The Butterfly Effect

31 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by theresagreen in Butterflies of Wales, Limestone hills, Nature of Wales, Nature Walks, North Wales, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

black & yellow striped caterpillars, brown and orange butterflies, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, butterflies in long grass, day-flying moths, late summer wildflowers

Just a few short short weeks ago things weren’t looking too hopeful for our summer butterflies; the cold, damp start to the season had kept their numbers low and every sighting of any species was gratefully received and shared on social media. With many species already in decline, the predictions for the success of this year’s summer broods were edging on pessimistic and on many days, when out on walks I didn’t see a single one. Half-way through this month, a guided ‘Butterfly Walk’ was scheduled by a friend that regularly records the butterfly transect around Bryn Euryn, the limestone hill in North Wales which is at the centre of my ‘patch’. In preparation he’d done a recce the day before and his sightings were so few that he put out a warning that evening suggesting people may want to postpone the event and try again in a week or two! No-one cancelled, probably as most of are of an age where we’re not constantly checking our emails or social media sites, and about 20 of us gathered as arranged. Perhaps we were also a little giddy with the excitement of our very recent release from some of our Covid 19 restrictions (Wales has been a tad more cautious than England), and this was the first time we’d been allowed to meet up outside of Zoom since lockdown began. So in the spirit of ‘mad dogs and English/Welsh men and women’, we set off on this boiling hot Sunday afternoon (the beginning of the heatwave) to walk up to the top of the hill, 430 feet (131m) closer to the sun in the hope there’d be at least a few butterflies putting on a show for us.

Long grass on the cliff-edge providing perfect habitat for meadow butterflies

Of course it was well worth the effort, or I wouldn’t be mentioning it; in the space of 24 hours the butterfly species count had magically rocketed from practically zero to most of those we’d expect to see here on a good day at this time of year, plus day-flying moths The count for each species wasn’t high, but the majority of those we saw were fresh and all were highly mobile and in a group that size, numbers of pairs of eyes meant we didn’t miss seeing much. But the best part was watching the effect these particular insects have on people of all ages; some excitedly enjoyed the first sightings of rapid-flying Dark Green Fritillaries while others crouched down around a plant to witness the mating of a pair of Small Skippers. All captivated by the fluttering of wings and for a few magical moments, completely absorbed and transported into another dimension. Butterfly chasing should definitely be put on prescription!

Although I’d thoroughly enjoyed the company and butterfly sightings seen by the group, I’d missed photographing the fabulous-but-flighty Fritillaries, so as the hot weather seemed to be holding, I wanted to go around again at my usual meandering speed and a couple of days later I set off to see if I could fill in the gaps. This time I wandered up through the woods where the paths and trails are shaded and it’s a pleasant degree or two cooler than out on the open hillside, which surely has to be one of the best reasons for planting more trees in a warming climate.

A lovely fresh Comma and its shadow were a great start to my walk

Woodland paths are edged with False Brome grass

Now the tree canopy is more or less closed and limiting the light reaching the ground, flowering plants are scarce and as the earth dries out any that aren’t designed to cope quickly wilt. Built to withstand such conditions, one exception is Wood Sage, whose flowers seem particularly suited to Common Carder bees. Nipplewort, an annual plant with tiny yellow flowers and slim wiry stems always seems to find a few agreeable spots along these paths too.

As always I stopped at the fence on the woodland boundary to look out over the meadow on the other side. The long grass was cut on a mild, sunny day back in January this year, which at the time I remember thinking seemed like a strange time to be doing that, but it doesn’t seem to have mattered as now it’s grown tall again and I could see there’s also Hogweed and Ragwort in flower and it’s full of Knapweed in bud. I could also see it was alive with butterflies – mostly Meadow Browns as far as I could see, which was a good sign there would be more to see in more accessible places higher up. There were clearly other insects about too – my photo was ‘bombed’ by what could be a wasp or maybe a hoverfly!

Stepping onto the Woodland Trail that circuits the Nature Reserve it was hot – too hot now for insects such as hoverflies that would all be hiding away under leaves or on tree branches. Birds are mostly beginning a ‘time-out’ in which to rest after a busy breeding season and to moult their old feathers and grow new ones, so it was very quiet. The total lack of a breeze was even keeping down the ever-present traffic noise from the valley below.

Leaving the woods behind I joined the Summit Trail, more or less at the point where we’d begun the butterfly transect on Sunday. The small field here used to have a good patch of long flowery grass at this lower end, but perhaps due to more trampling and changes in the weather patterns, it’s not as good as it used to be for butterflies. Today there were a Small Skipper and a few Meadow Browns flitting about in the grass, but far more of the latter around the field edges where there is scrubby vegetation with low bushes of bramble and gorse. I counted to roughly 30, all busily chasing about low in the grass and around the brambles, with none settling for even a quick snap. The wildflowers are a bit sparse too, some Lady’s Bedstraw, a scattering of Rockrose, a few clumps of Keeled Garlic and the odd Harebell were all there was to see. The huge spread of Hemp Agrimony is just beginning to open its flowers and on the opposite side of the field the Burnet Roses have a good crop of hips; red now, but they’ll ultimately ripen to black. One of my favourite sights now are the feathery globes of Goat’s-beard that stand like little beacons in the shorter grass.

