Insects on the Eperon

 On a recent outing to the Eperon de Murat nature reserve I saw a range of insects.

Forest Fly Hippobosca equina (Fr. Mouche plate). 

A blood feeding parasite of bovines primarily, but often also found on horses and dogs. It causes no discomfort to its hosts and is not a vector for disease. They do tend to freak people out though because of their scuttling movement.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii (Fr. Cordulégastre annelé). 

A dragonfly that breeds in small fast tumbling streams often on hillsides. It is present throughout most of Europe but always uncommon.

Female Beautiful Demoiselle Calopteryx virgo (Fr. Caloptéryx vierge). 

This species also likes small cold swift streams and is very sensitive to oxygen levels in the water. Numbers are dwindling as water is increasingly warm and eutrophic (full of algae that use all the oxygen). 

Male Beautiful Demoiselle. 

Males are very territorial and are often to be seen perched on vegetation along the banks of their stream. Their flight is languid with quite slow wing beats, so people don't always recognise them as damselflies.

Dance flies Empis sp and pollen beetles Meligethinae all over Bath Asparagus Ornithogalum pyrenaicum. The dance flies are predatory. Bath Asparagus is foraged in the wild and sold as a great delicacy in fresh markets for about 15 euros a small bunch during its brief season.

A small carpenter bee Ceratina sp on Field Scabious Knautia arvensis. 

These bees nest in hollow plant stems, making cells containing a stock of pollen for the larva, and divided by plant pith.

Ferruginous Bee-grabber fly Sicus ferrugineus on Field Scabious. This fly is quite common throughout Europe but so weird looking that people usually don't know what they are looking at. They have strange yellow swollen heads and sit with their abdomens curled up under themselves. They are parasites of bumble bees.

Female Azure Blue butterfly Polyommatus bellargus (Fr. Azuré bleu-célèste) ovipositing on Horseshoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosa. 

They are a species of hot dry calcareous grasslands, quite dependent on sheep grazing to keep the habitat suitable for them. Where they occur they are usually abundant, but because of destruction or degradation of their favoured habitat their population is declining.

Rusty Tussock moth Orgyia antiqua (Fr. Etoilée) caterpillar on Downy Oak Quercus pubescens. 

This is a species that will eat a wide variety of plants, but for reasons that are not understood it has become rare. The caterpillar is amongst the most distinctive of any Lepidopteran. Be careful not to touch them as those hairs are urticating and can cause skin irritations on people who are sensitive.

Orchard Ermine moth Yponomeuta padella caterpillars and cocoons inside the web communal nest on Blackthorn Prunus spinosa. These poor Blackthorns have been munched twice this season. Earlier in the year it was Small Eggar Eriogaster lanestris caterpillars all over them. But they will recover. 

Faking Sudden Death

 

 European Peacock butterfly Inachis io (Fr. Paon du jour).

Male insects are remarkably persistent. They have to be if they want to reproduce and mate with a passing female. It is not the males who decide if mating will take place, it is the females. One of the techniques that female butterflies and dragonflies of some species will use if they don't want to mate is to drop out of the air or off their perch as if they have suddenly died when approached too persistently by a male. The bemused male will hover above for a while, but the female is capable of maintaining the charade for quite some time, so eventually the male pushes off. The female makes a 'miraculous' recovery and flies off in the opposite direction. What she's done is not without its own risk though. She could find herself predated or injured whilst on the ground. But mostly it's an effective way to get rid of a sex pest. Twenty years ago a study of butterflies playing possum showed that in 27 out of 31 instances the female succeeded in avoiding unwanted male attention in this way.

 

 Female Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni (Fr. Citron).

If you are in the Touraine Loire Valley, watch out for the behaviour in butterflies such as the Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni (Fr. Citron), European Peacock Inachis io (Fr. Paon du jour), Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria (Fr. Tircis), or Wall Brown Lasiommata megera (Fr. Mégère). 

 

 Wall Brown butterflies Lasiommata megera (Fr. male Satyre, female Mégère) engaged in courtship behaviour. The female, on the right, has dropped her wings. She's not playing dead in this instance, but offering an invitation to the male.

Female Speckled Wood butterfly Pararge aegeris (Fr. Tircis).

Beware of Processional Caterpillars

Ever noticed that some pine trees have sacks made of what looks like spiderweb up high in the tree? These are the communal nests of the notorious Pine Processionary moth caterpillar. If you have pine trees on your land you would be wise to buy the trunk bands with a plastic bag full of soil attached that act as a trap for the caterpillars as they descend. Garden centres sell them.

