Thursday 5th. July 2012

Firstly , a quick catch up on yesterday , when I spent two and a half hours searching the likely glades that would hold the butterflies that Kent Butterfly Conservation members would hope to see at High Elms on the 22nd . Those species were White Admiral , Silver-washed Fritillary and White-lettered Hairstreak , and I did not find a single specimen of any of those species . In fact , I only found 6 species , Skipper (S4,L3) ,Speckled Wood (2) , Meadow Brown (35+) , Ringlet (7) and a single Comma , the first seen for weeks . With things this bad this year , what is going to happen next ? One

species that will probably show up is Meadow Brown , after finding a mating pair in one of the glades . Other insects are in short supply too , but a few Green-legged Sawflies / Tenthredo

mesomelas were recorded .
This morning , following 'information recieved' , I had arranged to meet Kent Butterfly Recorder Mike Easterbrook , to see a plant that I had never seen before , on a Local Nature Reserve , Ditton Quarry , not far from East Malling . We went straight for the Yellow Bartsia / Parentucellia viscosa , 

and thankfully it was still there , as Mike had only found a single specimen . Like it's much more common Red relation , it is  semi-parasitic , and like it's relation , the flower is two lipped  the upper

lip hooded and the lower , 3-lobed . Truly a special little plant , and as I say , a first for me . We did have a good look around the area that it was found in , but did not find any others . But , whilst doing so , I spotted a small black and yellow insect , flying low amongst the vegetation . It looked different , so I kept an eye on it , and eventually it settled . I thought that it might be a Belted

Clearwing moth , but couldn't go any further . When I got home and did a search , it turns out to be a Six-belted Clearwing moth , the six referring to the six yellow , or maybe the black , belts around it's abdomen . Mike then gave me a tour of the reserve , a tour that I really enjoyed , and I must say that

the site is a credit to Mike and the other volunteers that give their time . This was one area , ablaze with Musk Mallow , Viper's Bugloss and Dark Mullein , and not far away were Bee and Pyramidal

Orchids . The Dark Mullein / Verbascum nigrum , being particularly striking , with it's yellow flowers , purple hairs on it's stamens and each stamen topped off with orange . One of the smaller

flowers found was Biting Stonecrop /  Sedum acre , producing a yellow cushion on the ground . Along with many more species found , one with a 'Common' part to it's name , but I don't see it all

that often , Common Cudweed / Filago vulgaris . After a most enjoyable look around the site , which like other sites did not produce the expected numbers of butterflies , a big thank you to Mike for the tour and the Yellow Bartsia , and I was on my way to Dene Park near Warren's Pittswood , to see if I could find an early Purple Emperor . Unfortunately the cloud cover was much thicker on my arrival , and it was cooler than the quarry too , but I set off towards the master tree . At the first triangle , another chap with a camera was searching the Brambles , 'any luck ?' I asked . As we chatted , he obviously recognised me , and he turned out to be fellow enthusiast Mike Hook , whom I had met once down at Oare Marshes . We were both there for the same species , so we teamed up to go in search of them . The expected Meadow Browns , Ringlets , Large Skippers and Commas were

showing in small numbers , before the first target species appeared , White Admiral , but they too were is small numbers , with not more than 7/8 specimens seen , and they were mostly flying high amongst the trees . The area around the PE 'master tree' was very quiet as was the area where Mike had had a male on the ground , last year I believe . I thought I had seen a SWF at one point , but , with not getting another sighting , could not be sure of the ID . I also had a butterfly fly out of the master tree , but couldn't be sure of the species as it flew out of view almost immediately . Things were not going to plan , but we kept on the move hoping that things would change . Of interest , one

of the most common species on the wing were the hoverfly Volucella pellucens , the one with the white cummerbund . We were joined at lunchtime back at the cars by a pristine looking Red Admiral ,

but that wasn't what we were looking for . The cloud did start to break up after lunch , but it sadly didn't make any difference to the sightings , in fact the seemed to go down as the temperature went up . Whilst searching the Brambles , Mike came across this Nursery Web Spider , presumably a

female , clutching her precious egg sack . I left Mike searching the grassy area around the car park , hope you turned up something good . It was good to meet up and catch up , and thanks for your company on the visit , just a shame that two sets of eyes still couldn't produce a PE .
And finally , three specimens that I could do with some help with please .

Very small , could be a nymph of a Pied Shieldbug ? After more digging , still sticking with original ID .

Also very small , too small to be a Ladybird . Even though only about 2mm , I have to agree with Phil / Sharp by Nature with his ID of  24-spot Ladybird / Subcoccinella 24-punctata . Cheers Phil .

Possibly of the Ichneumon family ? With more digging on this one too , still staying with Ichneumons , possibly Netelia sp , but as always , stand to be corrected on any of these .