From the open field the trail goes up through the woods again, so there’s another short break from the heat, although the slope is steep. At the top is the clifftop with the long grass and scrubby vegetation pictured at the beginning of the post, and it was here that during the last two days, butterfly numbers had increased the most dramatically. Where there had been maybe 20 or so on Sunday, now there were more than I could have counted of Meadow Browns, a good number of Gatekeepers, lots of little Small Heaths, several Small Skippers, one or two Brown Argus, a Grayling and possibly even a Dingy Skipper. Standing out amongst the crowd of brown and orange butterflies were dramatic red and black 6-spot Burnet moths. All of these species are dependent on tall grasses as food plants for their caterpillars and as adults they take nectar from flowers, so where there’s a good area of long grass with wildflowers in it, they don’t need to move far.

The hot sunshine had coaxed more flowers into bloom too, particularly the blue-lilac Scabious, which is a favourite of butterflies and of many other species of insects too.

On a cooler day I would have lingered longer around this one spot and doubtless found even more than I did, but the heat out on the open hillside was intense, and if I was to find Fritillaries I had still to get up to the summit and down the other side of the hill. When I first began exploring this hillside, back in 2012, the management of it was quite different; the long grass would have been kept shorter and Ragwort considered a noxious weed and kept at bay. Gradually attitudes have changed and over the years the plant has spread considerably and a result, as well as providing important nectar and pollen for invertebrates, the numbers of plants supporting the unmistakeable black and yellow striped caterpillars of Cinnabar moths has also increased; some plants had several, others one or two.

6-Spot Burnet moths mating above a newly-vacated cocoon

Going down the other side of the hill it was Burnet moths that dominated the airways, flying low in, over and about the grassy slope. Many would have been newly emerged from their alien-pod like yellow which are frequently seen attached to grass and other plant stems. Often there is a mass emergence, with males emerging first. They then sit above the cocoon of a female and wait for her to emerge, pouncing on her to mate before she’s barely had time to draw her first breath of fresh air.

Amongst the grass on this side of the hill you can find some of this site’s loveliest wildflowers, Common Spotted Orchids; most are at the end of their flowering now, but while following one of only two Dark Green Fritillaries I saw today I found a few fairly fresh ones. There was some Dropwort too, the dry limestone grassland relative of the similar-looking moisture-loving Meadowsweet.

On the other side of the trail, where the hillside is left much to its own devices a lovely pink-purple haze of Rosebay Willowherb stands out against a backdrop of trees.

Despite my best efforts, I didn’t get my photo of a Dark Green Fritillary, but it was too hot to chase about, so I sat on the grass for a short while and enjoyed watching those I saw; they are impressive – and very fast on the wing! Luckily I have a stack of photographs taken on other occasions in this exact spot, so here’s one I made earlier.

As so often happens, there were compensations; close to where I’d stopped a Brown Argus landed on Ragwort and another fresh Gatekeeper on nearby Hemp Agrimony.

Then as I was about to turn and head back home, my favourite of all the summer butterflies, a perfectly beautiful little Small Copper landed first on a stone at the edge of the trail then flew up to a nearby Ragwort; my first sighting of one this year and a perfect note to finish on.

Seeing red and black

18 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

6-spot Burnet Moth, 7-spot ladybird, aposematism in insects, black & yellow striped caterpillars, black butterfly or moth with red spots, Cinnabar moth, cinnabar moth larvae, Little Orme, red and black insects, red soldier beetle

Aposematism (from apo- away, and semantic sign/meaning), is the word used to describe a family of anti-predator adaptations where a warning signal is associated with the unprofitability of a prey item to potential predators. Aposematic signals are beneficial for both the predator and prey, both of which avoid potential harm.

Walking on the Little Orme a few evenings ago I caught sight of a black and red moth flying across my path that landed on a fern frond. I have photographed similarly-coloured, but more spotted 6-Spot Burnet Moths within this site on many occasions, but this one was a Cinnabar Moth, which I have always kept an eye out for but never managed to see until now. This is the moth that lays its eggs on Ragwort that hatch into the black and yellow striped larva that will soon be munching on the leaves of that plant in large numbers.

Cinnabar Moth – Tyria jacobaea

Flying : May – August. UK Distribution: England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland. Common and well distributed throughout most of England, Wales and Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. More confined to predominantly coastal habitats in northern England and Scotland. Habitat: Frequent in open grassy habitats including waste ground, railway banks, gardens and woodland rides but perhaps most frequent on well drained rabbit-grazed grassland, mature sand-dunes and heathland.

Cinnabar moth resting on fern

Description: Medium-sized black moth, red markings on the forewing, hindwings mostly red. Often found near common ragwort, although sometimes on other ragworts and groundsels.

