David W. Williams

@vc40orthops.bsky.social

Amateur entomologist, naturalist & photographer. Shropshire County Recorder & national iRecord verifier for Orthopteroid insects. Author of 'Orthoptera and Dermaptera' & co-author of 'Micro Ladybirds of Britain and Ireland' FSC Publications AIDGAP Guides.

You wait ages for one, and.. Lovely surprise this morning. I did see 1 of them in the trap during the early hrs. Also, 2 Tree-l. Beauty, Cydia amplana (a long overdue lifer for me), 9 SMW & 30 Jersey Tiger.

Two Striped Hawk-moth (Hyles livornica) from the trap this morning.

A Mullein plant at NWT Sweet Briar Marshes, Norwich yielded some nice finds today - Mullein Aphids (Aphis verbasci), Ant Nest Ladybird (Platynaspis luteorubra) and Lacebug Acalypta parvula. I have seen lots of reports of the ladybird this year so it was really great to find one (only my second).

The pale grey 'fluffy' underside of a Mullein leaf with several pale yellowish aphids attended by a single black ant. The aphids have dark siphunculi (a pair of short spine like protrusions from the rear of the abdomen); a few are winged and these ones have a black head and thorax.A small black ladybird beetle with four red spots sitting with its head tucked in on a green leaf. The ladybird is covered in fine, pale short hairs.A tiny pale grey lacebug on the 'fluffy' pale grey underside of a Mullein leaf. The bug has red eyes and antennae that have dark swollen tips.

Clockwise from top left: Donacia marginata, Ptychoptera lacustris, 11-spot Ladybird, Oplodontha viridula, Berytinus minor and Rhyzobius litura from a site outside Navan, Co. Meath during the week.

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Not being able to walk temporarily (field trip - rabbit hole - broken leg) has a few consolations. Yesterday 11 Clouded Yellow flew through the garden. Today, this one stayed awhile, nectaring on knapweed

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