Arthropedia - Fickle February

The Entomologist’s Year: What to look for in Winter (Part 2).

February is a fickle month, one moment it is all sunny and nice then the next it can be blasts of icy winds, drifting snow and plummeting temperatures. Winter’s last hurrah before spring arrives in March.

Crocuses: from spring-like sun to snow in 24 hours; my local cemetery in early February.

Shelter from the Storm

While some insects spend the winter in the relative safety of the egg stage of their life cycle or within a protective pupa, many of them will be surviving prolonged cold periods as an adult or larva. They need somewhere safe to hide away, protected from the prospect of frost, snow and penetrating cold. In the garden, evergreen shrubs provide shelter for some while in the countryside dense Ivy is especially important. The rough bark of mature trees also makes good over-wintering sites.

The hoverfly *Meliscaeva auricollis* in the shelter of a large *Euonymus* shrub (left) and Gorse Shieldbugs in amongst the leaves of our *Brachyglottis*.

Lots of tiny creatures secrete themselves into old seed heads and dead stems so it is a good idea not to tidy up your garden too much until spring otherwise you will be doing them out of a winter home. Most of these creatures don’t actually hibernate in the strictest sense of the word but are ‘winter active’, emerging on warm days so when it is sunny take a peek into a sheltered spot and see what is tempted out by the suns warming rays.

Bugs sheltering in *Brachyglottis* – a common leafhopper *Eupteryx mellissae* (left) and the more unusual plant hopper *Stenocranus minutus*.

In our garden, a large Brachyglottis ‘Sunshine’ shrub provides shelter for all sorts of bugs over the winter. It is in a sheltered position and as it gets a good amount of sun in the winter I often find unusual things basking on the leaves on mild days. In particular, a small colony of Gorse Shieldbugs have been in residence there for the last few years.

Ivy provides a great place to shelter. A Green Shieldbug has been tempted out by the sunshine (left) and a male *Eupeodes* sp. hoverfly .

A Pine-cone Bug (*Gastrodes grossipes*) emerging from shelter in the bark crevices of a Larch tree.

Nectar Sources

When insects emerge from winter dormancy, they need something to eat, especially when they may have to survive another cold snap. Insects like bees and hoverflies feed on nectar and rely on early flowering plants to provide it. Mass plantings of crocuses in parks can be a vital source of nectar at this time of year. Other widely planted non-natives that provide early nectar include Snowdrops and Daffodils. Some ornamental heathers and Mahonia also flower through the winter, providing additional sources of nectar.

Two *Eristalis tenax* hoverflies taking nectar from crocus flowers.

In our garden, one of the most important flowers for early insects is the Mediterranean spurge Euphorbia characias. We have a large clump in full sun outside the living room window. Not only does it attract lots of flies (including hoverflies) and bees we often find over-wintering ladybirds in amongst the flower bracts. Later on it can get a bit infested with aphids but the resident House Sparrows soon come in and hoover them up, as does the occasional Wren, much to my delight.

A male solitary bee, *Andrena nigroaenea*, on *Euphorbia* *characias*. This is one of the earliest solitary bees to be seen in our garden.

When it comes to early native flowers, Red Deadnettles are one of the best along with Dandelions although these really come into their own a little later in the year. Gorse is reliably in flower on practically every day of the year (an old saying is when gorse is in flower then kissing is in season), often attracting bumblebees. The humble Daisy has a long flowering period too and should be encouraged to flower in any lawn.

Male *Anthophora plumipes* (a solitary bee) homing in on Red Deadnettle flowers.

The World of Woodlice

When all else fails, I go a hunting for woodlice…

A group of Common Shiny Woodlice under a stone. Look closely and there is also a single Common Rough Woodlouse and a Common Striped Woodlouse. These are three of the Big Five or Famous Five common species.

It is said that for a site to be considered good for invertebrates it must support a certain number of woodlice. The benchmark is the five commonest species plus one other. Having ‘plus two’ is even better. For that reason, every year I spend at least one day rummaging around the garden looking for the so-called ‘Famous Five’ common species.

*Armadillidium vulgare* (the Common Pill Woodlouse) curled up in its familiar ‘pill’ form (left) and the diminutive, and fast moving, Common Pygmy Woodlouse (right) is restricted to damp areas of our garden..