This species is so named due to the colour of the hindwings and the markings on the forewings which make it unmistakeable. On rare occasions the pinkish markings are replaced with yellow, or the forewing is red with a black border or the wings are completely black. Easily disturbed by day and flies in sunshine. Also flies after dark.

The distinctive larva of the Cinnabar Moth (enlarged !)

The Cinnabar larvae consumes ragwort from which it absorbs alkaloids and which it retains as an adult, making it unpalatable to predators in both forms.

6- spot Burnet Moth – Zygaenea filipendula

Flying: June-August. UK distribution: Throughout Britain, mainly coastal in Scotland. Habitat: Frequents flowery grassland, woodland rides and sandhills.

6-Spot Burnet Moth

Description: Medium-sized black moth with six red, occasionally yellow, spots.

Burnet moth caterpillars absorb Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) from the glucosides in their food plants: bird’s-foot trefoil and vetches. They can also synthesise HCN themselves, storing it in body cavities and excreting it as chemical weaponry.

Also out and about in some numbers were Soldier Beetles.

Red Soldier Beetle – Rhagonycha fulva

Family: Cantharidae

Can be seen: June-August

The red and black colouration reminded people of the red coats of British soldiers, hence the common name. It is also known as the ‘Bloodsucker’ for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless to humans. There are about 40 species of soldier beetle in the UK, displaying various colour combinations of black, red and orange.

Description: A medium-sized, narrow beetle commonly found on open-structured flowers, such as daises, Cow Parsley and Hogweed, during the summer. There are about 40 species of soldier beetle in the UK, displaying various colour combinations of black, red and orange. Habitat: It can be spotted flying in grassland, woodland, along hedgerows and in parks and gardens. Food: The adults are especially important predators of aphids. They supplement their diet with nectar and pollen and can be minor pollinators. Larvae prey on ground-dwelling invertebrates, such as slugs and snails, and live at the base of long grasses.

130712TGINCT- Soldier beetle on thistle-Little Orme

Common Red Soldier Beetle

Behaviour: The adults spend much of their short, summer lives mating and can often be seen in pairs.

Soldier beetles mating on hogweed flower-Little Orme

Then there were ladybirds, more than I’ve seen for a long time in one place and I was reminded that there was a ladybird plague in England one very hot summer. I looked it up and it in 1976, prompted as a response to a marked increase in aphid populations. There were many reports of people being bitten as the supply of aphids dwindled. That could happen again this year if the hot dry weather continues; I’ve already seen a lot of aphids….

7-Spot Ladybird- Coccinella septempunctata

Family: Coccinellidae

The seven-spot is easily one of Britain’s most common and easily recognised beetles.

Etymology

The beetle’s common name “ladybird” originated in Britain where the insects became known as ‘Our Lady’s bird or the Lady beetle. Mary (Our Lady) was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early paintings, and the spots of the seven-spot ladybird (the most common in Europe) were said to symbolise her seven joys and seven sorrows. In the United States, the name was adapted to “ladybug”.

Coccinelid is derived from the Latin word coccineus meaning “scarlet”.

Another insect that employs the colour combination of red and black to advertise to predators that they taste horrible: if they are attacked, (or picked up), they exude an unpleasant yellow substance (reflex blood) from their leg joints which is rich in toxic alkaloids. A threatened ladybird may both play dead and secrete the unappetizing substance to protect itself.

One of the most common ladybirds in the UK

Ladybirds lay hundreds of eggs in the colonies of aphids and other plant-eating pests. When they hatch, the ladybird larvae immediately begin to feed. Seven-spot ladybirds are avid and very active aphid predators, devouring more than 5,000 during their year-long life.

Only here for the aphids

A threat to our native ladybirds

There are 46 species of ladybird resident in Britain and the recent arrival of the harlequin ladybird has the potential to jeopardise many of these.

The atlas Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) of Britain and Ireland published in 2011 showed a decline of more than 20% in native species due to environmental changes and competition from foreign invaders. The distribution maps, compiled over a 20-year period with help from thousands of volunteers, showed a decline in the numbers of the common 10-spot and 14-spot ladybirds and a number of other species, including the 11-spot, 22-spot, cream-spot, water and hieroglyphic ladybirds, Coccidula rufa, Rhyzobius litura and Nephus redtenbacheri. Conversely, increases were seen in the numbers of harlequin, orange, pine, and 24-spot ladybirds, as well as Rhyzobius chrysomeloides.

Cultural associations with ladybirds

The ladybird was familiar to me as a child, first from the nursery rhyme Ladybird, Ladybird (this is the version I know, it may not be the exact original.)

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
Except for one, and her name’s Anne
And she hid under the frying pan.

As I got older I acquired a collection of ‘Ladybird’ brand books, which are still produced today. And I seem to remember there was a Ladybird children’s clothing range too.

