White-letter Hairstreak and Ectoedemia minimella

There were a few sunny spells this morning and, during one of them, I was lucky enough to be able to find this White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album) on a local elm.
I also received a letter from Harry Beaumont today:
A specimen from my excursion to Timble Ings, last Saturday, turns out to be Ectoedemia minimella rather than the Stigmella sp. that I had suspected.

Assembling Northern Eggars

On Friday 3rd June 2011 I discovered that a female Northern Eggar had emerged from a caterpillar found on Barden Moor last year.
Having read about "assembling" I took the moth up to Baildon Moor in the late afternoon sunshine and placed it carefully on a clump of bilberry.
Within a couple of minutes, a male arrived swiftly followed by another, and then another.
The two surplus males soon did the decent thing and allowed the first arrival to complete his courtship.

Another one bites the dust............

Everything seemed to be going well for this little caterpillar of the Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria) found on an Ash near Grassington.
A cocoon has now appeared which belongs to one of the Microgastrinae group of parasitoids.
It is likely to be a Glyptapantales sp. or perhaps Protapantales with Cotesia a fainter possibility.
Hopefully time will tell.