Last Field Trip of 2010

The weather forecast promised sunshine with occasional showers - but who believes them anyway? Despite the overcast and breezy conditions, it was warm and I thoroughly enjoyed the day out.

The morning was spent strolling through Rostrevor Oak Wood. As expected, nothing was on the wing but Catherine, in her usual enthusiastic way, regaled us with lots of interesting information about the wonders of nature that surrounded us.

	Oak Galls Oak galls come in many sizes, shapes and colors but are all products of the oak trees' reaction to the larvae of certain wasps known as gall wasps. These larvae cause the oak tree to manufacture cells and substances that produce the gall and in turn the wasp larvae use the gall as both food and shelter.
Leaf Mines Created by the larva of some species of Hymenoptera (one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants), Diptera (flies and midges), Coleoptera (beetles) and most importantly to me Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies).

Moths and Butterflies

	Whilst none of the moths or butterflies presented themselves in adult form, their progeny were busy consuming the forest. Young James spotted dozens of Clouded Magpie larvae busily munching their way towards maturity.
After a quick bite of lunch back at the carpark, Catherine showed the moths collected the previous evening. All were of course released unharmed. James, eagle-eyed as usual, spotted this little fellow. James explained to me that he (the caterpillar) had spun a little pad of web to give himself a sound footing in order to shed his skin and thus progress to the next stage of his life.

In the afternoon, we proceeded in convoy to Murlough nature Reserve, our quary being the larvae of the Marsh Fritillary. The breeze was still fairly stiff but there were several large depressions in the dunes where it was quite sheltered and consequently a little warmer than in the wind. We were surprised - not to say delighted - when a couple of hardy butterflies presented themselves. I must confess that I did not record these but I know that at least one Red Admiral and a Meadow Brown were spotted.
True to her word, Catherine located some Marsh Fretillary webs on the ground near patches of Devil's Bit Scabeous. The following picturse show the web
1.from a little distance,
2. up close and
3. opened to reveal dozens of larvae huddled together.

I must say that I counted the day a great success despite early worries that we might be rained off.
Well done Catherine.