Late summer wildflowers and insects of the Little Orme

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by theresagreen in butterflies, coastal habitat, coastal walks, Little Orme, Nature, nature photography, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve, wildflowers

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

6-spot Burnet Moth, black & yellow striped caterpillars, black butterfly or moth with red spots, cinnabar moth larvae, eristalis arbustorum, eristalis pertinax, eyebright, hoverflies, large black slug, meadow grasshopper, sawfly, small skipper, toadflax, vervain

The weather took its toll on the cliff-top flora and fauna of the Little Orme too, although I think perhaps it’s not so much that the insects were not there, more that they were less able to be mobile, so were not as visible as they are in warmer, drier conditions. I took the following pictures on a warmish, sunny but fairly windy day just past the middle of August when everywhere was still damp from rain.

Ragwort is blooming strongly and every plant is supporting a colony of cinnabar moth caterpillars.

The Cinnabar moth larvae are growing fat on ragwort

The flowers of the ragwort are much in demand too, particularly by hungry hoverflies.

Eristalis interruptus (f) on ragwort

2 drone flies, Eristalis pertinax on ragwort

A smaller eristalis species – Eristalis arbustorum

Mating pair of soldier beetles

I was still on the lookout for soldier beetles and did eventually manage to find one pair; there were dozens of them this time last year. I didn’t even manage a very good photograph as the wind was blowing the ragwort stem they were on.

I walked towards the cliff edge above Angel Bay, drawn by a large patch of sunny yellow birds-foot trefoil mixed in amongst long grasses.

Flowery clifftop, most birds-foot trefoil mixed in amongst long grass

Long grass and birds-foot trefoil

As I had hoped, this flowery area turned out to be quite productive in terms of insects. I first spotted a Common Blue butterfly very low down on a grass stem, then followed a Small Skipper until it too came to rest on a flower.

Small Skipper –

That was followed by a first sighting of a Burnet Moth fluttering across the grass and flowers, and once I had ‘got my eye in’, I soon realised there were a good few more.

6-spot Burnet moth –

The Burnet moths were mostly attracted to the thistle flowers growing at the side of the pathway; at one point I found four of them all on the same plant.

3 of 4 Burnet moths that were all nectaring on a single thistle flowerhead

Stopping to photograph the single moth I was distracted by the chirping ‘song’ of a grasshopper, which I found on a grass stem just behind me. I am not great at identifying grasshoppers, but I think this was most likely a Meadow Grasshopper – Chorthippus brunneus.

Little grasshopper chirping from a grass stem

Walking along a narrow track through the long grass I saw an insect I did not immediately recognise on a thistle flower. It took little notice of me taking photographs of it, just carried on working its way around the flowerhead. To identify it I searched my favourite website for insect identification http://www.naturespot.org.uk, which is a Leicestershire site but usually comes up trumps for me. From that I believe my mystery insect may be of the Sawfly species, Tenthredo notha – but as always I am more than happy to be corrected.

Sawfly- Tenthredo notha

At the bottom of the steep grassy track that takes you higher up on the cliff, a decent number of butterflies were dancing around the bramble flowers. There is red valerian growing there too which is also a favourite nectar plant of butterflies and more ragwort attracting hoverflies. Butterflies included Large, Small and Green-veined Whites, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers and a Tortoishell.

Green-veined White (m) on a valerian flower

I stopped half-way up the incline to draw breath and to take a photograph of the view.

The view from the Little Orme across Rhos Point, then the headland of Abergele beyond which are Rhyl & Prestatyn and the coastline of the Wirral (click to enlarge)

At the top there is a flat grassy area, popular with Jackdaws that nest on the cliffs and grazed by sheep, where the remains of some sort of winding mechanism still stands as a memorial to the quarrying that is responsible for the shape of the Little Orme.

Sheep grazing and resting in the sun around old winding gear

Back down at the bottom and a quick scout around before heading home produced more flowering plants:

Eyebright – Euphrasia nemorosa

Toadflax- Linaria vulgaris

Vervain-Veronica officinalis

Lesser Burdock-Arctium minus

Another grasshopper, which I think is a Mottled one as it has curved antennae, but if not then its a Field one.

A mottled, or maybe a field grasshopper

Then finally, as testament to all the recent rainfall, a big fat slug…

Although this slug is black, it is a Large Red Slug-Arion ater, which has a range of colour forms.

August on the Little Orme

19 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by theresagreen in coastal habitat, Little Orme, Nature, nature photography, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

black & yellow striped caterpillars, blackstonia perfoliata, Centaurium erythraea, centaury, common ragwort, robin's pincushion, tortoiseshell butterfly, wildflowers of the Little Orme, yellow-wort

You probably do not need me to tell you that the weather this month has, so far, been rather un-summery, particularly in this part of the country, so I won’t bore you with unnecessary details. However it has impacted on the opportunities I have had to get out and about and record the effects it has had on the local wildlife, if any. That’s not to say I haven’t been keeping my eyes open and looking for opportunities to record what I am seeing, but rainy and windy days are not very conducive to taking photographs of insects or indeed flowers that are being buffeted by the weather.