The caterpillars are a danger to you, and more especially to your pets. The caterpillar hairs are urticating, which means that they cause an allergic reaction if they touch flesh. You will most likely just get itchy red spots on your arms, but your pet may ingest the hairs by sniffing the caterpillars or licking their own fur where the caterpillar hair may have settled. This can lead to tragic consequences.

The caterpillars live in the web nests from autumn to spring. Every evening unless very cold the caterpillars emerge in single file to feed on pine needles. They are a serious pest of pine forests. One day in spring they form a single file procession behind one of the female caterpillars. They descend from the tree and the female leads them to a patch of ground where they will bury themselves in the earth to pupate. Forestry managers have discovered that they can be tricked into thinking groves of deciduous trees planted amongst the conifers are open ground suitable for pupation. The trees come into leaf after the caterpillars pupate, leaving them in the shade and many of them die. The caterpillars have extremely irritating hairs which hang in the air and fall from the nests long after the caterpillars have vacated. Neither the nests nor the caterpillars should be handled, and pet owners need to be on their guard in case animals are exposed to irritant hairs. The rash generally lasts about 3 weeks and should be treated initially by taking a hot shower as soon as possible after exposure, and washing clothes exposed in hot water. Pets which are exposed should be seen by the vet as soon as possible, as in severe cases, exposure can lead to necrosis of the tongue, requiring amputation or even causing death. 

Scientific Name: Thaumetopoea pityocampa.

English Name: Pine Processionary Moth.

French Name: les Processionnaires du pin (='pine processionaries').

Lookalikes: Oak Processionary Moth T. processionea, however these are only associated with oak woods, not pine and the moths have discoloured hind wings. I've only ever seen these once in the area, in the Forest of la Guerche. Don't confuse with other very hairy caterpillars such as the Tiger and Eggar moths. If you see a hairy caterpillar all on its own, it is not a Processional, so don't squish it, even just in case.

Habitat: Pine trees and the ground nearby. All types of conifers with Black Austrian Pine being the preferred host. The caterpillars seem to choose open ground to bury themselves for pupation. Depending on the weather, the caterpillars could start appearing in long lines on the ground as early as February, but usually it is March or April here in the Touraine. 

 

Red spots caused by Pine Processional caterpillar hairs. In this case the person picked up a cat which had been outdoors and had the urticating hairs on its fur.

NOT a Pine Processionary caterpillar. This is a tiger moth caterpillar -- darker and all on its own.

NOT Pine Processionary caterpillars. These are Glanville Fritillary butterfly caterpillars - rare and precious. They are black with red heads, not ginger and grey, much smaller than processionary caterpillars, and their web nest is on the ground, usually over a plantain plant.

 

Not a Drinker

The other day I found what I first thought was a Drinker in the bank. That's a type of moth, not an alcoholic. It turns out it wasn't a drinker, but a Plum Lappet Moth, Odonestis pruni.

This is the Plum Lappet in the bank.

I photographed it then helped it outside.

The wing colour ranges between yellow and orange, with reddish and brownish markings. On each forewing, there is a distinct white dot in the centre, near which lie two darker bands. It's considered a bit of a pest, due to the larvae's consumption of various crops. In french it's known as La Feuille-morte du prunier.

Whereas....

The Drinker Euthrix potatoria (Fr. la Buveuse) is a nocturnal moth in the fabulously teddy bearish and furry Eggar moth family Lasiocampidae.

This male Drinker is from my archive, photographed in Essex in 2002, in our garden.

The curious name, the same in French and English, comes from the caterpillar's reputation for sipping the morning dew off leaves.

 

Male Drinker on Simon's hand, from my archive.

The species is present in the whole of Europe and as far as Japan. In France it can be seen everywhere except some of the Mediterranean habitats. The adults are in flight from June to August. Eggs are laid on the host grass species and the caterpillars emerge, grow a bit, then overwinter. They finish their growth in the spring then spin a yellow coccoon attached to a grass stalk.

 From the archives.

They like damp grassland and forests, heaths, woodland clearings and roadsides. The caterpillars eat sedges Carex sp and grasses such as Cock's-foot Dactyla glomerata, Couch grass Elymus repens and Barren Brome Bromus sterilus.

You can see why I was confused.

Look Out for European Spindle in the Touraine Loire Valley

 European Spindle Euonymus europaeus (Fr. Fusain d'Europe). 

A shrub or small tree, abundant in almost all of France, and very noticeable in the autumn because of its shocking pink seed capsules which spread open to reveal equally vibrant orange seeds. Grows in mixed hedgerows in areas with calcareous soil.

