Ento Photo File

I had a quick photo session at Timble Ings today. The weather conditions were far from ideal but I managed to photograph some of the dragons and damsels that were present. 

Black Darter

Emerald Damselflies in copula

Emerald Damselfly in close-up

Northern Brown Argus

Dark Green Fritillary

Cistus Forester

Green Carpet

Chrysoteuchia culmella

Following on from the morning visit to Oaken Wood, I carried on to Mill Hill which overlooks the R.Adur at Shoreham. I was hoping to see Adonis Blue butterflies and I wasn't disappointed, recording over 180 along with the odd Dingy Skipper or two.

Lysandra bellargus (f)

Erynnis tages

Oaken Wood on the Surrey/Sussex border is a great place to see all sorts of invertebrates, particularly Wood White and Grizzled Skipper butterflies. However, I was pleased to finally see one of the bees that I've been searching for...the Long-Horned Bee, Eucera longicornis.

Leptidea sinapis

Pyrgus malvae

A visitor appeared on my window this evening, a Twenty-plume moth Alucita hexadactyla. Unfortunately it flew off before I could get a pic from the usual angle.

Buglife organised a Chestnut Click Beetle Hunt at Birk Crag, Harrogate today. Birk Crag is one of only two sites in Britain where the Chestnut Click Beetle Anostirus castaneus can be found. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to find any today but there's always next year.

However, I did manage to get a couple of pics of one of my favourite solitary mining bees, the Grey Mining Bee Andrena cineraria.

An hour spent in Prince of Wales Park on Saturday afternoon produced a couple of mining bee species and more Eriocrania subpurpurella but still no Green Hairstreaks.

Eriocrania subpurpurella

Andrena cineraria

I went to Prince of Wales Park, Eldwick today to look for Green Hairstreaks and bees. I didn't spot any Hairstreaks but did manage to photograph various species of bumblebees and this Cuckoo bee, Nomada goodeniana (I'm reliably informed) which is a cleptoparasite of various species of Mining bee.