They're back......!

In the "Big Freeze" of February 2012, we had overnight temperatures of less than minus 18 degrees Centigrade for around a week...
one morning we awoke to -21°C....
in fact, during that week the temperature never rose above -6°C.

It killed all our overwintering vegetables...
and it killed wildlife, lots of wildlife....
amongst them our Wasp Spiders <i>Argiope bruennichi</i>.

There were none to be seen in 2013 either...
nor in 2014! We'd effectively lost a species from the meadow.
Our meadow is an island in a sea of agriculture...
there are no natural corridors for things like the larger spiders....
except where the trees happen to touch.
The little spiders parachute in on silk.

At the lake end, the ground is kept mown, either by machine or sheep...
I felt that we'd never have this rather magnificent spider back.
Then Susan, of "Days on the Claise"....
when I went to mow her verger with Betsy....
happened to mention that there were plenty in the long vegetation...
so I "spidernapped" four large females....
and released them in one small area of our meadow.

Sunday evening I was having a walk around and....
as I had done on previous occasions....
paid special attention to where I had released the kidnapped madames...
and, hey....
there were six webs visible from the path...
including one occupied by a male.

A male Wasp Spider...
much smaller and less highly marked than the dame!

A female wasp Spider....
highly marked...
yet difficult to find!

They're back... they're back... the Argie-Bargies are back!
Hopefully Susan will allow me to do a further spidernap later this year.


Posted by Tim

A few evenings spent Bug Hunting [July 25th to August 4th 2010]

I've spent a few evenings, after working on the house, bug-hunting in the meadow... which I have now named Argiopea!
You will see from these pictures that the magnificent orb-web spider Argiope bruennichi is present.... actually very present... two per square metre, often more.
The ones photographed here didn't have the loveley zig-zags [stabilimentum] above and below the centre that make the webs so easily identified... but I saw a great one 29th July - but didn't have the camera with me... I'll go hunting again tomorrow if this weather holds!
If I finish writing this before I've captured the classic web pic, I'll put it up later.
The first picture shows the yellow, black and white stripes clearly

.
The second shows the spinnerets very clearly.

The last is Argiope stuck into a freshly wrapped white butterfly [probably Small White - Artogeia rapae]

These pictures can also be seen on flickr.

Other insects seen on the 'bug-hunt' were numerous Damselflies including a probable White-legged Damselfly [Platycnemis penepipes], zillions of grasshoppers and bush-crickets, grass moths, mantis nymphs, other spiders, including Araniella cucurbitina [shown here trying to subdue a Green Lacewing - Chrysopa 7-punctata] and bugs, including Graphosoma italicum with its gaudy red and black design.

 Araniella cucurbitina

   Graphosoma italicum

The 'Butterfly Bush' [also called the same in France - "L'arbre des pappilons"] has had its fair share of visitors too!
Around lunchtime, just as the sun hits the Buddleia full on, we get the Broad-bordered Bee Hawkmoths [Hemaris fuciformis] visiting... and then a steady stream of species from then on, until the sun has moved from the flowers.

In the evening the moths go to it and we even had a brown Great Green Bush-cricket [Tettigonia viridissima] having a munch on the flowers.

The evening Simon & Susan from Days on the Claise came over we had Small Pincertail [Onychogomphus forcipatus] patrolling a territory on the bief and both the Demoiselles by the bridge.
There were also male Western Spectres [Boyeria irene] patrolling other stretches and a female of the same species hunting under the eaves.
Finally... and quite spectacular... was a very large hoverfly. A very good hornet mimic, I would have dismissed it as such if Susan hadn't pointed it out as Milesia crabroniformis, the largest European hoverfly.
I've put two pictures up of this as one of them gives it scale by showing a Greenbottle [Lucilia caesar].