 

 

The species is the most important overwintering host of the Black Bean Aphid. As such they provide an important food source for early emerging hover flies with predatory larvae.

 

 

The species has a surprising number of uses for man. As referenced by the French vernacular name, it makes the best artists' charcoal, and the best charcoal powder. It has a hard fine grained yellow wood, ideal for sharpening to a point and making meat skewers and spindles, as well as being used in horology for cleaning brass and rubies without scratching them. The seed capsules can be used as a source of dye for certain Moroccan leathers.

 

 

The other time of year you might notice spindle is when it is being attacked by Yponomeuta spp small ermine moth caterpillars in the spring. This looks devastating as they eat all the leaves and cover the plant in a silken web. But the plant recovers, and by June has grown a full covering of leaves again.

 

Look Out For Angle Shades in the Touraine Loire Valley

The Angle Shades moth Phlogophora meticulosa (Fr. Méticuleuse) is nocturnal, with red-brown and olive wings. The caterpillars are not very fussy and will eat a variety of low growing plants, from grass to dead nettles. The adult moths are migratory, and the species is found especially in vineyards.

French Red Underwing

A few evenings ago Simon called out to me 'Quick! there's a huge moth in the laundry. Get the camera!' My first thought, if it was really huge is that it would be a Convolvulus Hawk Moth, especially since one had leapt out of my swimming bag when I opened in the changing room a few days earlier. It must have been on my towel on the line, got folded up, and only escaped when I unzipped the bag.

But it turned out to be a red underwing moth, and subsequent requests to mothing friends indicated that it was specifically a French Red Underwing Catocala elocata (Fr. la Déplacée).

French Red Underwings are found in central and southern Europe, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. They are the biggest of the ten red underwing moth species that can be found in France, with wingspans of 80 mm. The adults fly from July to October, in wooded habitats, including towns and villages. The caterpillars eat the leaves of poplars, or sometimes willows. 

This species can be very easily confused with the Red Underwing C. nupta. There is a very good comparison photo and list of characters to check on Lépi'Net if you ever need to distinguish between the two.

French Red Underwings are warmth loving creatures that live along the banks of rivers. But they are very commonly encountered in urban locations too. They will occasionally be attracted by a light, but usually quickly back off and sit motionless in the shadows, exactly as happened in our laundry.

It does not appear to be threatened, as it favours landscapes which are stable and very common caterpillar host plants.

Look Out For Jersey Tigers in the Touraine Loire Valley

Jersey Tiger Moths Euplagia quadripunctaria (Fr. Ecaille chinée) are found in Europe and the Middle East.

 

When they are at rest they sit with their wings flat, in a triangle, and the front wings obscuring the hind wings. The front wings are zebra striped and the hind wings are bright orange red with black blotches. Both sexes look the same.

It is a moth of woodland clearings and scrub, flying both day and night. The caterpillars eat nettles, plants in the mint and willowherb families. The adult moths feed on nectar from flowers in gardens and fallow land. They are particular attracted to thistles, knapweeds, oregano and hemp agrimony.

It is a migratory species. It is not scarce, so not protected but there is some concern about how habitat loss is affecting it.

Outing to La Cabane, Bossay sur Claise

The group learning about a spider.

Around thirty people enjoyed discovering La Cabane on Saturday  25May. This privately-owned site has at its heart a former kaolin (china clay) quarry, which has been left to regenerate naturally for the past 40 years. Today, it is an extraordinary habitat where thousands of Tongue orchids thrive.

 

Knapweed Fritillary Melitaea phoebe (Fr. Mélitée des centaurées) on Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi (Fr. Lychnide fleur de coucou).

 

This outing was the fruit of a partnership between the Association de Patrimoine Vivant de la Claise Tourangelle (PVCT), the Association de Préhistoire et d'Archéologie de Bossay (APAB) and the Association de Botanique et de Mycologie de Sainte Maure de Touraine (Botamyco37). The aim was to present the Cabane as a brand-new Zone Naturelle d'Interet Ecologique, Faunistique et Floristique (ZNIEFF), and to explain the importance of recognizing these sites, which are still remarkably rich in biodiversity.

 

 Golden-eye lichen Teloschistes chrysophthalmus (Fr. Téloschiste ocellé), a lichen that is recovering from having been nearly wiped out. It nearly always grows on plants in the rose family.

 

Each association contributed its own expertise, from ecology to industrial heritage. In addition to "star" species such as orchids, participants were able to see little-known species, enthusiastically presented by specialists. Everyone left with a new appreciation of the fascination that groups such as spiders and lichens can exert. Unfortunately, some of the details of the history of kaolin mining have already been lost, as all those who worked on the site have now passed away. 

