Catching up

 

Now that I'm under way at last, I ought to catch up with one or two entomological adventures earlier in the year. The butterflies have been out for a while now; the Brimstone (above) is very often the first round here, leading to the theory that the word 'butterfly' itself comes from this butter-coloured fly. I remember researching some ancient documents about 17th century lepidopterists in which butterflies and moths were always called just 'flies', so perhaps there is truth in it. Whatever, it is an attractive word, just like so many of its counterparts in other languages - farfalla in Italian, papillon in French, mariposa in Spanish and schmetterling in German. 

I've now got a reasonable tally of other species; overwintering Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells have been around for a month and I saw the fresh Comma below on a very long circular walk from Oxford via Wytham wood, Farmoor reservoir, Cumnor Hill and South Hinksey. The Speckled Wood has emerged locally and yesterday I met my first Holly Blue of the year in the garden.

Now is also the time of the year for the Bee Fly, a harmless but menacing-looking creature with a long proboscis which looks unnervingly like a sting but isn't one. Their ability to hover, shared with the excellently-named Hairy-footed Flower Bee, is their main distinction, accompanied by a quiet hum. The zip about me in the garden, apparently curious but keeping their distance. They are only bad news if you are one of the insect species on whom their larvae live as parasites, gradually eating their host alive. The  mother bee has a unique spur in her ovipositor which enables her to eject a string of eggs around the home of a likely parent like a carpet-bombing warplane.

The one above, which I found dead in the Fives court during my weekly game, is a Dark-edged Bee Fly, much the most common kind. At home, I meanwhile found this little chap on our garden table. Is it a weevil of some kind?  Help appreciated.

The moths are coming on stream too, including the lovely Oak Beauty below, with its very fine antennae.  The Common Quakers and Hebrew Characters are more run-of-the-mill but showier colleagues are going to be arriving very soon.