Garden Time - Scorching but no stopping the inverts - 17th-19th July 2022

With all this heat it seems like I have not strayed far from a garden in the past week.  Sunday was spent trying to keep out of the sun at my parents in Ilford and I should have brought my camera with me but despite its absence I still managed to acquire a few Hoverflies including Myathropa florea, Volucella zonaria and inanis.   The regular assortment of butterflies included Holly Blue and all three Whites and a small Jumping Spider was identified by Bill Crooks for me as Macaroeris nidicolens – a new one for me.

Volucella inanis

Volucella inanis

Volucella zonaria 

Macaroeris nidicolens

The Hemp Agrimony not only attracted Hoverflies but also a large black Wasp with a wasted body and purple tinted wings like a Violet Carpenter Bee.  I could not find it in the books but Grant H was able to point me in the direction of a North American invader - Isodontia mexicana.  It was quite a beast.

Isodontia mexicana

Shortly after this a Red-belted Clearwing also arrived and I managed to get a couple of shots with my phone before it zipped off.

Red-belted Clearwing 

And so to the last two days when the southern half of Britain was dropped into a sticky tropical sweaty puddle of pure heat and subsequent wildfires.  I have spent both days flitting between my Strood garden and indoors where to be honest the humidity has been even higher.  Nowhere is pleasant.  I expected the garden to be deserted but it was absolutely heaving with life, even today when it topped 40c.  The ground was crunchy underfoot from all the crispy dropped leaves and the heat was shimmering off every surface but there were insects everywhere. 

Flies made up the majority with most being too small to contemplate but there sheer numbers were amazing.  There were plenty of Lucilia gleaming green and bronze (the old ones), fat Calliphora and paddy footed humbug Sarcs along with some other medium sized species that I have emailed to Phil for a looksee.

Sarc

Sarc

Muscid?

Muscid?

My little patch of Ragwort and Fennel were both very busy all day and Syritta pipiens and Myathropa florea were the commonest Hoverflies along with Episyrphus balteatus, Eristalis pertinax, Syrphus ribesii and Helophilus pendulus. I found a couple of Melanostoma scalare and both Volucella inanis and zonaria.

Melanostoma scalare 

Myathropa florea

Myathropa florea

Syritta pipiens

Gatekeepers dominated the Ragwort with over 20 in the garden and between my little visits in addition I saw Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Comma, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Brimstone and the three Whites.  

Gatekeepers 

Ringlet

Ringlet

Small White

Speckled Wood

Jersey Tigers, Mother of Pearl, Small Magpie, Box Moth and Anania coronata were all on the wing and there were countless super micros zipping around and I managed to snap one that I am sure is the abundant Lyonetia clerkella that so loves my Apple and Cherry.

 Anania coronata

Box Moth

Jersey Tiger

Lyonetia clerkella

Araneus diadematus infants were strung out across every surface and I had to keep apologising for disturbing webs and in the greenhouse the Drosophila were feeding themselves to my Sundews with gay abandon.

A Southern Hawker briefly patrolled but it was too hot for her and she went deep into cover to sit out the extreme weather but the Bees were non-plussed and the main Hotel was alive with activity.  The Heriades truncorum are the commonest species and like other observers I noticed that some of the wax stoppers were melting in the heat.  The next size up are occupied by Osmia leaiana which I did not realise I had as they look like smaller Megachile centuncularis that are also in residence alongside the much bigger Megachile species that I think are M willughbeilla.

Heriades truncorum

Heriades truncorum

Osmia leaiana

Osmia leaiana

Osmia leaiana

Osmia leaiana

Megachile centuncularis

Megachile centuncularis

Megachile willughbeilla

A single Ceolyoxis was also in attendance although as usual I can only go as far as that. Not good for the Megachile but great to see nonetheless. 

Ceolyoxis

Back on the Ragwort I could see the little Heriades shivering their bums around to collect pollen and the Megachile were doing likewise on the Teasels where they had to compete with Bumblebess that included Bombus terrestris, pascuorum, vestalis and pratorum.  There were quite a few Honey Bees (one of which took to my tea dregs for a drink) and a Lassioglosum that I think is L calceatum.

Bombus terrestris

Bombus vestalis

Heriades truncorum

Honey bee

Lassioglosum calceatum

There were several Sawfly species including a hefty Honeysuckle Sawfly with nicely marked wings and many tiny Waspy things that could have been Sawflies or Parasitic Wasps but that is way beyond my level of expertise.

Sawfly

Sawfly

Sawfly ? It was tiny

Twenty-two Spot Ladybird

Common Green Shieldbug

Sicus ferruginueus - the first in my garden I think

My local Swifts screamed overhead with a peak count of 42 and over the last few days I have seen two juvenile and one of the adult Peregrines up in the blue too while Goldcrests have been singing again in the top of the garden which I am struggling to keep alive.

Peregrine

 Swifts

Slow-worms lounged in the compost bins and I even saw a couple of Frogs near the pond despite the temperature but eventually I too headed back indoors for the last time. 

Hannibal - the stray I feed, trying to stay cool

while my Jasper lounged in his catio

And a little postscript.  When I wet out to water very late last night that Southern Hawker was in full hunt mode and was avidly patrolling the garden in the gloom while I counted at least 13 Jersey Tigers on the wing before the light rain and pathetic excuse for a thunderstorm happened.