Passengers

[aeshna5]

I'd spent second half of day birding at Staines Reservoirs + Wraysbury Gravel Pits + while on my way home sat on a bus (after train) when I was aware of something crawling around on my rucksack. Guess it must have dropped/brushed on me from Wraysbury + there was this hyperactive Cream-spotted Ladybird running around. Unfortunately I didn't have any pots with me to keep it in until I could release it + with warmth in bus it then flew to ceiling of bus.

I wasn't expecting to see my first ladybird of the year on a bus, though I've had similar experiences of Harlequins hitching on me! It was good to see a species -Cream-spot- I rarely encounter.

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

I'd spent second half of day birding at Staines Reservoirs + Wraysbury Gravel Pits + while on my way home sat on a bus (after train) when I was aware of something crawling around on my rucksack. Guess it must have dropped/brushed on me from Wraysbury + there was this hyperactive Cream-spotted Ladybird running around. Unfortunately I didn't have any pots with me to keep it in until I could release it + with warmth in bus it then flew to ceiling of bus.

I wasn't expecting to see my first ladybird of the year on a bus, though I've had similar experiences of Harlequins hitching on me! It was good to see a species -Cream-spot- I rarely encounter.

I sometimes get spiders making webs across the wing mirrors of my car. They hold on and surf on a strand of silk as I whizz along.Think they enjoy it because sometimes it nets a juicy fly for them. he he.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

I sometimes get spiders making webs across the wing mirrors of my car. They hold on and surf on a strand of silk as I whizz along.Think they enjoy it because sometimes it nets a juicy fly for them. he he.

Yes, I'm sure naturalists, especially those who rummage around in bushes, are a significant mechanism for dispersal of insects! The first Sheffield records of H. axyridis were all suspiciously close to my home territory .....

[nightshade]

I seem to give rides to spiders or crickets (the big green ones,long antennae) either on myself or on the car
I ought to keep a species list I wonder what would turn up in a list like this x6,000 members?

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I seem to give rides to spiders or crickets (the big green ones,long antennae) either on myself or on the car
I ought to keep a species list I wonder what would turn up in a list like this x6,000 members?

I've often seen Oak Bush-crickets that have hitched on vehicles- couple of years back on a coach to Minsmere, the ventilation panels in roof were open + as we brushed the tree foliage in came a couple of the longhorns.

A newcomer to UK - the Southern Oak BC, Meconema meridionale, which unlike our native species is flightless, has quite possibly arrived in UK via vehicles from the continent. At present there are about a dozen colonies in London/Surrey area. We found quite a large colony on Wandsworth Common last September, which was previously undiscovered.

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, we get that - amazing that they don't get blown away or drowned. We think (I didn't label it but it seemed to be the same one) that we took one around England and Brittany over five weeks last summer - hiding behind the mirror at higher speeds and coming out to sunbathe when stationary ..... incredible things.

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

I sometimes get spiders making webs across the wing mirrors of my car. They hold on and surf on a strand of silk as I whizz along.Think they enjoy it because sometimes it nets a juicy fly for them. he he.