Life in the Hawthorn

Whether your main ento-interest is coleoptera, diptera, hymenoptera or lepidoptera (and probably other orders too) then around now is the time to be beating the living daylights of blossoming hawthorn. On the embankment I can see hawthorn bushes that are getting larger and fuller every year, and there is no way I can get to them regardless of social distancing / lockdown (unless I just nonchalantly flounce into or through one of the neighbours gardens with my beating gear and bravado).

I do have hawthorn in the garden .....

The twig on the left is a self-set hawthorn seedling that I lifted and potted. It is clearly some years away from being a blossoming insect attractant! The twig on the right is a sallow cutting that I borrowed from the neighbour's overhanging tree. Which this year he cut right back just as the catkins were coming out. Knob.

So whilst on my walk on Sunday (more on that another day) I was pleased to note that there was at least some hawthorn accessible along the ride to swipe at - although as I only had my light-weight butterfly net I was keen to not ruin it again so it was all a bit sedate. I found a few bits, despite it still being early in the hawthorn blossom season. Mainly I found a lot of lepidopteran larvae. I would normally have brought a few home to rear through but decided this would be a bit daft this year when I can't just nip out whenever I want/need to to collect more larval foodplant. So I snapped a few on my finger tip.

Two forms of Mottled Umber - quite a few of these noted

Dun-bar - just a couple

Winter Moth - 100s

Epirrita sp. - probably November Moth

Think this is Dotted Border / Scarce Umber - would have been good to rear