Hannah Breach

Another day another charming moth larva! Saw good numbers of Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) cats today in the Ant Valley, most apparently 'basking' in the sunshine.
#norfolkmoths

35 mm Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi) caterpillar on green twig.

Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi) larva seen in the garden today.
This one has been feeding on Bramble and Blackthorn.
#teammoth

Incredible birds!

A flint church with a tall square tower and a fine knapped flint south porch.

A tiny pseudoscorpion on the underside of a pale stone, facing left. The pseudoscorpion is pale brown with a much lighter head and pale pinkish pedipalps that end in slender claws.

Yesterday's 54 mile cycle ride was a hard slog into the wind in the morning but the reward was being mostly blown home in the afternoon. The icing on the cake was finding a Chthonius tetrachelatus in the churchyard at New Buckenham, the first pseud record for TM09, that's another square ticked off.

Very tatty but still a beauty, this Convolvulus Hawk-moth (Agrius convolvuli) was attracted into our garden polytunnel by the Nicotiana sylvestris that's growing in there.
#norfolkmoths

I would have thought it would have been more sensible/important to work out how to best manage and stop the loss the Swallowtail's habitat first!

Common Earwig (Forficula auricularia) ♀ on a Raspberry flower. Over the last few years they appeared to have almost disappeared from my garden despite that we've made no changes to our garden or gardening practices. In the last few weeks I've started to see up to a dozen at one time, tiny numbers compared to previously but hugely increased from what they've been lately.

I've seen more Earwigs in the last 3 weeks than in the last 3 years put together. The species had a dramatic collapse in numbers around here so it's fantastic to see them again.
There's a v interesting paper 'Recent drop in numbers of the Common Earwig' by J. Murray in the Ent. Rec Vol. 137 Part 4

A spore of Flabellospora accuminata with five radiating arms that end in long, drawn-out points.

A spore of Flabellospora accuminata with five radiating arms that end in long, drawn-out points.

I always find Anguillospora species difficult to name so only named Anguillospora crassa. I need my microscope with a x60 objective for those. X40 does give a better depth of field for photography though. I found two spores from my favourite species: Flabellospora accuminata. Absolutely gorgeous.

Brightly coloured Gateway plastic bag on black background

Not sure how old this plastic bag is but Gateway supermarkets have been around since the 1960s. In 1990 they began to be rebranded as Somerfield. Exposed by shifting sands and found during one of our recent beach cleans. #plasticarchaeology #Anthropocene

Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis) larva feeding on Bramble in the garden today.
#norfolkmoths

Clifden Nonpareil (Catocala fraxini) underwing still showing distinctive blue scales. It was found under tress along a path, possibly discarded by a bat.

Kevin found this single hindwing today in the Yare Valley. Turns out he and I are both good at finding leftover bits of Clifden Nonpareil...still not seen a whole one!
#teammoth #blueunderwing

5th instar Papilio machaon larva resting head downwards on Thyselium palustre leaf. Development is considerably slower in late and 2nd generation larvae as light levels and temperatures drop. This individual was seen as a 3rd instar on 10th September and is only an early L5 two weeks later.

An early 5th instar Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) larva, likely 2nd generation, seen today in the Yare Valley.
#norfolkbutterflies

Giant Willow Aphids (Tuberolachnus salignus) in the garden today. #aphid #invertebrates

Incredible birds!

I hope someone can relocate it.

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla or Beautiful Plume

Amblyptilia acanthadactyla pupa. The fully developed imago can be seen through the cuticle.

Intrigued to know the identity of the moth larvae feeding on a Diascia I've planted by the house I reared a few to find out.
5 Beautiful Plumes Amblyptilia acanthadactyla emerged yesterday. I've seen the imagines plenty of times but not the equally remarkable looking pupae.
#teammoth

The feeding signs on the leaf and the shape of the larva look very distinctive to me- I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Woolly Adler Sawfly Eriocampa ovata larva on Alder Alnus glutinosa leaf.

The unusual looking larvae of Alder Sawfly (Eriocampa ovata) supposedly resemble a bird-dropping. Seen at Barton Turf. #sawfly

I had no idea this went on. How sad. There is no end to the list species humans harm and exploit.

Oh of course, I remember your photo! That was a great find!

Saw this beautiful large Hoverfly - Sericomyia silentis (Yellow-barred Peat Fly) today in Barton Turf. Not one we often encounter.
#hoverfly

Interesting. I see them in numbers in wetlands (5 or 6 today without trying!) so I had thought they must benefit in some way from that habitat.

I'm the opposite-spending more time in wetlands than heathlands so that does somewhat explain my lack of sightings in heathlands but I do live in Breckland. At Wheatfen we witnessed a couple of years where P. bidens predated a very large number of 2nd gen larvae, it seems a hotspot for the bugs!

Ah, so I wasn't imaging it! We saw another 6 today at Barton Fen.
I wonder why they favour wetlands, perhaps it relates more to the success of over-wintering stage than to food source preferences- they don't seem particularly fussy about what species of caterpillar they will eat!

That's interesting. Bergh Apton is quite 'marshy' I believe so perhaps they do favour wetter habitats, though it doesn't suggest that in any text I've read. Due to their habit of killing Swallowtail larvae whenever they get the chance they're not my favourite bug😆

Marpissa muscosa or Fencepost Jumping Spider, a beautifully marked spider that I've seen a couple of times on my rabbits' run!
#britishspiders #jumpingspider

Picromerus bidens seen last weekend in the Ant Valley. This species is a well known predator of other insect larvae, especially those of lepidoptera. We've seen P. bidens predating Swallowtails Papilio machaon on several occasions.
A widespread Shieldbug, oddly I've only seen it in the Broads.

111 years ago today the last Passenger Pigeon on earth, which we called Martha, died in Cincinnati Zoo at around 12:30pm local time.

The most abundant bird species Earth had ever seen had been driven to extinction. markavery.info/2025/09/01/p...

#cincinatti #ohio #extinction #birds #martha

My favourite invertebrate as a child was the 22 Spot Ladybird (Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata) and it's still in my top ten!
Spotted this larva today at Barton Turf.
#ladybird

And hopefully now enjoying its life in your garden!