August 2019

Meadows are becoming very popular, if not to say fashionable at the moment.  A recent Gardener’s World special program was all about meadows.  They highlighted the 97% decline in wildflower meadows since 1945 due to changes in farming practices to feed the baby-boom generation.  The decline in wildflower meadows is associated with an equally dramatic, though slightly delayed decline in insect species.  The programme went on to suggest ways of incorporating wildflowers into your garden as well as planting cultivated flower meadows.  Another highlight was the concept of ‘Coronation Meadows’.  This was introduced by the Prince of Wales to try and slow the decline in pollinating insects.  It is a concept worth exploring as there is a coronation meadow in each county that can provide seeds for recipient meadows in the same county.  Our local coronation meadow is Coach Road Field in Battle.

We have had our own wildflower meadow for several years now (if you can call 20 or so square metres a meadow) which changes not only through the seasons, but also year by year.  It was created by simply letting the grass grow.  Species like bird’s-foot trefoil, red clover, common vetch and self-heal appeared almost immediately, but others like ox-eye daisy and wild carrot have taken longer to get established.  We have tried adding various species to improve the variety but only ox-eye daisy and snake’s-head fritillaries have taken with any degree of success.  Gradually, however, the areas that have no flowers are shrinking as the grass is pushed back.

Wild Carrot - Daucus carota

At the moment wild carrot and ox-eye daisies are dominant – wild carrot being perhaps the most attractive species with its lacy white heads.  It is the heads that gave it the name Queen Anne’s Lace when it was introduced to the USA  (Though there is some uncertainty about which Queen Anne is so honoured – Denmark also had one).  The red spot in the centre of the head supposedly represents a drop of blood from when Queen Anne pricked her finger lace-making.  The wild carrot exemplifies the purpose of the meadow in attracting lots of insects.  We get lots of pollen beetles (tiny black beetles that can be found on almost any flower), iridescent green ‘thick-kneed’ beetles, and soldier beetles (probably Cantharis species, otherwise known as bonking beetles!)  I have also seen solitary wasps, weevils, butterflies and many different flies.  Because the individual florets are small, the nectar is more easily accessible and doesn’t need the specialized tongues of bees and butterflies so those species tend to go to other flowers where there is more nectar but it is only available if you have the right equipment. 

Sharp-tailed Beetle, so far unidentified

Among the more interesting finds on the wild carrot were a number of sharp-tailed beetles that have so far resisted attempts at identification and the photos have by now hopefully reached the Natural History Museum.  They could be rare – watch this space.  Another find was Misumena vatia – please excuse the scientific name, as far as I know it doesn’t have a common name.  This is an ambush spider that is almost pure white, though it can be pale pink or pale green depending on the colour of the flowers that it sits on. 

Female Misumena vatia with prey and mate

As the word ‘ambush’ suggests it sits on flowers blending into the background waiting for pollinating insects to come along which it then jumps on – no web required.  The spider that I saw was a large female that had just sunk its fangs into a large blow-fly.  On top of the spider’s abdomen was another spider, a male Misumena vatia that was clearly using the fact that the female had her mouth full for a safe mating opportunity – a completely new meaning for ‘safe sex’!

The wild carrot plant – Daucus carota – has leaves and roots that smell faintly of carrots, and the young roots are edible and taste of carrot.  This is not so surprising because one of the cultivars of wild carrot – the subspecies D. carota sativus - is the carrot you can get in any supermarket and which also attracts insects – especially the carrot root fly.

Daucus carota sativus - the humble carrot, variety unknown - from the Coop.

July 2019

Yesterday I saw two swifts.  It is only the second time I have seen swifts this year, the worst year since we moved here.  Swifts are in serious decline as highlighted on BBC’s Springwatch recently.  They suggested that part of the reason for the lack of swifts this year has been bad weather in Spain that has delayed or interrupted their migration.  Another reason for their decline is the dramatic decline in the number of insects.  Swifts feed exclusively on flying insects and stay on the wing throughout their lives except for brief periods to mate and nest.  Martins and swallows also feed on the wing, but they do land to roost as well as to nest and mate.  Their ability to land may also allow them to pick off crawling insects to supplement their diet, something swifts cannot do as they have no claws that would enable them to grip a perch.  Another difference is that swifts tend to fly much higher than swallows or martins when they feed but it’s debatable whether that is a factor in their decline or not.  It will be a sad summer when swifts no longer reach the UK, and that summer doesn’t seem that far away.

I found out something interesting about the bee-wolf (Philanthus triangulum) recently.  The bee-wolf is a solitary wasp – solitary because it doesn’t form a colony like the more familiar social wasps that will ruin your picnic – and is one of a group called digger wasps.  It digs a long burrow in soft sandy soil and will dig brood chambers at intervals along the burrow.  It then goes out and catches honeybees which it paralyzes with its sting and then carries the bee back to its burrow.  It will do that three or four times for each chamber and will then lay a single egg in each chamber.  Note that the honeybees are only paralyzed, not dead because they stay fresher like that.  The egg then hatches and the larva feeds on the paralyzed honeybees – yes, it’s gruesome!  It has been estimated that a typical beewolf burrow will contain up to a hundred honeybees.

Bee-wolf - Philanthus triangulum

I have been reading about the relationships between insects and bacteria recently and how insects use bacteria to aid digestion, and about how bacteria affect the behaviour of insects.  The interesting thing about the bee-wolf is that it can exude a white paste from its antennae which contains a particular strain of bacteria.  The bee-wolf daubs this paste onto the roof of the burrow.  This has two purposes – firstly, it shows which way is out when the next generation emerges from their chambers the following year, and secondly, it passes on that same strain of bacteria to the next generation for daubing on to their burrows.  Bee-wolves are active from July to September and should you wish to see them in action, I can recommend the RSPB Nature Reserve at Dungeness.  There is an area of sandy soil on the right of the track about 50 yards before the visitor’s centre where you can see bee-wolves carrying their prey to their burrows and you can marvel at their strength and their gruesome lifestyle.  Don’t worry about being stung – they are only interested in bees.

Bee-wolf with prey -  you can just see the outline of the bee below the wasp

Incidentally, the bee-wolf used to be a rarity in Britain until the late 1980’s.  They have since expanded their range considerably and are now commonly seen throughout the south and east of the country.  They are common in continental Europe and are known to expand their range during long hot summers.  I guess I could bang on about global warming now but I won’t – maybe next month.