Comments for Wildlife Insight

Comment on Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars by Claire Ogden

Claire Ogden — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:40:46 +0000

Hi Sophie Thanks for your enquiry. It's always difficult to identify caterpillars from a description without a photo. However, there is a possibility that your caterpillar is a Brown-tail in which case a word of warning here...the hairs of this caterpillar can be a major irritant and should be left well alone. Another possibility is the Garden Tiger which is a very easy caterpillar to rear as it can eat a number of plants including plantains, dock and dandelion. Hopefully your caterpillar is the Garden Tiger which will spin a lovely coccoon and then a beautiful moth will emerge. Please be aware that with all hairy caterpillars handling should be kept to a minimum in case of irritation. Hope this helps. Kind regards Claire

Comment on Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars by Sophie

Sophie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:33:28 +0000

My children have brought home a hairy caterpillar that’s slim and about 3/4 of an inch long. It doesn’t seem to like the leaves they’ve given it so I want to find out what kind of plant it eats. It’s black with gingerish and white hairs, white spots down each side, two orange spots on its back and four little bumps near its head. It has legs along the length of its body. Does anyone know what it is? Thanks

Comment on Coastal wild flowers in Cornwall by Claire Ogden

Claire Ogden — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:28:57 +0000

Hi Dan Thanks for your comment. There is likely to be a lot of wonderful coastal flowers when you visit although it's probably a week or two too early to see them at their very best. I suggest you look at the citations for the nearby SSSIs which can be found on the Natural England website to see what plants are special in the area for example the Aire to Carrick Du SSSI. This will give you an idea of rare or scarce plants to look for although as you're coming from Cumbria you may prefer to study something which is abundant here but you may be less familiar with it. Hope you all enjoy your visit to St Ives. Claire

Comment on Coastal wild flowers in Cornwall by Daniel Sencier

Daniel Sencier — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:01:51 +0000

Hi folks, I am part of a group of 6 wildlife students from the University of Cumbria who are staying near St ives in late April this year. We have to chose a wildlife topic to research, either plant or animal. I have decided plant, but are there any recommendations on what might be interesting from mid April? All other ideas welcome.

Many thanks

Dan

Comment on Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars by Steve Ogden

Steve Ogden — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:11:03 +0000

Hi Wayne - Without having more information eg size, plant they are on, hairy or not we can't be certain but the most obvious caterpillar seen at the moment, particularly on moorlands and coastal areas, is the very hairy Fox Moth caterpillar which can be seen lying around on the tops of grasses and heathers prior to overwintering. They may be as large as 100mm and show a rufousy tinge to their brown hairs. See our post Caterpillar: Fox Moth (Macrothylacia rubi).

Comment on Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars by wayne

wayne — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 22:30:15 +0000

Have been walking in Wales recently and seen hundreds of red-brown caterpillars on the mountains -any ideas what they might be?

Comment on Wild flowers near Kynance Cove: Slender Bird’s-foot-trefoil by Claire Ogden

Claire Ogden — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:53:11 +0000

Doctor French and Ian Bennallick

Many thanks for your comment and I apologise for the slow response as we greatly appreciate the contribution of experts in any field.

Our references don’t list all the varieties of Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and made no mention of the narrow leaves and longer calyx so I’m sure you’re right. I will re-visit the site next summer, hopefully with a more detailed key.

I have added an update to the post and thank you again for your helpful guidance.

Comment on British crickets: Speckled Bush-cricket by Steve Ogden

Steve Ogden — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:36:06 +0000

They are commonly found in gardens and feed on a variety of shrubs and vegetation so we would suggest that she is left alone. We’d only suggest taking her to more suitable habitat if you feel she has been been unnaturally introduced and there isn’t sufficient vegetation in your garden to feed on. Thanks for your query.

Comment on British crickets: Speckled Bush-cricket by Kayleigh

Kayleigh — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:34:25 +0000

I’ve actually got one of these in my garden at the moment. Looks like a female,it has stayed under a umberella for around three days now.Should I just leave it there or take it to woodland? Many thanks.

Comment on Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars by Steve Ogden

Steve Ogden — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:33:30 +0000

Hi Denis,

Difficult without knowing foodplant etc but brown and black and densely hairy suggests Fox moth. They have a habit of sitting around basking in the sun during the day and so are often noticed by walkers. A photo would confirm.
Sorry I can’t be more certain.