Farming Friends

Latin Name: Lasiommata megera

Description: The Wall Brown butterfly has orange wings with a brown border and brown markings on the wing. Near the tip of the forewings the Wall Brown has a prominent eye spot with an arc of 3 or 4 eye spots on the hindwing. The underside of the wing is a brown colour which acts as a camouflage when resting on rocks and stones. (more…)

Butterflies Wall Brown

I have spotted the cinnabar moth twice in the last few weeks. My first sighting of this beautiful moth was in my garden. I was attracted to the bright red wings that flashed by, although at the time I did not know whether it was a moth or a butterfly. Unfortunately on this occasion I did not have my camera and therefore missed my photo opportunity.

On Friday my neice and nephew visited the farm and as we were strolling through the paddock after a hunt for guinea fowl eggs, my neice spotted a small red butterfly. The three of us peered at the insect and I realised it was the same one I had seen before. This one fluttered along the field, stopping on occasions so that we could get a better look. On closer inspection we realised that this insect didn’t have just red wings, they were in fact mainly black with a hint of bright red, that glistened and caught our eyes as it flew about in the sunshine.

I told my neice and nephew that I didn’t know what the insect was called or if in fact it was a butterfly or a moth but I said I would try to find out. After a difficult trawl of the search engines I managed to find a good photograph of the insect and I identified it as the cinnabar moth. So this post is dedicated to my neice and nephew for spurring me on to identify yet another amazing creature. I am yet to get a photograph - but watch this space as I venture back to the paddock to capture the cinnabar moth on camera.

Cinnabar Moth Farm Wildlife Moths

Latin Name: Cepaea nemoralis

Description: The brown lipped banded snail has a yellow, pink or brown shell with dark brown spiral bands on it.There are usually never more than five bands on the shell but the number of bands can vary. The shell has a brown band on the lip of the shell and the body of the snail is dark grey. The size of the shell is approximately 20-30mm across.

Habitat: This snail lives in woodland, hedgerows, orchards, grassland and scrubland, but is less common in the garden.

Food: The brown lipped banded snail eats grass and other herbaceous plants.

Distribution: This snail can be found in Central, Southern and some parts of Northern Europe but not to the far North.

Did You Know?

• A similar species to the brown lipped banded snail is the white lipped banded snail.

Snails

Latin Name: Helix aspersa.

Description: The garden snail is a mollusc since it is an invertebrate (no backbone) which has a soft unsegmented body with an external shell. It has a soft grey coloured body, with two pairs of tentacles on it’s head (the larger pair have eyes on their tips and the smaller pair pick up smells) and a hard spiral-patterned shell on it’s back. The shell is yellow-brown in colour with brown-black stripes on it. The brown colouring is used to help camouflage the snail in woodland areas and the pattern helps the snail to blend in with vegetation. When garden snails move about they leave a silvery trail of mucus which helps them to travel over different surfaces more easily as the mucus reduces friction.

Size: The shell on a garden snail is approximately 40mm wide and 35mm high. The slug-like body is between 80-90mm long.

Habitat: Garden snails can be found living in a variety of habitats from gardens, hedgerows, woods and parks to coastal areas and chalk quarries. They need calcium for their shell and therefore like to live in areas where the soil is rich in calcium. The garden snail likes to inhabit dark, damp and well hidden areas.

Food: The garden snail likes to eat the leaves of many plants and vegetables. It will also eat rotting fruit, lichen and algae.

Breeding: The garden snail is a hermaphrodite and has both male and female sexual organs. It can produce both sperm and eggs, although it does need another snail in order to reproduce. Snails impregnate each other by pressing their bodies together and exchanging sperm. The breeding season is through the Spring and Summer months. Garden snails lay 20-50 eggs per batch which they bury in the ground. The eggs take approximately 3-4 weeks to hatch out. The hatchlings have soft and transparent shells.

Distribution: The garden snail is very common in Britain and Europe. It has also been introduced to North and South America, Australia and Southern Africa.

Months Seen: The garden snail hibernates in the Winter and spends hot and dry days in an inactive and dormant state. When this happens the snail withdraws into it’s shell and secretes one or more layers of mucus which hardens over the entrance of the shell to form a protective seal. During hibernation the snails tend to gather in large numbers. During the day the garden snail withdraws inside it’s shell and although they can sometimes be seen moving about in the day, the garden snail is active mainly at night.

