We did the annual Marsh Fritillary larval web count at our Caeau Ffos Fach / Median Farm reserve yesterday, and had a good total of 262 webs. The site hasn't been grazed for a few years and has been getting rank, but cattle have gone on recently and will hopefully graze back some of the grass tussocks this autumn.
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| Marsh Fritillary larvae |
I also found a Small Chocolate-tip larva in a spinning on Aspen, and a gall and emergence hole made by the larva of the tiny plume
Adania microdactyla in a stem of Hemp Agrimony (worth looking for these at the moment anywhere with good stands of the plant).
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| Small Chocolate-tip |
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| Adaina microdactyla gall and emergence hole |
Fascinating stuff George! Very interesting....did it take ages to find the small chocolate tip caterpillar, or was it relatively easy? I`ve got plenty of aspen sites locally.
ReplyDeleteI only spent a couple of minutes looking. There were quite a few spinnings but mostly empty. I think small aspen, sallow and creeping willow bushes growing in marshy habitats are the best bet.
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