Continued from Part 1.

Hop-garden Earwig

This is one of our star species. There aren’t many records in Norfolk but a couple of years ago we found a dead one in a box in my studio and we had always hoped to find a live one. They are similar to Common Earwigs but are a bit smaller and the adults only have vestigial wings.

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We managed to find three this year when they came home from the allotment snuggled up in the petals of Dahlias picked as cut flowers to grace the kitchen. Each was carefully returned to the allotment.

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Inconspicuous Ladybirds

I didn’t even know there was such a thing as an inconspicuous ladybird until we bought the ‘Field Guide to Ladybirds of Great Britain and Ireland’ by Helen Roy and Peter Brown (illustrated by Richard Lewington and published by Bloomsbury).

On discovering these truly diminutive cousins of the more conspicuous ladybirds, I determined to find at least one. And I did, or rather it found me. I photographed a spider on the Isle of Wight and when I enlarged the picture afterwards I was surprised to see a tiny beetle had photo-bombed the arachnid and that it was Scymnus frontalis, an inconspicuous ladybird. Had I seen it? Could I count it? Was it really there? I wasn’t at all aware of it as I took the picture but I had photographic evidence of its presence. It quickly became known as Schrödinger’s Ladybird…

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Fast forward a few weeks and I was in my local cemetery observing the comings and goings of solitary bees when a tiny beetle landed on the bare ground in front of me. Specimen pot ever at the ready (at least on this occasion, for once) I quickly captured it and got out my hand lens. There was no mistaking it, this was a ladybird of some sort. I abandoned my bees and quickly went home with the beetle tucked in my bag, heart pounding as I walked with all speed. At home, I got the book out and sat down at the kitchen table with the specimen, quickly thumbing through the pages. I had found Nephus quadrimaculatus. Duly photographed and sketched, my first inconspicuous ladybird was later returned to where I found it. 

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Several days later on a return visit to almost the same part of the cemetery, I found another tiny beetle. This one turned out to be Scymnus frontalis, the species I had inadvertently photographed on the Isle of Wight. At last I could say I had really seen one!

Spider Selection

Some lovely spiders came our way in 2019 when we were out searching for bees.

The jumping spiders in the family Salticidae are some of my favourites and we managed to find Salticus cingulatus, Marpissa muscosa, and Heliophanus cupreus. Other nice finds included Steatoda phalerata and Arctosa perita.

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At home, an evening hunt finally turned up our first Dysdera crocata for the garden while indoors I was delighted to discover little Oonops domesticus indoors in the bathroom on a couple of occasions. Nuctenea umbratica is a particularly lovely orb weaver and a large female set up home on the fence by the gate. She is a grand old dame, having been there well over a year and is currently still with us, venturing out of her lair most nights.

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Ero species are known as pirate spiders for they invade the webs of other spiders, enticing them out by pretending to be prey and then quickly paralysing them and sucking them dry. They are very distinctive, having one or two pairs of tubercles (bumps) on top of their abdomens. Their presence is usually discovered when you come across their distinctive egg sacs so I was very pleased to find actual spiders. The first, Ero cambridgeii, were spotted in our garden waste bin after bringing home hedge clippings from the allotment (I always check the bin the day after putting stuff in and rescue whatever I can). The second species was found on ivy in my local cemetery and then another was found in the house. They had two pairs of tubercles so were either Ero aphana or Ero tuberculata but as they were immature I couldn’t be certain. Neither species is particularly common in Norfolk but Ero aphana is the more likely. I shall be on the lookout for adults come spring.

A favourite species is the crab spider Misumena vatia, always a pleasure to have in the garden although I have to admit to moving them off the Catmint flowers on the odd occasion that I find one there in order to preserve my beautiful Anthophora quadrimaculata bees. I am quite happy for them to be elsewhere in the garden where they can have as many honeybees as they like for I consider them to be livestock, interlopers in my garden and fair game.

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Another crab spider that graced our garden this year was Diaea dorsata, a very pretty little thing that was actually found in the bath one morning and was released outside.

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Carlton Marshes

A rather late visit to Carlton Marshes in Suffolk was made in the vain hope of finding a lingering Fen Raft Spider (Dolomedes plantarius). We spent a long time sitting by one of the dykes in the hope of spotting one of these spiders and were eventually rewarded with a single immature specimen. 

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The day was by no means wasted though as it was lovely weather and nice to visit somewhere new. We also found our first Water Stick Insects (Ranatra linearis), seven in total, including one that emerged out of the water. Two of my favourite hoverflies, Rhingia campestris and Sericomyia silentis, were seen too along with Roesel’s Bush-crickets, Coneheads and a Spiked Shieldbug. We plan to make a return visit but a bit earlier in the year to find adult Fen Raft Spiders. 

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In my next blog post I’ll write about my Garden Highlights for 2019, including bees, butterflies, flies and solitary wasps.