Prepare for National Insect Week 2012.......

25th June to 1st July 2012

All this mild weather is making me start to think about spring. I have a daffodil flowering in the garden and I watched Brown Hares boxing in the fields today. I have to keep pinching myself that it is still only January and a real Artic chill could sweep in on us at anytime. There is however a good reason to be looking ahead - National Insect Week! www.nationalinsectweek.co.uk It is organised by the Royal Entomological Society www.royensoc.co.uk  and a whole host of partner organisations. The website is just bursting with information. There are simply loads of surveys you, your school and your family can get involved with. Hundreds of events being listed up and down the country, excellent educational resources you can download, a photography competition, a writing competition and a great deal more. National Insect Week is all about celebrating our Great British Insects and encouraging you to get involved. Get out there, discover what really is living in your back garden, playground or local park. As soon as those evenings start to draw out, the sun starts warm the ground and as the first Swallow arrives, its time to discover more about the insect world in all its fascinating diversity! Be a part of National Insect Week 2012!

Humble beginings....

Gorgeous Chinese Oak Silk Moths, Antheraea pernyi have started to emerge from their cocoons today. Last year the tiny eggs hatched into very hairy, little black caterpillars with outstandingly strong mandibles,(jaws). They need to be because, as its name suggests, the Chinese Oak Silk Moth caterpillar eats rather tough oak leaves. After about five days the little caterpillars shed their black skins to reveal fantastic yellowish green bodies underneath. These then grow at an incredible rate, ( up to 9cm long), and become a brighter shade of green as they do. The cocoon they spin is a silvery white colour and in China was the source of wild or tussah silk. (For more information on cocoons and silk, please look in archived blogs). Now finally, after waiting patiently, they are just starting to emerge as adults. With an impressive wing span of 15cm they really are a truly hairy moth! Close up their banded legs, creamy body and superb wings are covered in soft hairs. What I however, think is best of all, is the translucent as well as highly reflective, spots on their wings. Held up to a back light, these moths look like they have actual holes in their wings. Incredible as well as beautiful!

Banishing the winter blues.....

Our Giant Floridan Katydids, Stilpnochlora couloniana, are brushing aside the winter blues and are busy egg laying! These stunning, lush green insects belong to the Orthoptera Order along with crickets and grasshoppers.Whats cool about these gorgeous invertebrates is that they have evolved to live their entire life cycle up in the trees. They are mainly nocturnal, feeding at night, (on Buddleia, Bramble and Rose in captivity), and the males make a wonderful short, sharp, rasp with their legs, which they rub along their wings. The adults wings also give them the most amazing leaf camouflage and they can cover quite a distance with a quick jump becoming a  strong flight. It is the larger of the two that is the female. She selects a twig and sticks her tiny eggs onto it in a tight batch of little rows. Their seed like camouflage yet again working wonders to protect the defenseless eggs from hungry prying eyes in the wild. The eggs need plenty of humidity and a temperature of 25 to 30C. After 40 to 60 days the wingless nymphs will hatch. They are truly exquisite, with long delicate antennae, spindly legs and beautiful body stripes. Right from day one they can put in a sizable leap when disturbed but become more docile as they age. A really stunning invertebrate.

Two adult Katydids blending in with their amazing camouflage.

    

The eggs as viewed from above. The whole cluster only 4cm in length.

The eggs viewed from the side. See how seed like they are. Very clever!