used are from a close relative, Nigella sativa.

The seed capsule of Love-in-a-mist.



The dried seeds are added as a spice to some Indian and Middle Eastern dishes, when it is given various names such as Black Cumin and Roman Coriander. Some regard the flavour as rather similar to nutmeg.

The ripe capsule splits to reveal the black seeds. 7 June, 2017

Occasionally one sees the Spanish Fennel Flower, Nigella hispanica, being advertised. It is said to have 'the most spectacular flowers' of the genus. I have yet to see it grown but may treat myself to a packet of seeds for next year.

Gardens at Preston Capes

Sunday, 4 June, 2017: Open Gardens Day at Preston Capes and Little Preston. This is a lovely village and daughter settlement near Woodford Halse, in the west of Northamptonshire. Five gardens were open to the public but heavy rain curtailed our visit. Fortunately we were able to have a good look around City Cottage, the lovely house and garden of Mrs Gavin Cowan. It contains a real plantsman's (perhaps I should say plantswoman's) selection of plants, and to do justice to the riches would take an excessive amount of space.
An attractive spurge caught my attention, but as I approached it I realised that it was nothing of the sort. It was Roseroot, Sedum rosea. It is a distinctive plant and was once placed in a separate genus as Rhodiola rosea (and is still listed as such by many nurseries). It is a native of Britain and is found on rocks and on sea cliffs - and I must have a specimen! 

Roseroot looked, from a distance, like a prostrate Euphorbia.

Preston Capes. 4 June, 2017

Equally attractive and only a few paces away were some patches of Mountain Avens,  Dryas octopetala. This too is a British native but is more or less confined to limestone, rare in England but frequent in some parts of north-west Scotland. Its flowers are lovely and the leaves, like those of a tiny oak, are also attractive. The leaf shape is the basis for the Latin generic name, for a dryad was a nymph for whom the oak was sacred.

Moutain avens, Dryas octopetala, (although this flower appears to only

have seven petals. Preston Capes, Northants. 4 June, 2017

But in some ways it is the fruiting heads that are of greatest botanical interest. Each fruit, technically an achene, ends in a long plumose tail like the Pasque Flower and Traveller's Joy, but whereas these two plants belong to the buttercup Family, Ranunculaceae, Mountain Avens is a member of the Rose Family, Rosaceae.

The feathery achenes of Mountain Avens. Preston Capes. 4 June, 2017

In the same flower bed was Italian Toadflax, Cymbalaria pallida. This is like a form of Kenilworth Ivy, Cymbalaria muralis but is not only larger in all its parts but does not have the invasive tendencies of the latter. I rarely see it and in fact the last time I saw it was on the walls of a ruined church in the Peloponnese; surely it deserves to be grown more often. If Cymbalarias resemble tiny snapdragons, Antirrhinum species, it is because they are closely related, both being members of the Plantaginaceae family.

Like a large plant of Kenilworth Ivy, this is Cymbalaria pallida.

Preston Capes, Northants. 4 June, 2017

The fescues, Festuca species, form an extremely difficult group of grasses given to hybridisation and much confusion. I recently saw a species known as Festuca glauca 'Beyond Blue' for sale in a garden centre at £40 per plant. In fact there was, as elsewhere in the garden, no label and I think that the plant here at City Cottage could equally have been a form of Festuca amethystina.

Some kind of fescue crowns this stone head. City Cottage, Preston Capes.

4 June, 2017

Whatever the species it was being wittily used to provide hair for a stone head, causing much comment and amusement from other garden visitors.

We moved on to The Manor. It was not a plantsman's garden but offered compensation with splendid views across a rolling, very rural landscape.

The views, looking out from The Manor, were impressive.

Preston Capes. 4 June, 2017

I also had a surprise. Being a nosy person I moved to one side a piece of wood on a garden wall and disturbed a specimen of the woodlouse Porcellio spinicornis. There are very few records of this fairly large species from Northamptonshire but, let's be honest, there are very few people recording these curious crustaceans. It tends to be associated with mortar around the bases of old walls.

The rather handsome woodlouse, Porcellio spinicornis,

Preston Capes, Northamptonshire. 4 June, 2017

Rain was threatening and we made our way back to the car, but there was time to photograph an old tree stump with impressive outgrowths of a bracket fungus. It was in a garden so I could hardly intrude and examine details of the structure but I am confident that it was the Giant Polypore, Meripilus giganteus.


Meripilus giganteus? I am no mycologist but I think this is correct.

Preston Capes, Northants. 4 June, 2017

Sure enough, shortly after parking up at Little Preston the rain came down - heavily. We consoled ourselves at Old West Farm with tea and gargantuan pieces of cake.

An allottee's tale

n. allottee' someone to whom something is allotted.


