White Satin Moth stowaways

This little feller is an over-wintering caterpillar of the White Satin Moth (Leucoma salicis). I found a couple of these amongst a batch of braconid parasitoid pupal cases collected from the poplar trees in Queen's Gardens, Hull. I have never seen the adult of this species even though it seems to be expanding its range across the county.

I am grateful to Dean's Daily Diary for alerting me to the fact that Colt's-foot (Tussilago farfara)is beginning to flower.
This was one of several found at Timble Ings yesterday. I had a quick look for the feeding signs of Triangle Plume larvae but these are probably still in hibernation.

Dotted Border

My second moth of the year is a bit of a cheat, it being this Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria) that has emerged from a caterpillar collected last year at Ben Rhydding Gravel Pits.

My first moth was (appropriately enough) an Early Moth (Theria primaria) attracted to the lighted window of Hollins Hall Hotel on 23rd January 2012.

Parasitic Hymenoptera

This Cryptine Ichneumon is Charitopes carri (Roman) and was one of several seen exploring the crevices of a Sycamore trunk during the last week of October.
It will have been looking to oviposit into the cocoons of lacewing larvae.
There are some excellent parasitoid photographs on Charlie Streets's Moths of Calderdale site.

Pnigalio mediterraneus

After reading an article in British Wildlife entitled "The Horse-chestnut Leaf-miner and its parasitoids", I decided to investigate what was happening on my own tree.
Preliminary results have led me to believe that I have a healthy population of Cameraria ohridella with assosciated populations of the chalcid parasitoids Sympiesis sericeicornis and Pnigalio mediterraneus.
The insect in the photograph is a female Pnigalio mediterraneus.

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.