Dorset in close-up: insects
Paul Quagliana’s second close up look at the flora and fauna of Dorset focuses on the six-legged beasties of the insect world
Published in March ’18
This damselfly almost looks like it’s leaning on a bar
When it comes to insect life, Dorset is probably one of the best places in the UK to see a wide range of tiny beasties due to its climate and thanks to its variety of habitat: from water meadows to heathland to the Jurassic coast. For a small county, it packs in a lot.
Tiny Micropterix calthella moths less than a centimetre long, shot in Duncliffe Wood
Common darter dragonfly covered in dew, photographed at Duncliffe Wood near Shaftesbury
Many of these creatures may go unnoticed, but take the time to observe them and they are remarkably beautiful and intricate. It can be a very rewarding hobby, or simply an addition to a stroll, to study their habitats, food plants, and seasons and to go out looking and achieve success. Many have remarkable camouflage, for example the larva of the puss moth, which can extend red, whip-like tendrils and is also capable of producing formic acid. The creature builds a tough cocoon and the adult moth uses the acid to eat through the casing when it emerges from its chrysalis inside the cocoon.
This bloody nosed beetle was found on Portland; the bloody nose exudes its own blood as a defence mechanism
Green tiger beetle, caught in Wareham and released after the studio shot
Take a trip to Wareham Forest or Brownsea Island and you will find great heaps of pine needles and other debris that have been painstakingly gathered to form the home of the wood ant, Formica rufus.
Wood ants, Wareham, Dorset
Wood ants in Wareham Forest. When disturbed they will shoot formic acid at intruders
The ant can squirt bursts of formic acid to deter predators – a substance that it is hoped can be used for powering vehicles as an alternative to oil derivatives.
Juvenile female glow worm eating a snail, caught and released for a studio shot, Gillingham, North Dorset
A robber fly caught and released for this shot
The banks of the Stour are home to multi-coloured dragonflies, demoiselles and other damselflies, while Duncliffe Wood boasts an impressive array of butterflies, spiders, crickets and grasshoppers. In some of Dorset’s meadows, the ground can seem to move ahead of you with grasshoppers and crickets scampering out of
the way.
Following on from last month’s feature on galls, this is a Marble Oak Gall Wasp, photographed in North Dorset
Take a stroll down a Dorset lane as dusk falls on a warm summer night and you might be rewarded with the sight of a bright greenish pinprick of light that shines out in the grass.
This is the rear end of the female grub-like glow worm advertising for a mate that resembles a flying beetle.
The great green bush cricket can be found through southern England. It grows up to 55mm and is a large insect but its camouflage makes it hard to spot. It likes meadows and scrub land often found in coastal areas as well as inland.
These are just a handful of creatures that can be found – and don’t neglect your back garden. Who knows what may be quietly hiding there?
