A tale of two gardens.
A couple of beetle species added to the garden list today, the first being a dung beetle Aphodius rufipes, found in the moth trap, one of a few species that come to light. The second was a Vine Weevil Otiorhynchus sulcatus, found scaling the garden fence. Finally a nice Garden Spider Araneus diadematus was in a nice position to photograph with a pleasing background.
Vine Weevil – Otiorhynchus sulcatus
Garden Spider – Araneus diadematus
Later in the day a visit to my fathers garden provided a good display of autumn butterflies, with a couple of Red Admirals Vanessa atalanta, several Small Tortoiseshells Aglais urticae, single Comma Polygonia c-album and a couple of dueling Speckled Woods Pararge aegeria. In addition it was nice to see some different moth species that have not yet appeared in my trap. The first, Merveille du Jour Dichonia aprilina, is a good example showing that not all moths are boring little brown jobs. The other three shown are Dark Chestnut Conistra ligula, November Moth Epirrita dilutata agg. and Grey Shoulder-knot Lithophane ornitopus.
Red Admiral – Vanessa atalanta
Small Tortoiseshell – Aglais urticae
2247 Merveille du Jour – Dichonia aprilina
2259 Dark Chestnut – Conistra ligula
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