Close Encounters

Here are some of the friends we made during our recent camping trip:

A Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, who seemed intent on reaching the top of our umbrella as we curled up under it to get out of the sun for a while.  It made it, despite a few flicks into the grass when I thought it might drop on our heads.

Marbled White - rescued from the sea by Rob and drying off in Annie's hands.

 Finally ready to fly.

 Back at the tent, we had a visit from a Common Toad - caught it trying to get in the food box.

Distinguishable from the Common Frog by it's warty skin, less bulbous eyes and stumpier back legs and body.

 We all had a hold before he hopped away.  I didn't know at the time that toads secrete a poisonous substance from glands behind their eyes called Bufotoxin.  This can cause a reaction in humans from an itchy rash to cardiac failure.  Toady here must have known we were just curious and wouldn't harm it, but I think I'll be more respectful in future.

 Annie and I saw many moths over the week, some very teddy-bearish.  Unfortunately they were all in the ladies loos, and marching in there with my camera may have caused some alarm among fellow campers, so I resisted.  However, this pumpkin seed that turned out to be a  Common Footman, showed up in our tent as we were folding it away.

Here photographed on Rob's boot (after several futile attempts to focus on it while it sat on my lens, grinning at me through the barrel, well, perhaps not grinning.)

Cocooning In June

The year is racing by and photos I'd put aside for a moment are now a month out of date!  No less interesting though and now seems a good time to bring out this photograph of an Ichneumon Wasp's cocoon (probably campoplegine).  I had no idea what was in the cocoon until this morning, when David Notton, invertebrates expert from the Natural History Museum, helped me out on iSpot.

The Ichneumon's cocoon is the white bit that looks like a bird dropping (possibly to put off predators).  The dried wrinkled skin above is the remainder of the caterpillar it parasitised.  A happy coincidence that I should get this id just after posting the egg-laying Ichneumon video.

Also from June are these two photos showing weevil pupa inside intricately woven cocoons.  These are likely to be from the Curculionidae family -  'True Weevils' or 'Snout Beetles'.

I find cocoons and what's going on inside them absolutely fascinating.