My woodlouse hunt is usually carried out in January or February to make sure I get them on my yearly garden wildlife list before other distractions come along. It also gives me some welcome life to look at on cold, dull days when nothing else seems to be about. They lurk under stones and bits of wood, in neglected corners of the garden and under the pots of plants over-wintering in the greenhouse. Later on in the year is when I generally turn up the plus ones and twos that also inhabit my garden (making it officially good for invertebrates!).

I is for Isopods. Woodlice get their very own chapter in ‘Arthropedia: an illustrated alphabet of invertebrates’.

Here Comes The Sun

When the sun does deign to shine, then it can get surprisingly warm, even reaching to the dizzying heights of double figures. The sun is at its strongest around the middle of the day so that is the best time to go looking for active invertebrates.

*Calliphora vicina*, a common ‘bluebottle’ fly (left) and *Phaonia tuguriorum* on the summerhouse.

Flies like nothing better than basking in winter sunshine, congregating on sheltered tree trunks and fences. Amongst the ubiquitous bluebottle blowflies other early species to look out for include Phaonia tuguriorum and Eudasyphora cyanella. The latter is a brassy green species with a distinctive white front to the thorax with dark dust lines. Another ‘greenbottle’ to be found at this time of year is Neomyia cornicina with its brilliant green frons (the area of the head between the eyes) and jowls.

*Eudasyphora cyanella* (left) and *Neomyia cornicina*.

If flies are about then you can expect to see their nemesis too, the spiders. Again, sunlit tree trunks and fences are good hunting grounds. Lots of species of spider over-winter as small juveniles so they may take a bit of searching to find. In my local cemetery, gravestones under the shelter of mature trees are productive places to look.

A juvenile *Araneus* *sturmi/trigguttatus* (left) and *Gibbaranea gibbosa*, well camouflaged on a lichen-encrusted headstone.

Other spiders can be found down at ground level. The distinctive Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis is very common in our garden and I can usually find a few sprawled out on low vegetation when it is sunny.

Jumping Spider *Salticus cingulatus* on a dead tree stump, a star find on an otherwise unproductive February day.

Bring On The Bees!

Along with spring flowers, February sunshine brings out the first of the hibernating queen bumblebees and I eagerly look for my first Bombus terrestris of the year. These queens will have mated last year, soon after emerging from their maternal nest and then spent the winter somewhere safe from the elements but will soon start off a new colony of their own, producing worker bees and then ultimately new queens and males to mate with them.

*Bombus terrestris* queen nectaring on Snowdrop.

*Bombus hypnorum* queen warming up on a sunlit Gorse stem.

The earliest Andrena Mining Bees should be putting in an appearance at the end of the month but it is the charismatic Anthophora plumipes that I look forward to seeing with the greatest anticipation. These dumpy-looking bees are so full of character, from the loud whining buzz that alerts you to their presence to the way the highly territorial males patrol their patch of flowers, biffing intruders and chasing after females. They are known as the Hairy-footed Flower Bee from the long hairs on the males mid tarsi (feet).

Male *Anthophora plumipes*, the Hairy-footed Flower Bee.

Hopefully, February will bring out hibernating queen wasps too, who have spent the winter safely tucked away on their own, much like the queen bumblebees. These much-maligned insects are a vital part of the ecological system. Worker wasps provide a great ‘pest-control’ service to the gardener, taking large numbers of other insects back to their nest to feed to the developing wasp grubs. They are also very important pollinators.

A lovely queen *Vespula vulgaris* wasp on our summerhouse.

Basking Butterflies

The Peacock is usually the first species of butterfly I see each year, probably because they hibernate in our wood store.

Last but by no means least, February usually yields my first butterfly sighting of the year. Invariably it is a Peacock but Small Tortoiseshell and Comma are also likely candidates. This is because they all hibernate as adults (other butterflies pass the winter in the egg stage, as a caterpillar or a chrysalis, depending on the species). One year my first butterfly was a Red Admiral, a species that never used to survive our winters but now regularly does so as a result of climate change bringing milder winters. And of course towards the end of February there is the spectacle of a beautiful, bright male Brimstone bowling along to look forward to.

Small Tortoiseshell, a sight to gladden the heart, especially after a protracted winter.

Male Brimstone, for once at rest rather than flitting by at a rate of knots.

So, do as the insects do and make the most of any February sunshine, the month will soon be over and then there is the mayhem of spring to look forward to!