Got the stomach for it?

Year by year we see changes in the VC55 bug fauna with new species arriving. In nearly every case this is because of adaptation to new food plants rather than climate as a primary cause (although climate warming probably also contributes). The question is, how do the bugs adapt? Is it due to genetic changes? A new paper describes the adaptation of the Mirid bug Apolygus lucorum to Cotton through changes in the gut microbes (microbiota) rather than waiting for the slow process of genetic change. This could go a long way to explaining how bug distribution is changing so rapidly. 

Gut microbiota facilitates the adaptation of Apolygus lucorum (Hemiptera: Miridae) to its host plant. (2025) Journal of Economic Entomology, toaf142.

https://academic.oup.com/jee/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jee/toaf142/8169253

 

The Pattern

In the past, 36 moths of 20 species in the garden moth trap on a warm June evening would have felt like a famine, but now it feels like the best I can hope for. Of these, two were new for the garden, including this Scarce Silver-lines, Bena bicolorana. This is the pattern I am seeing now - reasonable numbers of species but overall, hugely reduced numbers of insects, and diversity lower than in the past. 

 

Entomology Update - May 2025

May has been a busy month, dominated by bees. I am thankful for the relief from the spring drought at the end of the month. 

Bees Knees - Minding The Gap

Plunging into solitary bees.

Kleidocerys privignus

A new species(?) for VC55. 

Floating frames for macro photography

Another tip for insect photography.

Book Recommendation: Micro ladybirds of Britain and Ireland

One day all field guides will be this good. A real gem of a book and at a bargain price. You'd be daft not to buy it. 

Where the bee sucks

Unsurprisingly, the solitary bees I have been working with recently have often been covered in pollen (they have a lot to cram into their short adult lives).

Free Range Pollen

Working out where the bees have been. 

The Entomological Society - keeping the lights on

I'm troubled by the ongoing demise of traditional wildlife groups, the sort that (used to) meet in a village hall once a month. I observe them gradually blinking out, one by one.

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