An expanse of long grass on the clifftop blown by the wind against a background of very blue sea

The first day of August brought a mixed bag of weather conditions, but I tried to make the most of a sunny spell towards the end of the afternoon by visiting the Little Orme. It was windy up there, but there were a few butterflies out feeding in odd places sheltered from the wind. In the majority were Meadow Browns, staying well down in the long grass, but there were a few Gatekeepers enjoying the abundance of bramble flowers, but not settling for long enough to photograph, one of two whites and one gorgeous Tortoiseshell. There were hardly any bees or hoverflies or indeed any insects flying.

A beautiful Tortoiseshell butterfly on bramble flowers

A large white (f) butterfly settled on a bramble stem very low to the ground. I love the mossy background.

Ragwort is flowering now; this somewhat contentious plant is an invaluable source of nectar for a myriad of insects and the host plant of the unmistakeable black and yellow striped larvae of the Cinnabar Moth, many plants are already supporting numbers of them.

Ragwort flowers with Cinnabar Moth caterpillars

Ragwort flowers with insects

There are some interesting plants flowering here at the moment; one is the pink-flowered Centaury and the other is Yellow-wort-Blackstonia, neither of which were showing open flowers today.

Common Centaury – Centaurium erythraea. Welsh, Bustl yr daear

Centaury flowers tightly closed

A member of the family Gentianaceae, common centaury thrives in dry grassy places and is especially common on stable sand dunes and on dune slacks.

A small plant of the gentian family, with flat-clusters of star-shaped rose pink flowers, which open only when the sun shines. The stem is four-cornered and grows to a height of 4-20 inches (10-50 cm).

Etymology & traditional medicinal uses

Centaury takes its name from the Greek centaur, Chiron, who was half man, half horse. Chiron was a teacher of the gods and skilled in the uses of medicinal herbs, and legend has it that when he was shot accidentally by Hercules with a poison arrow, he healed himself using common centaury.

This is a truly versatile herb that apparently may be used for nearly any problem. It is a bitter-tasting herb, which Culpeper noted “Tis very wholesome; but not very toothsome.” It is used for a variety of digestive problems, including colic, bloating, heartburn, dyspepsia, to stimulate appetite, ease constipation, and to aid the proper assimilation and digestion of food. An extract prepared with vodka (!) is given for high blood pressure, liver and gall bladder problems. Lotions containing centaury have been used on the skin to remove different kinds of blemishes. It is used as a treatment for muscular rheumatism, gout, convulsions, tuberculosis, cramps and snakebites.

Externally, the juice applied to the eyes will clear the vision, and applied to wounds, ulcers, old sores, bruises, will help promote healing. It kills worms as do most bitters and a decoction externally applied will destroy lice and other parasites in the hair.

Bach Flower remedy

I am familiar with Centaury through my work as an Holistic therapist, having studied and extensively used the Bach Flower remedies. It was one of Dr Edward Bach’s original ’12 Healers’.

The Centaury remedy is for people who find it difficult to say ‘no’ to others, usually kind, gentle souls who like to help that may find themselves being taken advantage of and becoming resentful. The willing servant ending up the slave of another’s wishes. The remedy doesn’t harden or make us callous,rather it supports the development of courage and self-determination. We are better able to draw a line and make space where we can be ourselves, free of the desires and commands of others.

Yellow-wort – Blackstonia perfoliata. Welsh, Canri felen

Yellow-wort keeps its flowers tightly closed when the sun is not shining

A distinctive plant with grey-green leaves arranged in pairs to form ‘cups’ up the stem and bright yellow flowers that only open in the brightest sunshine. Yellow-wort is lime-loving and in Wales occurs in the greatest numbers dunes along the northern and southern coastal strips, particularly on marshy dune slacks. It generally flowers from June to October in Britain where it is widespread but not common.

In common with the afore-mentioned Centaury, Yellow-wort is a member of the family Gentianaceae, but is distinguished from all other family members, which have flowers with either four or five petals, by having six or even eight flower petals. It is tricky to catch the flowers open as even on the brightest, sunniest days they close very quickly if as much as a cloud passes over them.

Etymology & use

Yellow is self-explanatory as the colour of the flowers of the plant and wort was commonly used in the names of plants and herbs, especially those used formerly as food or medicinally. In this particular case I have been unable to discover any history of the plant being used medicinally, but a yellow dye can be obtained from the plant extract, so that may cover it.

The Latin Blackstonia refers to the 18th Century botanist and apothecary John Blackstone. Perfoliata.. through-leaved .. referring to the leaves which are fused together at the base with the stem threading its way through.

John Blackstone (1712–1753). Blackstone worked in London and spent his holidays at Harefield, north Middlesex. His major work was Fasciculus Plantarum circa Harefield sponte nascentium. Cum Appendice, ad Loci Historiam spectante which catalogued plants he found in Harefield and included the precise location of the rarer plants. He was working on a second work when he died prematurely aged 41.

