Butterflies, Bees and Buddleia

There's been a fair bit in the news today about the massive affect that the weather seems to have had on some insects. The main spcies in the headlines is the Honey Bees, already badly decimated by Colony Collapse Disorder. The weather hasn't actually killed honey bees, but in very bad weather they are unable to get out and forage and therefore the production of honey has been greatly reduced. Bad news if like me you like honey and in my case it is an important ingredient of the bread I make.

On plant that does attract all sorts of insects is Buddleia, sometimes known as the butterfly bush. It isn't one plant, it is a genus of over 100 species of plants. The name of the genus was given by Linnaeus to honour  the Reverend Adam Buddle, a botanist and rector from Essex. There are native species of Buddleia in Asia, Africa and North and South America, but not Europe or Austalasia.

We've got a few Buddleias round the garden. Most have the normal candle type flowers that vary from a deep purple to a pale lilac. These probably come from Buddleia davidi (name after the missionary, and famous botanist and zoologist, Armand David, who brought the plant to Europe from China).

The deep coloured plants seem to attract the most butterflies, especially Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells, though so far this year no Peacocks or Painted Ladies have arrived on them.

The paler flowered plants don't seem to be so actractive to these brightly coloured butterflies, but do seem to be the choice of the whites.

There are also yellow species, some with candle flowers and some with "pom-pom" type blooms. These seem particularly good for bees, bumble-bees and hoverflies.

This Buff-tailed Bumblebee is covered in pollen and it demonstrates one of the worrying aspects of the decline of  bee numbers. One of the most famous quotes about this was supposed to have come from Albert Einstein.  “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!” He wasn’t an entomologist, and he almost certainly didn't say this! but entomologists around today agree that the sudden and mysterious disappearance of bees from their hives poses serious problems!

The Bees Knees

The Tree-house, for so long a feature of the Hidden House garden is no more. Sadly it had become more dangerous over the last couple of years, because of a design oversight. It was integrally fixed to the tree and it's main trunk, with no allowance for the tree growing. As can be seen in the picture above, the main supports were already becoming distorted in 2006. Even then to rectify the problem would have meant a complete rebuild, a task beyond my skills and with the grandchildren not here that often it seemed a that the best thing to do was to take it down. Even this was a major task.

As I was moving the enormous amount of wood that I had accumulated under the tree, I became aware of being surrounded by a large number of Bumble Bees. The were gathering around some debris and I soon realised I had accidentally covered the entrance hole to their nest.

Once uncovered it was a hive of activity (ha ha). I always have some difficulty with Bumble-bee identification, even with the aid of Mike Edward's and Martin Jenner's lovely little field guide. One of the troubles here was that they were strictly on an in and out mission, with no settling down near by, allowing a close look.

My camera kept focusing on this little bug, which I think is an aphid of some sort. As their are more than 400 species of aphid, I'll leave it "generic" at the moment.

I thought at first the Bumblebees were Buff-tails (Bombus terristris) but I think that they may in fact be B. hortorum ( sometime called Garden Bumblebee).

The returning bees were heavily laden with pollen, presumably to feed the young growing in the nest. Most species of Bumblebees likely to be encountered in the garden nest underground, although birds nests and bird boxes may be used.

This week there's been a lot written about the role that Bumblebees have in pollinating crops, so it is good to know these is at least one colony in the garden. I suspect there maybe be at least two others. There is a stream of Bumblebees going between the slats on the decking by our barbecue and I've seen several going into the concrete nest box at the end of the garden.

The founder of Democracy

The church at Northborne has a long history and there has probably been a church on this site since the seventh century. In AD 618 the newly crowned King Edbald of Kent, gave land at Northbourne St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.

An Anglo-Saxon church was built on the site and in about 1120 this was modernised in the late Norman style, although fragments of the the original church have been identified in the walls of the present church.

The porch conceals a fine Norman door and the tower was built as a village refuge, a tradition that started in the reign of Alfred the Great, when the towers were built as village fortresses against the attacks of the Danes.

The Lady Chapel contains the Sandy. Memorial and family vault. The memorial was built in the lifetime of Sir Edwin Sandys and his wife and was sculpted from life. The couple are shown lying in their four' poster' bed.

Sir Edwin was MP for Sandwich during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I and lived at Northbourne Court. He believed in free Parliament elected by universal suffrage, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London for his views,. He became treasurer of the Virginia Company and obtained the Royal Assent from James I for a Constitution for the Company that be drew up. This resulted in the first freely elected government in the world, in Virginia. Sir Edwin's constitution later became the pattern for the Constitution of the United States of America, when the Thirteen Colonies obtained their independence.


A tablet on the west wall of the chapel was set there by the American and British Commonwealth Association

The large organ, just over 100 years old, is now in front of the two most attractive windows in the Church. I was fortunate enough to me the church warden who showed me the windows from the back of the organ, where a spiral staircase has been built to access the belfry.

More facts and history of the Church can be found at a site based on the work 0f Arthur Peel.