No, not I; Chris is really the allotment holder. I am but a tiller of the soil, an under-gardener doing his best. And progress is being made, thanks to lots of warm sunshine and a couple of recent hefty showers.
We are growing quite a lot of taters; they are a good crop to put into rough ground. Next year, when the soil has been cultivated to produce a better tilth, we can be more adventurous.

The potatoes are off to a good start. 1 June, 2017

Runner Beans are doing well too; the seeds germinated readily and the plants are looking strong. So we have started off with two crops from the New World, and as if that wasn't enough we have also sown seeds of French Beans - which, despite their name, are also from the Americas - and squashes, Cucurbita pepo. It is estimated that squashes have been cultivated by the indigenous Americans for something like four thousand years.

Runner Beans are also doing well. 1 June, 2017

The squashes are ornamental varieties - edible of course but we are unlikely to eat them.

The non-American crops we are likely to harvest this year are peas, lettuces and onions.
Our adjoining plot has been long abandoned and is overgrown with False Oat Grass, Twitch and Docks.

The adjoining plot is ideal for an insect safari. 1 June, 2017

I am monitoring the plot to try to ensure that our allotment is not invaded by these weeds but I also keep an eye on it for insects and other invertebrates. Docks support a surprisingly large number of creatures but their identification is not always straightforward. Take this reddened leaf: is it damage by insects, bacteria or viruses - or is it a soil deficiency?

This reddening of dock leaves seems to be just a process of death and decay.

1 June, 2017

Buttercups are frequent and  the beetle Oedemera lurida is very common, feeding on pollen.  In my last blog re the allotment I mentioned Oedemera nobilis with grotesquely swollen thighs on the male. This is a much smaller species and care is needed in identification, having other similar relatives.

Oedemera lurida on buttercup. 1 June, 2017

Two-winged flies - diptera - are inevitably common, and important too, for many are leaf miners in their larval stage and some, notably the hoverflies, are important pollinators with some of their larvae feeding on aphids. The common hoverfly Eristalis tenax, shown here, is known as the Drone Fly. We have several species of Eristalis in Britain; this is one of the larger hoverflies and has stripes on its eyes formed by lines of hairs.

A female Drone Fly in deep contemplation. 3 June, 2017

From a quite different family is the Broad Centurion, Chloromyia formosa. All the British species have military names such as Silver Colonel, Pygmy Soldier, Banded General and so on and the whole family is known as Soldier Flies. Its bright green thorax (Chloromyia simply means 'green fly') and very hairy eyes makes this common fly quite unmistakeable and is frequent on hogweed flowers.

A male Broad Centurion on grass. 3 June, 2017

Meanwhile, despite carefully pegging down netting, wood pigeons have worked their way in and cleared out all the peas. I'll have to think again.

Nightshades

I spent a few minutes earlier today strolling around the grounds of Northampton General Hospital. Most of what were once extensive grounds have now been built upon or are used for car parking, but it is surprising what turns up.
Traveller's Joy, Clematis vitalba, is virtually a weed in many of the flower beds (as it is around the town's Sixfields area) and was acting as a food plant for a fly, Phytomyza vitalbae, whose grubs were mining the leaves.

Phytomyza vitalbae grubs were forming mines in Traveller's Joy.

Northampton General Hospital. 2 June, 2017

Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum, grew here and there and, given a few more days, will be in flower. It is theoretically handy to have such a ready source of opium in the hospital grounds but the strain usually occurring in Britain contains virtually none of the alkaloids . With its rather large flowers and glaucous foliage it is quite an attractive plant but seedlings are liable to crop up in enormous numbers if the fruiting capsules are not removed.

The fat flower buds of Opium Poppies were close to opening.

Northampton General Hospital. 2 June, 2017

But it was the nightshades that really caught my attention. The first species noted was Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum. It is an annual with flowers and fruits very like a tomato, a plant which, though closely related, is placed in a separate genus. The ripe fruits are edible but have only been consumed in an emergency, as in a famine. The green, under-ripe fruits are toxic and deaths have been reported, usually involving children. Birds will eat the fruits and apparently in Spain the Great Bustard, Otis tarda, is known to feed on them. 

Black Nightshade is a common weed throughout most of the world - and

at Northampton general Hospital. 2 June, 2017

The Woody Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara (Latin for bittersweet) is a scrambling plant, common in hedges throughout Britain. It is not yet in flower although the flower buds are in place and will soon be brightening up neglected borders at the hospital. 

Woody Nightshade scrambles through an ornamental hedge. Northampton

General Hospital. 2 June, 2017

You will gather from this that I regard it as quite an attractive plant though perhaps not quite garden-worthy. I grow instead a close relative, Solanum crispum, a vigorous climber from Chile.

Solanum crispum cloaks our garage wall at Stefen Hill, Daventry.

