Look at my furry balls ....

.... of fruit ....

I wonder if anyone remembers me commenting that we had a Peach sapling, flowering well but apparently not being pollenated. Well, either it was or my intentional dabbling with a paintbrush was entirely fruitful. What I completely forgot about in the intervening weeks was that lots of leaves were affected by a leaf-curl issue - a quick internet search reveals the obvious - Peach Tree Leaf-curl caused by Taphrina deformans.

Yesterday after work, I managed to head down the lane for a brief bit of peace after a week of intense heat in the factory and early-mornings empty the trap. I had intended to swish about umbelifers with my net but they'd pretty much all gone to seed. I swept through grasses ending up with masses of grass seeds and grass-loving bugs, and I also swept some Knapweed and Creeping Thistle, both of which yielded similar-looking large dark aphids. I tend to ignore aphids unless I am sure that they are on a particular host plant, and both of these were too coincidental to check out. Bugger me, there is a Large Knapweed Aphid (Uroleucon jaceae) and a Large Thistle Aphid (Uroleucon cirsii). I had a couple potted which matched, though I have not bothered trying to photograph them. I pointed the camera at a couple of bits, nothing exciting ....

Ruby Tiger on it's favoured ragwort

Closterotomus norwegicus

24-spot Ladybird

Other new news came this evening - the Longitarsus sp. I swept from Viper's Bugloss has been identified as Longitarsus exoletus.

Today has been a mix of heavy rain this morning and warm sunshine this afternoon, constantly accompanied by blustery wind. A bit frustrating that the first two weekends after going back to work properly look set to be not good for getting out. Still, at least the fish tank got cleaned out for a change. I'm hoping I might get a chance tomorrow, but my targets were odonata and a couple of  butterflies that are unlikely to enjoy dull windy weather!

A brief spell in the garden this afternoon with the camera had me chasing a couple of hoverflies around. That I managed to get any shot of this one in the wind was some feat!

Scaeva pyrastri - one of two knocking about on Spirea

Still a couple of Merodon equestris knocking about, and a Platycheirus sp. that I've not checked out yet.

Daily Disco

I swear too much. Generally. The ongoing farce at No. 10 is just a minor catalyst. It may be Toryrettes.

After a few windy days, and then settling out to warmth and sunshine I should have been out somewhere, but for various reasons I've not had a chance. This afternoon I loitered in the garden with intent though.

I noticed a yesterday that occasional small bees, wasps and sawflies were sort of searching holes, albeit in competely the wrong place. We have concrete posts between the fence panels, and the concrete cast has left all sort of sized 'craters' which are not deep enough for anything to nest in, but the prospective nesters and parasites don't know until they check. Today I noticed a couple again, and once armed with camera I pointed it at one to see if there was any discernible details ....

Well, blow me it's one of the yellow-faced bees. Absolutely no idea which one from these shots, so I decided to try and pot the next one I saw. I did. It was a small wasp. Next one, a small bee with no yellow markings. Next one was bigger, and knowing what it probably was I got the camera on it before managing to secure it ....

Gasteruption jaculator sl

I'll keep my eye on this new-found source of interest this week.

Also in the garden today, briefly, were two gaudy beetles. The Wasp Beetle got away, this one sat on the fence for a few seconds ..

Swollen-thighed Beetle

I've also got a couple of sawflies and small hoverflies to look at, plus the garden was again a bit of a hot-spot for Merodon equestris, with at least four invovled (three males, one female - on mating noted).

Female left

Two similar males, note differences in wing-wear

The moth trap has been ticking along, though nothing stand-out.

Lychnis

Vine's Rustic

White-spotted Pug

Annoying the the right antennae was stuck under the forewing

Silver Y

Another annoying moth-photo result - wonky foreleg

Middle-barred Minor

May Highflyer

Peppered Moth

Finally, we've been getting one or two Hedgehogs in the garden, seen infrequently. This evening, well before it was even dusky, this one came trundling up the side of the shed and tried to hide behind a plant pot when it heard me coming ....

Whilst roasting our chicken this evening, I was listening to Sophie Ellis-Bextor on Radio 2 doing a kitchen disco for an hour. Nothing too cheesy, proper 70's club stuff in the main. I am not ashamed to say it was just what was needed - something bouncy and airy and free of the immense weight of bullshit I'd listened to in the preceding couple of hours.

Half-right

Busy day, and been out for a walk this evening which will have to wait. But for now a bit of a catch up .....

The Empis sp. I swept on Saturday at Countesthorpe Meadows is Empis scutellata - only x3 VC55 records prior to this year, though I see at least one recorded a week or so before mine. A new one for me.

Axilliary excision of forewing 90deg to obtuse, not acute

First antennal segment not clearly longer than second

Back to the sawflies I posted yesterday. Today I re-joined the British and Irish Sawflies Fb group - it's one (like hoverflies, hemiptera ..) that I was a member of and left last year when I found my timeline being swamped at a time when I was not bothered/able to enjoy anything. Anyway I posted the photos with the proposed IDs except for one that I revised completely after finding a nicely illustrated and helpful guide to British Tenthredo spp.

My Tenthredo arcuata sl was revised to Tenthredo zona and confirmed as such - great stuff. New for me and possibly VC55 (unknown as yet). Tenthredo mesomela confirmed - again new for me. The Macrophya annulata is definitely Macrophya, needs checking further to confirm M. annulata or M. blanda but half way there. And then the others were way off ... The 'Rhadogaster viridis' is actually one of two Cytisogaster spp, probably Cytisogaster chambersi, and the 'Aglaostigma fulvipes' is probably a Tenthredopsis sp. So starting from scratch I got 1.5/5 right at the first go, and after revising one before asking I was at 2.5/5 right. I'll take that! I'll update the post accordingly.

Here's the small fly I mentioned from KQ on Sunday ...

I think this is one of the pair Limnia unguicornis/paludicola (not a Dichetophora sp.). I'll see if I can get a view on Uk Diptera but I expect the answer will be to check the genitalia.

And I also mentioned this bug from KQ ..

Denticulate Leatherbug

One I would like confirming is this aphid from the garden ...

I found loads of these along the mid-ribs on the underside of leaves on my oak sapling. I am sure it is Thelaxes dryophila.

Here's a couple of other bits from the garden.

My Snake's-head Fritillaries are taking a grubby battering from Scarlet Lily Beetles

and I finally caught a Merodon equestris on the camera sensor today ..

The garden moth trap has been picking up, so I have a few bits to share separately and I'm hoping it will properly ramp up later in the week.

"Oh, people said that you were easily led

And they were half-right"