Willowherb Hawk Moth Proserpinus proserpina (Fr. Sphinx de l'Epilobe). Although these are one of the few insect species that are protected, entomologists now think that it came about as a result of a misunderstanding of their behaviour, and although they are by no means common, they are probably localised rather than rare and endangered.

The range of species we observed was remarkable, adding to an already interesting and diverse species list. The protected Willowherb Hawk moth Proserpinus proserpina was observed for the first time on the site, and we saw everything from fish to flies, beetles to birds, woodlice to slugs.

 

 The group learning about orchids.

 

The day ended with an aperitif in the field, complete with cider and homemade cakes. My chocolate chip cookies were a big hit, and the recipe was distributed.

 

 The former kaolin quarry, now full of water.

 

Acknowledgements:
APAB - Christian Caillet and Solange Bigot, for booking and setting up the village hall.
PVCT - François Lefebvre and Bruno Delalle for organizing the flyers (and much more besides...).
Botamyco37 - Marie-Claude Derrien, Patrick Derrien and Marc Fleury for sharing their enthusiasm and expertise for lichens, spiders and orchids respectively.

Jean Pelle for sharing data from the last two decades on the site.

Didier Tranchant and Jean-Marie Millet for their help in researching the history of kaolin extraction.

Monique Bergeot, the owner of the site.

Jerome Desteve, the neighbour at la Touche au Lard, who kindly mowed us an area to park on.

The members of the three associations who participated and are now the defenders of this special site.

 

 Tongue Orchids Serapias lingua (Fr. Sérapias langue).

Further reading: The outing report on the Botamyco37 website, in French, with photos, species list and my article on the history of the kaolin extraction. https://www.botamyco37.com/sortie-a-la-cabane-bossay-sur-claise-25-mai-2024-article-2-18-93.html

My blog post on the history of the kaolin extraction:  https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-history-of-china-clay-and-la-cabane.html

 

 Two male Gorilla Jumping Spiders Evarcha arcuata (Fr. araignées sauteuses) fight over territory and a female.

The habitat at la Cabane.

The site was very wet when we visited.

Female Field Cricket Gryllus campestris (Fr. Grillon campetre).

Look Out For Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moths in the Touraine Loire Valley

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moths Hemaris fuciformis (Fr. Sphinx gazé) is a large moth with clear wings bordered by, you guessed it, a broad brown band present in all but the most northerly parts of the Palearctic biogeographic realm ie you can see this species in Eurasia and North Africa.

They are day flying and live in flower rich grasslands, fallow land, woodland clearings, along forest edges and rides, and sunny gardens, where they feed on the nectar of blue and violet flowers, like their cousins the Hummingbird Hawk Moth. They especially like bugles, sages, scabious and buddleia. The caterpillars eat honeysuckles.

Out and About in the Claise Valley in mid-April

To check on the progress of the orchids around Chaumussay I invited my friend Carolyn to come out with me one Sunday morning in mid-April. Here is a selection of what we saw, which was not restricted to orchids.

 

The entry holes to the nest tunnels of a species of sweat bees, maybe Lasioglossum marginatum. You can see a trail of pollen into the hole at the bottom. 

Carolyn entranced by these little bees' activities.

A male Green Fairy Longhorn moth Adela reaumurella (Fr. Adele verdoyante) hanging around on a Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana (Fr. Viorne lantane) waiting for a female to turn up.

Female Great Banded Furrow Bee Halictus scabiosae (Fr. Halicte de la scabieuse), a good 'gateway' bee, since it is easy to identify and abundant.

This Apple Blossom Beetle Tropinota hirta (Fr. Cétoine hérissée) appeared to be fighting a rival on a Monkey Orchid Orchis simia (Fr. Orchis singe).

Great Banded Furrow Bee, showing her distinctive 'furrowed' abdomen tip.

Look out for Great Banded Furrow Bees, which are on the wing from April to September, when they are busy making nests in hard compacted soil, often in the middle of paths.

Bush Vetch Vicia sepium (Fr. Vesce des haies), growing on the far side of a roadside ditch.

Common Carder Bumble Bee Bombus pascuorum (Fr. Bourdons des champs) feeding on Ground Ivy Glechoma hederacea (Fr. lierre terrestre) along the roadside.

Small-leaved Helleborine Epipactis microphylla (Fr. épipactis à petites feuilles), an uncommon and under-recorded small orchid.

Wild Madder Rubia peregrina (Fr. Garance voyageuse), not to be confused with its relative R. tinctorum, which is a source of red dye.