I haven't yet found any thing about the origin of these two windows. Unfortunately the pamphlet that they sell about the church had been sold out and is currently waiting for a new edition to be written. As I Left the church I was greeted by a very tuneful Blackcap singing just out side.

It was good to see several bumble bees in the garden. As usual I find it difficult to be certain of the species, either White-tailed, lucorum, or Buff-tailed, terresris.

A couple of new birds for the year in the garden in the last couple of days. Yesterday I was surprised to see a pair of Yellowhammers by the pond, and today a Chiffchaff came down to drink in the same place.

A cautionary tale for birders, take care when you carry telescopes and binoculars!

November 2009 Insects.

While I was in the garden, topping up the bird bath I noticed how man insects were around a flowering "Caster Oil" plant in the garden.

The Red Admiral, I suspect the same one as yesterday was perched on the plant but moved when my shadow spooked it, but not far.

There were quite a few of these flies, metallic and shining in the sun.

Wasps are still around, no longer able to make a nuisance of themselves in my moth traps, (I did run two last night but there were only four moths!) they are looking for other foods.

This Hoverfly is a Honey-bee mimic which I think is Eristalis interruptus. There were two or three around these flower heads.

The two Hoverflies, above and below look quite similar, but the eye shape and size are different. I think (Dean help!) that these are both in the genus Syrphus. The one above may be S. ribesii

This looks like S. Torvus, but there are others in this genus that are similar. (thanks to Dean for the ID),This is ribesii as well, but a female as the eyes don't meet.

On the arch above the flowers there were a couple of these bees, again I need help on the ID. Thanks Dean, again, a Common Carder Bee.

Other insects I saw today included a Common Darter (Dragonfly) and a Large White (butterfly)

More Winged things.

Now that the Echiums are in full flower they are full of bees. I know that bees are having a poor time at the moment, with large reductions in the population of some Bumble Bee species and also in commercial Honey Bees, but the area around our "Echium Forest" is alive with their humming.

When you look at a picture of a Bumble Bee, in this case Bombus hortorum flying you can understand why some one said that by the laws of physics they can't fly. Einstein was a clever chap so when he said "If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live." it was something that was worth thinking about. The only problem is he didn't say it. Like many a quote this one appears to have been attributed to Einstein to lend it an air of authority. As it happens, there’s a grain of truth to the apocryphal quote, and the apocalyptic overtones aren’t far off the mark. Bees are such an important pollinator that without them food prices wood rocket.

While I was watching the bees I noticed this small fly. Being pretty ignorant about fly species I didn't immediately recognise it , but I found it in my Garden Wildlife book. It is a female Scorpion Fly, Panorpa communis. A strange-looking insect, the male of which has a scorpion-like, upturned abdomen. It has a weak flight and at rest holds wings flat. The head has beak-like downward projection that is used in feeding. It scavenges dead animals, including the contents of spiders' webs, and ripe fruit. Seen May-July in hedgerows and Gardens often among brambles.

ID Help required

The Lees looked inviting today, a bit of su, nice and warm, but I couldn't find any migrants.

When you spend most of your time birding you don't see as much at foot level as you should. When you get wobbly and worry more about tripping over you discover a whole new world a few inches above ground. I think I know that the plant above and below is White Dead-Nettle.

But I'm not quite so sure about the Bumble Bee, my choice is Bombus Pratorum because of the yellow stripes on the thorax and abdomen and the orangish tail, but I do find them difficult

Here's another view, they are fabulous animals when viewed close up.

There were quite a lot of flowers out, albeit mainly of the smaller varieties. I think that this is Ground Ivy.

When I saw this I thought that it would be easy to identify but now I'm not so sure. It may be an escape from one of the gardens near the Lees. Update - this is Hairy Bittercress (thanks Steve).

In the garden the Siskin numbers remained high, with 25-30 birds around and I managed to catch 10 moths, the first time in double figures this year, but no new species for the year.

Common Carder Bumblebee

The Common Carder Bumblebee, Bombus pascuorum is one of the Bumblebees most frequently found in the garden.

It can be separated from the other common Bumblebees by the lack of a buff, yellow or white markings on its rear end. It is a surface-nesting bumblebee which constructs its nest in cavities such as old mouse runs and among mats of moss in lawns.

Nests can contain up to 200 workers. Only the young fertilised queen survives the winter, having hibernated in a protected place such as a hole or under moss. She emerges in spring, either starting up her own colony or taking over an existing one. The queen makes pots of wax and pollen into which the first eggs are laid. After about three weeks the first infertile female workers emerge and take over the nectar and pollen-gathering and cell building, while the queen concentrates on egg laying. The larvae are reared on pollen and nectar. The males appear in summer. Towards the end of this season, both male and female bumble bees fly out and mate. Males are allowed to re-enter the nest after mating and soon die. The fertilised queen starts searching for a safe place to hibernate but all the workers and the old queen will die with the first frosts or spell of cold weather.
This species is a long-tongued bee which prefers flowers with a long flower tube such as red and white clover, lavender and members of the Labiate family. You can also attract this bee to nest in your garden with a bee nest box. For information about these threatened insects there is a good site for The Bumblebee Conservation Trust.