On Saturday 27 May I led an outing for the Association de botanique et de mycologie de Sainte Maure de Touraine to La Cabane, Bossay sur Claise. This outing was scheduled for last year, but it was so hot and dry at the time I cancelled the outing. I was quite worried that no one would turn up, but in the end there were 15 people, which was perfect. Luckily they included expert botanist Dominique, and good all round naturalist Corinne. Neither of them had been to the site before, so they were very keen to see what was there, and why it has recently been declared as a Zone d'Interet Ecologique, Faunistique et Floristique (ZNIEFF).
La Cabane is the only site in Indre et Loire where Tongue Orchids Serapias lingua (Fr. Sérapias langue) are present. There are hundreds, if not thousands on the site.
Tongue orchids.
Greater Butterfly Orchid Platanthera chlorantha (Fr. Platanthère à fleurs verdâtres).
Sulphur Clover Trifolium ochroleucon (Fr. Trèfle jaunâtre).
The habitat at La Cabane.
Drone Fly Eristalis tenax (Fr. Eristale gluante), male, on Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare (Fr. Marguerite). You can see the bands of hairs on his eyes.
Peletaria iavana, a parasitic fly, on Oxeye Daisy. You can see the 'Peletaria bristles' on its cheek and the middle antennae segment is 'yellow' which is the diagnostic for this species.
Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella (Fr. Agrion jouvencelle).
The sawfly Macrophya montana (Fr. Mouche-à-scie à trois bandes jaunes) on Corky Fruited Water Dropwort Oenanthe pimpinelloides (Fr. Œnanthe faux boucage).
A tiny male dance fly Empis sp in a Narrow-leaved Flax Linum tenuifolium (Fr. Lin à feuilles étroites).
Naturalists at work.
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