Cassida viridis Returns & Tetrix subulata Arrives
e6filmuser
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This topic features an unexpected sighting of an adult Green Tortoise Beetle at the end of summer and, on the same day, the first ever sighting of a tiny member of an, otherwise easily seen, Order of insects, the Orthoptera.
1) Green Tortoise Beetle Cassida viridis
Adults are seen early in the summer, followed by larvae (the pupae rarely found). That is usually all, until the next year. The finding of an adult sunning itself on a rhubarb leaf in September was unusual enough to document, both for the timing and for the deviation from its usual choice, the leaves of nearby balm.
2) Slender Ground-hopper Tetrix subulata male
I had seen a Darter Dragonfly so fetched my camera, pausing to fit a second flash gun, after a recent experience (with a sawfly).
Of course, when I returned, the dragon had gone. As I scanned the vegetation for insects, I became aware of some tiny movement on some white-painted wood near ground level. I saw what I was fairly sure was a micro moth, a few mm long.
As it was an unusual dark colour, I decided to take a frame or two. I racked the lens out to maximum magnification, FOV 17mm wide. I bent down, then knelt. I framed and focused.
What was I seeing? It looked like a +/- mature short-horned grasshopper but a tiny fraction of the size, of even a small nymph. It was about 11mm long, excluding the antennae. The surprise may have cost me my best shot but I got one usable one before the hopper did what they do best.
It took a bit of research to identify it as a Ground-hopper (Tetrigidae), a group I had never heard of and certainly not encountered. Their main feature, apart from their size, is that the pronotum extends back over the abdomen. They are good swimmers, even underwater. They feed on algae and suchlike.
They like dampness but also like sunlight. Males wander widely, looking for females, whereas females don’t travel far. At this time of the year they climb up low plants to bask in the sun. They may be found in some numbers by riversides, etc.
There are two rather similar species, each with a number of colour forms, including this one. In the UK, one only lives fairly close to the coast, whereas this one is also found inland as far north as Yorkshire.
This species is “common” throughout temperate parts of the northern hemisphere.
This individual looks like a mature male. Two sources differ: one says the adults die out in the summer, only nymphs and immature adults going through the winter: the other says that the adults may also overwinter.
I must look for more in local waterside habitats.
Harold
1) Green Tortoise Beetle Cassida viridis
Adults are seen early in the summer, followed by larvae (the pupae rarely found). That is usually all, until the next year. The finding of an adult sunning itself on a rhubarb leaf in September was unusual enough to document, both for the timing and for the deviation from its usual choice, the leaves of nearby balm.
2) Slender Ground-hopper Tetrix subulata male
I had seen a Darter Dragonfly so fetched my camera, pausing to fit a second flash gun, after a recent experience (with a sawfly).
Of course, when I returned, the dragon had gone. As I scanned the vegetation for insects, I became aware of some tiny movement on some white-painted wood near ground level. I saw what I was fairly sure was a micro moth, a few mm long.
As it was an unusual dark colour, I decided to take a frame or two. I racked the lens out to maximum magnification, FOV 17mm wide. I bent down, then knelt. I framed and focused.
What was I seeing? It looked like a +/- mature short-horned grasshopper but a tiny fraction of the size, of even a small nymph. It was about 11mm long, excluding the antennae. The surprise may have cost me my best shot but I got one usable one before the hopper did what they do best.
It took a bit of research to identify it as a Ground-hopper (Tetrigidae), a group I had never heard of and certainly not encountered. Their main feature, apart from their size, is that the pronotum extends back over the abdomen. They are good swimmers, even underwater. They feed on algae and suchlike.
They like dampness but also like sunlight. Males wander widely, looking for females, whereas females don’t travel far. At this time of the year they climb up low plants to bask in the sun. They may be found in some numbers by riversides, etc.
There are two rather similar species, each with a number of colour forms, including this one. In the UK, one only lives fairly close to the coast, whereas this one is also found inland as far north as Yorkshire.
This species is “common” throughout temperate parts of the northern hemisphere.
This individual looks like a mature male. Two sources differ: one says the adults die out in the summer, only nymphs and immature adults going through the winter: the other says that the adults may also overwinter.
I must look for more in local waterside habitats.
Harold
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