More awakenings

 The early spring temperatures continued today. Ants were scouting out of their nests, sage leafhoppers were active and honeybees and droneflies enjoyed the Laurustinus. I waited until the bee and the dronefly visited the same inflorescence to take the above shot. I wonder if the Laurustinus flowers change colour when they are pollinated, in the same way as the Horse Chestnuts, white when fresh and turning red when already pollinated and stop producing nectar. 

We counted over 100 7-spot ladybirds in the garden. Some were eating aphids on the spurge.

The entrance of the burrow of a large Amaurobius spider under a garage roof. If you click to embiggen you can see the remains of a wasp a Harlequin and some wings I cannot identify, possibly from bluebottles.

A green shieldbug, Palomena prasina, on its dark winter attire came out of its overwintering refuge.

 Wolf spiders enjoyed the sun on the sunny side of the garden.

Twelve bugs of Christmas

Today we woke up to a mild, sunny day and I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of active bugs about. I made a count of species and when I got to twelve I was reminded of the traditional carol and made up a buggy version:

12 ladybirds walking | 11 winter-gnats dancing |10 honeybees buzzing |9 bluebottles basking | 8 leafhoppers leaping | 7 woodlice hiding | 6 hoverflies flying | 5 snails sleeping | 4 spiders weaving | 3 harlequins | 2 drone flies | and a bumblebee on ivy

The honeybees in the local wildlife garden were coming out tripping over each other and ladybirds (7 spots mostly but also harlequins and 22 spots) were awaken by the mild temperature. I counted 5 spider species outside (Tegenaria, Zygiella, Pholcus, Steatoda, Linyphia). The main surprise was the bumblebee worker, extremely fast and active and with pollen baskets full with pollen.

Here is a slideshow of bugs seen and photographed today

Leaf sleepers

This is a good time of year to search for bugs in the leaf litter. On the top layer, ladybirds are set for the winter in the cosy, dry folds of the fresh fallen leaves. They usually cuddle up close to other ladybirds of the same species to overwinter, but it is not unusual to see two species together, like the 22 spot and 7 spot above. If you search a bit deeper on the soil, you can find centipedes, earthworms, and woodlice. With the colder temperatures, they are more torpid than usual, and then easier to photograph.

A shiny woodlouse, Oniscus asellus

Centipede, Lithobius forficatus

 A group of 22 spot ladybirds inside a vine leaf

Arion sp. slug

7 spot ladybird and birch shieldbug