Robin’s Pincushion

Robin’s Pincushion

The Rose bedeguar gall, Robin’s pincushion gall, or Moss gall develops as ” a chemically induced distortion of an unopened leaf axillary or terminal buds” occurring most commonly on Field Rose (Rosa arvensis) or Dog rose (Rosa canina) shrubs. This fascinating distortion is caused by the parthenogenetic hymenopteran gall wasp (Diplolepis rosae (Linnaeus, 1758))

To find a wasp you would have to look around the new green leaf buds in late May as it prepares to lay its eggs. Then the female diplolepis lay up to sixty eggs within each leaf bud using her ovipositor. The asexual wasps emerge in the spring; less than one percent are males.

The bedeguar gall is surrounded by a dense mass of sticky branched filaments, giving the appearance of a ball of moss. Its filaments start off green, gradually becoming pink that turns crimson and ages to a reddish brown. They are at their most attractive from about now to September, as from then they begin to lose their hairs, although they remain in place until the new gall wasps emerge in the spring. A large specimen can achieve up to 10 cm in width.

Etymology

The term ‘Bedeguar, Bedegar or Bedequar’ comes from a French word, bédegar, but that originated from the Persian, bād-āwar, meaning ‘wind-brought.’

The Robin in ‘Robin’s pincushion’ refers to the woodland sprite of English folklore, Robin Goodfellow, otherwise known as Will o’ the wisp and Puck.

Folklore & traditional medicinal uses

Folklore tells us that if a Robin’s Pincushion is placed under one’s pillow it aids sleep and the gall was therefore known as the ‘Sleep Apple’.

The galls have apparently been used in the treatment of whooping cough and carried as an amulet to ward off toothache.

The Ragwort controversy rages

24 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by theresagreen in Nature, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

black & yellow striped caterpillars, cinnabar moth larvae, common ragwort, ragwort, ragwort and animals, senecio jacobaea, wildflower poetry

I thought I’d start the week’s posts with a look at the controversial Ragwort plant. It’s in full bloom now and its golden flowers are very noticeable in a wide variety of habitats, on roadsides and railway embankments, on waste ground and clifftops, but it also occurs in fields and pastures, which is where its troubles begin.

Botany

Common Ragwort – Senecio jacobaea;Family: Compositae

Other names: Ragweed, Tansy Ragwort, Staggerweed, Stinking Willie, Stinking Nanny, Dog Standard, Cankerwort, Stammerwort.

The New Atlas of the Flora of Britain and Ireland (2002) shows Ragwort as native and states that ‘the distribution of S. jacobaea is unchanged from the map in the 1962 Atlas’.

Common Ragwort is generally known as a biennial plant that overwinters as seeds or as leaf rosettes, but in certain conditions it may survive as a perennial.

: Ragwort leaf with Red Soldier beetle

The leaves may be light-dark green and are attractively deeply cut and lobed. The plant grows from 30-100cm in height, with woody stems coloured red at their base. The upper part if the stem is branched, bearing golden yellow flower heads in large, dense terminal clusters that are almost always rayed and daisy-like.

: Ragwort flowers and nectaring bumblebee

The issues with ragwort arise from the fact that the plant contains poisons that may be lethal to domesticated grazing animals if sufficient quantities are ingested over a period of time. For this reason ragwort is one of a very few plants listed in the Weeds Act (1959). Opinions concerning the dangers to livestock presented by the presence of the plant have long differed and continue to do so; there is sustained pressure from some quarters that wish to see the plant eradicated, but more recently there is also a strong counter-argument from conservationists for its retention, as its importance has been recognised as a food plant for a number of insect species.

There is a great deal of information and argument concerning the plant to be found on a variety of websites on the internet. The first of the following pieces was written 94 years ago, giving some indication of how long this controversy has raged. I found it interesting and it explains how the plant may be inadvertently fed to animals as a component of hay, and the very unpleasant effects that may have on them.

From the report of the Board of Agriculture’s Chief Veterinary Officer (1917):

“It is not generally recognized that the common British Ragwort is poisonous to cattle. This probably arises from the fact that poisoning under natural conditions is a slow process, that is to say, an animal does not receive, and could not eat enough of the weed at one meal to cause acute poisoning. On the other hand, the poison is cumulative in its action; with continuous doses the amount of poison which becomes available is sufficient in time to cause very serious symptoms which often end in death….. The following represent broadly the circumstances of the cases which have recently come to the notice of the Board. Pastures containing a considerable proportion of the weed were cropped in the hope that the comparatively early cropping might help to get rid of it. The crop was made into hay, and owing to the prolonged spell of cold weather and the scarcity of other feeding stuffs, this was fed later and in considerable amount to animals at pasture.

…. Some of the animals fed on the Ragwort died in a few days after the first appearance of definite symptoms. In others the symptoms continued for a month or more and deaths occurred at later dates. It would appear also that although animals which had received a toxic amount of Ragwort over a certain period may seem healthy at the time when feeding on the material is discontinued, they nevertheless develop active symptoms of poisoning and die at a later period. Thus in the cases investigated some of the animals did not show definite symptoms until twelve days or more after the feeding with Ragwort had been discontinued. In the early stages the animals have the appearance of being hide-bound. Later, they walk with a staggering gait, some appearing to be partially blind or heedless of where they go. Later they may become very excitable, and will charge at anyone who approaches them. … There is no cure, and prevention resolves itself into removing the Ragwort from the forage, or eradicating it from the pastures.”