2 June, 2017

Then of course comes Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna. I have mentioned this plant on a couple of occasions but such is its mystique that I do not apologise for giving it more blog-space. It is now in full flower and, although I may be in a minority of one, it regard it as a rather handsome plant. Its campanulate flowers have a sombre beauty and the colour of their maroon-purple flowers is of a shade not often seen in nature.

The sombre, bell-shaped flowers of Deadly Nightshade.

Northampton General Hospital. 2 June, 2017

Atropos was one of the three Fates of Greek mythology. She was not a woman to cross as it was she who wielded the 'dreaded shears' to cut the thread of life. There is another link between Atropos and death for Acherontia atropos is the Death's Head Hawkmoth, so-called for the skull-like marking on the insect's thorax.


N.B. Enchanter's Nightshade, Circaea lutetiana,  is quite unrelated, being a member of the Onagraceae - the Evening Primrose/Willow Herb family.

Gravel Farm, Woodford Halse

When, a few months ago, I attended a walk organised by my friend Angela Weller (see blog for 20 February), we crossed some of the land forming Gravel Farm. Some of the land looked particularly interesting from the wildlife angle and I resolved to make a return visit. The patch I had in mind was along part of the Jurassic Way, so access was not a problem.

A potential problem did present itself as it appeared that a bull was in residence but, if it was, it was a shy creature for I saw nothing of it.

The area I had deemed worth revisiting consisted of a rather wet strip of land bordering a stream - a tributary of the Cherwell - but following a very dry spring conditions underfoot were quite good.

Many species of insect inhabited this lush grass. Gravel Farm,

Woodford Halse. 31 May, 2017

Fifty years ago land of this kind would probably have supported a lovely display of flowers but today, apart from lush grasses and spiky rushes the only splash of colour was provided by buttercups and a few clumps of Red Campion, Silene dioica.

Only a few Red Campions were to be found.

 Gravel Farm, Woodford Halse.

I observed the campions for a while but they had no visitors. Nor did I pluck a bloom; it was once believed to be a Devil's plant which, if picked, would lead to an untimely death. The buttercups on the other hand were very popular and frequent among those dropping in were Downlooker Snipeflies, Rhagio scolopaceus.

Downlooker Snipefly on buttercup. Woodford Halse, Northants.

31 May, 2017

They get their odd name from their habit of sitting on tree trunks and taking up a 'down-looker' pose.  Although all have some sort of dark wing marking there is a certain amount of variation.

Another specimen of the same species, Rhagio scolopaceus,

from the same location.

There are lots of Carpet moths in Britain (not to be confused with creatures notorious for damaging carpets) and they can be a little confusing. However this one is easy is easy. It is a Silver-ground Carpet, Xanthorhoe montanata. It is common and its caterpillars feed on bedstraws. I disturbed this one from tall grass.

Silver-ground Carpet at Gravel farm, Woodford Halse.

31 May, 2017

The Click Beetles are notorious because their larvae, known as wireworms, are responsible for considerable damage to crops, feeding on the plant roots. The adults, when disturbed, spring into the air with an audible click and fall to the ground where, being mostly of a drab brown colour, they are almost impossible to find. I spotted this very common one, Athous haemorrhoidalis, sitting on a nettle leaf (to be clear, it was the beetle sitting on the leaf; I was standing on the farm track).

A click beetle. This species is Athous haemorrhoidalis. Gravel Farm,

Woodford Halse. 31 May, 2017

At this point I was joined by a small group of sheep, clearly confused and indignant. What was I doing and why was I on their land? They observed me philosophically for a few minutes and then commenced grazing, determined to feign insouciance.

Who's the crazy guy with the net? Woodford Halse.

31 May, 2017

I continued, now concentrating on the hedgerow where a few Woundwort plants, not yet in flower, were hosting - surprise, surprise - some Woundwort Bugs, Eysarcoris venustissima. To us the Hedge Woundwort, Stachys sylvatica, has a foul smell but for this charming little bug it is the flower of choice, for it seems to occur on this plant only.

Woundwort bugs in copula. Gravel Farm, Woodford Halse, Northants.

31 May, 2017

'Bloodsuckers' abounded. By this I refer to Soldier Beetles, Cantharidae. For us as children, perhaps because of the reddish colour, they always has this scary name and clearly the name is widespread; apparently in Scotland they are called 'souk-the bluid', although in reality they are harmless pollen feeders. Strictly speaking the name bloodsucker should apparently be applied to Rhagonycha fulva but as kids we didn't recognise these niceties. The species photographed is Cantharis rufa.


A soldier beetle. This one is Cantharis rufa. Gravel farm, Woodford Halse.

31 May, 2017

At this point I decided that lunch was calling and I retraced my steps, leaving the sheep to relax. I paused for a moment to photograph the dainty but generally overlooked Lesser Stitchwort, Stellaria graminea, and set off for home.

Lesser Stitchwort, common in pastures nationwide. Gravel Farm,

Woodford Halse, Northants. 31 May, 2017