In a spot of bother....

On the subject of overwintering, ( invertebrates can not hibernate like some warm blooded mammals but instead enter a dormant state), you might start seeing aggregations or clusters of ladybirds in the corners of your rooms about now. The day length and temperatures encourage them to seek overwintering sites. Hopefully these will be the Two Spot Ladybird Adalia bipunctata but most likely it will be the infamous Harlequin Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. We have identified 46 species of Ladybird in the UK so far and now they are under threat from this one big, brash invader. Originally from Eastern Asia, the Harlequin has been used in biological controls around the world. In 2004 it landed on our shores. Common thought is that it strayed over from North America but however it got here does not matter now. What does is the fact it is here at all, and what effect it has on our rather special native species. Harlequins are the masters of disguise. They display many colour and pattern variants but they all have brown legs. The problem is that they breed twice a year, ours only once. A large majority of our species of Ladybirds eat only aphids. Harlequins eat not only aphids, but other insects and their eggs, including our own native Ladybird eggs and larvae. They are at present not susceptible to the parasites and pathogens that infect our native species. In short, Harlequin numbers are exploding and with no checks in place they are seriously threatening our own iconic Ladybirds as well as other important insects. Record any you see this winter please and download your sitings at  www.harlequin-survey.org we need to know how they are spreading around the UK. If by chance you spot any native species then please do the same at www.ladybird-survey.org . If you disturb Ladybirds they will 'bleed' a chemical mixture from their knee joints and other places. This is their defense and it can be rather smelly. See how many spots you can spot this winter!

Harlequin Ladybirds Harmonia axyridis getting ready for winter.
 

Invasion!

Up in Suffolk, my parents are desperate to know what has invaded their home. The windows of a bedroom, not regularly used, are covered in flies. In the morning they get the vacuum cleaner out and by the evening....... well it is time to vacuum again! The answer is the Cluster Fly, Pollenia rudis, similar in size to the house fly but with golden hairs behind the head and on the thorax, (which rub off easily). They are in the Diptera Order, what we refer to as True Flies, and are one of the 120,000 species that we have so far identified. They spend their summer flying happily around meadows eating pollen, nectar and other types of organic matter. When it gets cold in the Autumn they set off to find a nice warm and dry place to overwinter. Who can blame them? The problem is that they love attics, lofts and unused rooms. The next problem is that they overwinter communally - in huge numbers if it has been a good year for them. They will not feed in your home, or breed but they will leave a large amount of fly excrement. Every time the temperature rises in your house they start to get active and look for light - hence the numbers around the window. The best bit though takes place outside and underground. These little chaps go through a parasitic stage in their life cycle. Once the egg hatches the tiny larvae find earthworms. When they have come across their future host, they eat their way under its skin. They have to bury in leaving their spiracles (breathing holes) outside. Then they feed off their hosts living flesh as they  grow. When they are ready to pupate they fall off the earthworm and pupate in its tunnel before crawling to the surface to fly away. Back up in Suffolk it is going to be '2011 the Winter of the Vacuum Cleaner' because they are in for the duration. What is around the window will only be a very small proportion of what is innocently snoozing away in the attic. The good news is that this has been a great year for the Cluster Fly and its population has boomed, so next year it might not happen again........

All that glitters....

All that glitters is not gold. In fact it could be fools gold, bismuth or galena, so we discovered when we went to the Rock, Gem 'n' Bead show www.rockngem.co.uk at Cheltenham Racecourse recently. I was looking for invertebrate fossils and insects in amber or copal. Copal is young amber. Young being about 10 million years old and not as dark as mature amber, (or as expensive). I did find some really fantastic specimens eventually, having been dragged off course to supervise mineral, rock and fossil purchasing by two certain boys and one husband. It is a fascinating show to go to and well worth the trip. There were some truly spectacular crystals and amazing fossils all stunningly presented. What I like is that you can really examine the objects before purchasing and I was delighted to come across a great piece of copal with a range of insects in it, including a splendid cockroach. Most of the species you will be able to recognise as they are very often not too dissimilar to what we have today. Makes you stop and think for a while. We humans have been on the planet around 200 thousand years and insects a very respectable 400 million years. Sir David Attenborough once said,"If we and the rest of the backboned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if they (invertebrates) were to disappear, the land's ecosystems would collapse. The soil would lose its fertility. Many of the plants would no longer be pollinated. Lots of animals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals would have nothing to eat. And our fields and pastures would be covered with dung and carrion. These small creatures are within a few inches of our feet, wherever we go on land – but often, they're disregarded. We would do very well to remember them".

Millions of years preserved in rock, tree resin and breathtaking crystals.

More shows.....