Much more up to date, the following points are extracts from a very detailed and compelling report on the importance of the plant to conservation from Buglife – the Invertebrate Conservation Trust.

1. At least 30 species of insects and other invertebrates are totally dependent on Ragwort as their food.

2. Many other species of insects which eat Ragwort, or require the nectar and pollen from the flowers, can also use alternative plants. However, Ragwort is often significant in supporting viable populations, especially in districts where such alternative plants may be absent or too scarce.

It must be emphasised that Ragwort is a major nectar source for many insects, especially:-

Solitary bees (at least 30 species: 38 cited in one list).*
Solitary wasps (at least 18 species; not the sort to harm people).
Hoverflies (many species).
Conopid flies (parasitic on solitary bees and bumblebees).
Butterflies (Small Copper, particularly where other flowers may be scarce)
Moths at night (including at least 40 noctuid moths).3. Ragwort is among the select few plants listed in the Weeds Act (1959). The listing was primarily concerned with control where agricultural production may be affected by its presence, especially its toxicity to grazing stock.
4. Since 2003, the Ragwort Control Bill has been going through parliament. A Defra code of practice has been produced that will be backed by enforcement of Ragwort control where toxicity is perceived as sufficient risk. In particular, this covers land grazed by horses and hay fields supplying their fodder (these days largely a recreational rather than agricultural issue).
5. Both insect faunas and horses (and other farm animals) can co-exist provided control measures are targeted where really needed. In many situations Ragwort is doing no harm.
6. If the richness of the fauna is to have a future, the current over-reaction, indeed hysteria in some quarters, needs to be defused. Public and other bodies are seemingly being pressured beyond limits of tangible problems, and the horse fraternity and general public are encouraged to eliminate Ragwort, which in practice often means any plant that looks vaguely similar.It’s amazing:- The future of so many species is now dependent on an understanding of sustainability: how to make use of the countryside and town whilst maintaining biodiversity.Ragwort Control1. In some circumstances Ragwort does need control but more widely the issue can be hyped-up to result in over-reaction. The purpose here is to look at the facts, especially in relation to the high profile concern over toxicity to horses.2. The toxins (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) in Ragwort can cause liver poisoning. It is a cumulative poison, eventually leading to the rather rapid onset of symptoms which precede rapid death. The plant has the alternative name Stagger Weed, referring to one of the more obvious symptoms. The lethal volume of Ragwort is said to be 7% of body weight for horses. Cattle are prone, sheep apparently less so (although it is difficult to find solid evidence of any fatal effects on other livestock). Young plants are less toxic than well grown ones.Biocontrol
The main insects that can devastate populations of Ragwort are the Cinnabar moth and the flea beetle Longitarsus jacobaeae. Some of the fly larvae and moth caterpillars have the capacity to cause loss in seed production. The remaining fauna collectively impact upon the health and vigor of Ragwort, though the significance will depend on local circumstances. On the whole, districts where Ragwort is always present should have the most complete insect faunas, thus best balanced to continuously effect control. It is usually where poor land management allows excessive colonisation by Ragwort seed that the man-made problems arise.

: 22/7/11-Cinnabar Moth larvae on ragwort leaves-Little Orme, Rhos-on-Sea

Traditional uses of Ragwort in herbal medicine

Ragwort was formerly much employed medicinally for various purposes. The leaves are used in the country for emollient poultices and yield a good green dye, not, however, permanent. The flowers boiled in water give a fair yellow dye to wool previously impregnated with alum. The whole plant is bitter and aromatic, of an acrid sharpness, but the juice is cooling and astringent, and of use as a wash in burns, inflammations of the eye, and also in sores and cancerous ulcers – hence one of its old names, Cankerwort. It is used with success in relieving rheumatism, sciatica and gout, a poultice of the green leaves being applied to painful joints and reducing the inflammation and swelling. It makes a good gargle for ulcerated throat and mouth, and is said to take away the pain caused by the sting of bees. A decoction of the root has been reputed good for inward bruises and wounds. In some parts of the country Ragwort is accredited with the power of preventing infection.

Culpepper says it is ‘under the command of Dame Venus, and cleanses, digests, and discusses. In Sussex we call it Ragweed.’

The poet John Clare also had a positive opinion of the plant, as revealed in this poem of 1831:

Ragwort thou humble flower with tattered leaves

I love to see thee come & litter gold…

Thy waste of shining blossoms richly shields

The sun tanned sward in splendid hues that burn

So bright & glaring that the very light

Of the rich sunshine doth to paleness turn

& seems but very shadows in thy sight.

Discoveries on the Little Orme’s snail trails

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by theresagreen in Little Orme, Nature, Nature of Wales

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

banded snail, black & yellow striped caterpillars, fuzzy growth on wild rose, garden snail, Gatekeeper, hummingbird hawkmoth, robin's pincushion

The Little Orme and Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve are a popular venue and much-frequented by local people and by visitors to the area, but despite that it remains a great haven for a wide variety of wildlife species.