Did You Know?

• This snail is edible and is sold as escargot.
• The garden snail is now raised on special snail farms for the catering industry.
• The garden snail has a life span of about 2-3 years, although they can live longer.
• Birds are a predator of the garden snail, particularly the songthrush.
• If threatened by a predator, the snail produces a frothy substance as a defence.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

 

 

 

 

 

Snails

 

 

 

 

Latin Name: Coccinella 7 punctata (7 spotted ladybird)

 

 

 

 

Description: Ladybirds are small, brightly coloured beetles. The black flying wings are covered by a hard shelled wing cover (elytra) that can be red, yellow or orange with black spots or more rarely stripes on it. They are approximately 1.2 - 9mm in length. Ladybirds have six legs.

 

 

 

 

Habitat: Ladybirds are found in gardens, forests, nettlebeds, scrubland and farmland.

Food: Most ladybirds feed exclusively on aphids (greenfly and blackfly). Some ladybirds will feed on red spider mites.

 

 

 

 

Distribution: Ladybirds are found all over the world but are found in larger numbers in Europe and North America. They can be seen at any time of the year, although they do hibernate in the Winter and are therefore more often seen in the Summer months.

Eggs: Ladybird eggs are orange in colour and depending on the species, the number of eggs can vary from 3 to 300. The eggs are laid in the Spring and Summer months and hatch after 5-8 days. Ladybirds lay their eggs close to a colony of aphids.

 

 

 

 

Did You Know?

• There are many species of ladybird.
• Ladybirds are viewed as a friend of the farmer and gardener because they eat aphids which feed on crops and vegetables.
• Recently ladybird farms have been set up in Britain to encourage farmers and gardeners to use ladybirds as a form of pest control.
• With the use of pesticides in farming, ladybird numbers have declined.
• The leg joints on a ladybird provide a method of defence when attacked by birds and other animals. When attacked the leg joints bleed and the blood contains an unpleasant substance called coccinelline which repels the attacker. This is called reflex-bleeding.
• The brightly coloured wing shell helps to protect the ladybird by warning off predators.
• The life span of a ladybird is about a year.
• Ladybirds are often found in large numbers and they hibernate in groups.

 

 

 

 

I saw my first ladybirds of 2007 in early March when I was putting new straw into my poultry hut. Two ladybirds emerged from the straw and tried to escape across the floor. I managed to capture their escape with my camera.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

 

 

 

 

 

Ladybirds

Latin Name: Inachis io

Description: Peacock butterflies have 4 large eye spots on the upperside of a reddy / brown wing. The underside of the wing is almost black.

Size: Wingspan is approximately 60 to 75mm.

Habitat: Peacock butterflies can be found in meadows, country lanes, farmland, roadside verges, woodland and gardens.

Food: They like to feed on nectar from stinging nettles and hops.

Distribution: These butterflies are found throughout the UK and are a common sight, although they are not as common in Scotland.

Months Seen: Peacocks are normally seen from March to September, although they can sometimes be seen as early as February and as late as October.

Did You Know?

• Peacock butterflies like to hibernate in dark places like garden sheds, hollow trees, woodstacks or farm buildings.
• The female butterfly lays her green eggs on nettle leaves.
• They lay eggs in batches of a few hundred and up to 500.
• The eggs hatch after about 10 days.
• Peacock butterflies only have one brood per year.
• The caterpillar is black and spiky.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

 

 

 

Butterflies Insects Peacock Butterfly

Latin Name: Polygonia c-album.

Description: Wings are orange / brown in colour, with serrated edges and brown and black markings. Underside of wings are a dull brown in colour with a silvery / white C shaped marking.

Size: Wingspan is approximately 45 - 64mm.

Habitat: Can be found in woodlands, country lanes, gardens, grassland and coastal regions.

Food: Nectar from common nettle, brambles, blackthorn, elms, hops and willows.

Distribution: Common in Southern Britain.

Months Seen: April - November, but can be as early as February and March.

Did You Know?

• They produce 2 generations of Comma butterfies each year.
• In February and March the butterflies awaken from hibernation.
• Eggs are laid on the leaves of the plants.
• The caterpillars hatch after about 15 days.
• The caterpillars are black and white.
• The butterflies hibernate from November to February-March time.
• They hibernate on branches and look like dead leaves.
• The Comma butterfly was common in the 18th Century but became rare between 1850 and 1920.

Butterflies