Bug shows are great days out if you are interested in insects and general entomology. They are never too expensive for admission, rarely going over £4 for an adult. They are packed with people who are happy to give you advice and you get the chance to have a really good look at what you may be buying. If you are near Newark in Nottinghamshire there is a Entomology Fayre coming up on December 11th at the Grove Leisure Centre NG24 3AL, and in the other direction in Kent there is the South East Arachnid Show on the 29th January at the Ashford International Hotel TN24 8UX. www.invicta-arachnid-club.co.uk

Chinese Moon Moth Actias dubernardi a beautiful, striking caterpillar with incredible silver markings. Feeds on Scots Pine and Larch. ALWAYS check you have the correct food available BEFORE you make any purchases. Do not get carried away on just the wow factors!

Trick or treat!

Halloween is finally here and we all have one evening to get it over quick before the count down to Christmas. I gave in yet again and got talked into hosting a Halloween party. We stocked up on sweets, lit our pumpkins, dressed up the little horrors and dusted down the Monster Munch CD. As darkness fell the doorbell rang and I was confronted by an assortment of ghosts and ghouls. One daring ghost called out "trick or treat!" He was quickly shushed by the others, and much to my amusement, the whisper was, " she keeps loads of cockroaches, theres NOTHING that can frighten her, go for a treat..." Obviously the fact that I keep a house full of cockroaches did not put them off my chocolate offerings and they all dived into my cauldron of Crunchies, Mars Bars and Chocolate Buttons with relish. After my new found friends had gone, happily munching on their treats, I was left wondering why we still have such a deep rooted fear of insects. It is quite normal to posses a reasonable fear of creatures we do not easily recognize and this has kept us safe since we came down from the trees, but it is healthy to keep that fear in check. Remember, before you bash the living daylights out of something scuttling across your living room floor, perhaps you could instead catch it in a jar, admire it, look it up in a book or on the internet and then pop it out of the front door ..........

Do not put beetles in your mouth!

Charles Darwin was a avid collector. He collected many things during his life including birds eggs, rocks, shells and beetles. He had a real thing for beetles which I quite understand and fully appreciate. In Downs House a few of his beetles are on display, all carefully pinned and labelled by his own hand. These very beetles Darwin no doubt referred to many times and examined in great detail. What I want to share with you was his pure delight in his beetles with a quote from his autobiography: 'I will give a proof of my zeal: one day, on tearing off some old bark, I saw two rare beetles and seized one in each hand; then I saw a third and new kind, which I could not bear to lose, so that I popped the one which I held in my right hand into my mouth. Alas it ejected some intensely acrid fluid, which burnt my tongue so that I was forced to spit the beetle out, which was lost, as well as the third one.'  Those of you that know me, now know why I always carry collecting pots!

Charles Darwin.

Darwin's Study almost as it was. Where he wrote, examined, experimented and studied.

Darwin's beautifully labelled beetles.

A perfect place....

I have been on a pilgrimage today and it was something I have wanted to do for a very long time. It is half term, and I decided to take my family with me to share an experience I hoped they too, would find very special. We went to Downs House in Kent. Now owned by English Heritage but formally the home of Charles and Emma Darwin. ( www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/home-of-charles-darwin-down-house/ ) I was impressed at how "Darwinian" the whole place felt and it was wonderful that you were free to touch and explore. For me it was a humbling experience to walk around their home. To be able to look at some of Darwin's books and notes, to see the gardens and glasshouse where he did so much detailed and careful study, was all truly wonderful stuff. I walked under the trees that he had planted, over the lawn where his family had played and sat in a wicker chair on his veranda where once, he too, had done exactly the same. I got a real sense of this great man. My boys had a wonderful time too. They enjoyed the displays and most poignantly, upstairs in what is thought to have been Darwin's bedroom and the place where he died, they had an interactive room specifically for children, to help break down the key ideas in his work. Given Darwin's non-conformist approach to his Victorian family life I felt he would have greatly approved and found it a fitting epilogue. If I had to choose just one memory of today though, it would have to be the laying five flint stones on the corner of the Sandwalk and each of us taking a turn to kick one to the side as we completed a lap. To walk where Darwin once did, to tread in his footsteps where he wrestled with his ideas and to watch our children run ahead, as he must have done occasionally with his own, was my moment. I have a huge respect for Charles Darwin, for what he achieved for science and for his dedication to study. He is one of my legends and our visit today did not disappoint. I recommend a trip to Kent.......

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Downs house

Darwin's thinking path, the Sandwalk.

 The kitchen garden with the greenhouse and Darwin's laboratory built in brick behind it. Beyond that is the orchard where he did his 'weed garden' experiments.