I love wandering around here because as with the Bryn Euryn Reserve, there are a variety of habitats and many possibilities of sightings within a relatively small area. I do try to have a ‘target list’ when I set off to explore any area as I’m very prone to distraction by anything that looks interesting; today a Gatekeeper butterfly was at the top of the list. Missing from my recent Bryn Euryn list, which I was more than pleased with anyway, I felt sure there must be some of these very attractive little butterflies around close by. Lo and behold, almost as soon as I entered the site from the top of the steps, there were my Gatekeepers, several of them fluttering around a bramble. Then, as so often happens, something else caught my eye – a Hummingbird Hawkmoth was hovering around a patch of red valerian flowers. A common sight for me in southern Spain, I recognised it immediately although here it was above me at the top of a slope – too far away and too quick to photograph well, but I don’t want anyone to think I was imagining it!

22/7/11-A Hummingbird Hawkmoth taking nectar from valerian

The little Gatekeepers quickly regained my attention; all the individuals I saw, and there were plenty today, were pristine, so maybe all very recently newly emerged which could be why I hadn’t seen one before now.

: 22/7/11-A Gatekeeper- Pyronia tithonus resting on a nettle

: 22/7/11-Gatekeeper underside, on bramble leaf

Well, as they say, that was easy and I headed for the clifftop to sit and watch the seabirds for a while. Cormorants were dashing to and fro the rocky tip of the promontory, there were a few Fulmars tucked onto rocky ledges and a number of Herring Gulls flying around, making less noise here than they do in the town. Gazing down at the water I noticed a head pop up above the surface, which I though at first belonged to a diver, but through my binoculars it was clearly a Grey Seal.

: 22/7/11-Head of a Grey Seal-the choppy water indicates the strength of the wind that’s been cooling down our days lately

It was very pleasant sitting there, but I soon got restless and set off in search of the next specimen on my list.

: 22/7/11- View towards the cliff edge

Now I was looking for the distinctive black and yellow striped caterpillars of the Cinnabar Moth, that feed on Ragwort. I had inspected the ragwort plants growing on Bryn Euryn for them without success, but didn’t have to look far to find them here.

: 22/7/11-Cinnabar Moth caterpillars

I’ve always been fascinated by these fat creatures in their wasp-coloured skins and still wonder how on earth they transform into a delicate and smart scarlet- red and black moth. I only caught a brief sight of the back of one Cinnabar moth as it flew away from me from a ragwort plant – I’ll have to come back for a picture another day.

: 22/7/11-A banded snail tucked up under a valerian leaf

Another striped creature was hiding from the sunshine beneath a leaf; a strikingly marked Banded Snail – Cepaea nemoralis.

I was aware that research has been carried out on this species of snail-something to do with the evolution of regional variations in colouration and the effects Song Thrush predation have on their populations,I think. During the course of looking for more information I learned that a big survey of the species population has been conducted and results are now available fromhttp://www.evolutionmegalab.org. I think the survey may be ongoing.

: 22/7/11-Another quite differently patterned Banded snail, although it bears similar shades of brown, there is also more pink in the shell

There is also a downloadable PDF available from the Open University’s called ‘How to hunt for snails’ for details. That might keep the kids amused for a while on a rainy afternoon.(If you’re interested, I’ve put the link in my blogroll). I might even do that myself on my next visit to the Little Orme.

While snails were on my mind I started to notice empty shells of the larger, darker Garden Snail-Helix aspersa. There were dozens of them, no two patterned alike and all quite beautiful. The thought crossed my mind that if they had been lying on a beach people would probably gather them up and keep them, but perhaps because most of us have been traumatised by the damage these voracious eaters can wreak on our gardens, we don’t give them a second glance. I made a collection of photographs for myself; I think they are well worth looking at.

: 22/7/11-A few specimens from my Garden Snail shell collection

Walking along the upper edge of the deep ‘valley’ created by the quarrying of limestone I happened to look down and spot two Grayling butterflies fluttering around the rocks below. I stopped to have a closer look and peering over the ledge I discovered a very pretty fern growing from the rock just below me.

: 22/7/11-Maidenhair Spleenwort-Aplenium tichomanes

Shifting around to get a better look and a photograph, I then saw there was a clump of another species growing just a short way from it.This one is called Rusty-backed fern, although not rusty with spores at the moment. I didn’t spot the delicate Wall Rue growing beneath it until I downloaded my photographs. What a treasure-trove that bit of rock turned out to be – there’s lichen growing on it too.

: 22/7/11-Rusty-backed fern -Ceterach officinarum with Wall Rue-Asplenium ruta-muralis tucked underneath

I walked around and down into the quarry to see if I could find the Graylings, but by now the sun was lower and the rocky cliffs casting shadows, so they were either long gone or tucked up for the night. I was probably more pleased to find this Robin’s Pincushion anyway; I haven’t seen one of these fascinating fluffy-looking galls for ages: they are caused by the tiny black and red gall wasp,Diplolepis rosa, that is rarely seen.