Elephant Hawk Moth Larva

Peter Hunt sent in this cracking shot of an Elephant hawk moth larva. Apparently marooned a couple of inches above the waterline on a pond plant, he moved it to a Fuschia. Caterpillars generally only eat a few specific plants and that’s on the list, so Peter probably gave it a good chance.

Thanks for sending it in!


Red Garden Spider

I saw this very large Garden spider (Araneus diadematus) crawling slowly up my porch – and latterly on the hessian bag where I tempted it for a better photograph in the light. It was a very large example and strikingly coloured a deep red with dark brown legs and ruby red abdomen. I’ve never seen a red variation before and marvelled at it for some time. I had to check online to reassure myself it really was just a standard Garden spider and I hadn’t discovered a new species. What a magnificent brute!

RedGardenSpider2

Massive Garden spider

It’s been a little while, so time for an update! Summer lingered late into September, and I even found myself eating lunch al fresco in October last weekend. Autumn has finally landed however, with plenty of wet and wild weather to knock the leaves off the trees.

  • Garden spiders are everywhere, stringing their massive webs across paths, waiting to trap unsuspecting arachnophobes. The one pictured above was on the front my recycling bin and was about the largest I’ve ever seen. Absolutely massive!
  • One evening I watched a smaller male Garden spider tentatively approaching a female in order to mate. She wasn’t keen and batted him away a few times before he managed to get in there. I might post the video sometime soon.
  • I’ve run into a few foxes recently, in my own garden and whilst out running. I’m always a little nervous when only a couple of yards from a fox – you don’t know what they might do, especially if they’re desperately hungry, ill (usually mange) or feel threatened. Usually it’s “skulk away”.
  • Such a long hot dry period, and yet when the rains come, the slugs and snails are there right away in incredible numbers. I could imagine people of days gone by imagining that they actually come down in the rain itself overnight.