various

[laurencehobson]

Hello all

I have a few questions.
My bay hedge had loads of aphid-like flies on it, continually wiggling their 'tails' (heads down on the leaf). I wonder what they are and why they do this- a display perhaps, or does it help to get food from the leaves?

I found a couple of slug-like pupae(?) on ivy leaves. one black and one green. round at one end, tapering to a point. about 1 cm long. smooth and stuck fast.

loads of tiny brown eggs all over the place. I reckon they are lacewings because they are on stalks, but they are not attached in a way to elevate the egg out of danger, just seem randomly lying on what ever's around. I took some in for hatching but nothing happened.

for years i've been seeing lots of small day moths but have never found what they are. colouring is gold and purple, sort of mottled.

Finally, do ladybirds shed their skins as adults? and do male and female differ much in size? I've seen 7-spots with large variations. Also seen one about half size, less spots, possibly more oval-shaped. Is that a different species?


thanks for any help you can offer.

Laurence

(some of these are quite old observations)

[Paul mabbott]

Can only really speculate - a photograph, however poor quality, would provide at least a starting point!
Starting at the end, ladybirds, like all other beetles, do not shed their skins as adults (imagines).

I wonder if the pupae might be hoverfly?

Is your bay hedge real bay (Laurus nobilis) or the taul growing cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)? If the latter, this tends to get quite a few aphids which produce honeydew which grows black fungus which in turn attracts many firaging insects including spring tails. Whatever, it's quite likely that your insects are vacuuming up the honeydew/fungus.

Don't know about others but I can say no more without a pucture! Good luck.

Originally Posted by laurencehobson

Hello all

I have a few questions.
My bay hedge had loads of aphid-like flies on it, continually wiggling their 'tails' (heads down on the leaf). I wonder what they are and why they do this- a display perhaps, or does it help to get food from the leaves?

I found a couple of slug-like pupae(?) on ivy leaves. one black and one green. round at one end, tapering to a point. about 1 cm long. smooth and stuck fast.

loads of tiny brown eggs all over the place. I reckon they are lacewings because they are on stalks, but they are not attached in a way to elevate the egg out of danger, just seem randomly lying on what ever's around. I took some in for hatching but nothing happened.

for years i've been seeing lots of small day moths but have never found what they are. colouring is gold and purple, sort of mottled.

Finally, do ladybirds shed their skins as adults? and do male and female differ much in size? I've seen 7-spots with large variations. Also seen one about half size, less spots, possibly more oval-shaped. Is that a different species?


thanks for any help you can offer.

Laurence

(some of these are quite old observations)

[JRsbugs]

The moths could be Pyrausta aurata.

Aphids wiggle their tail ends or have them stuck in the air for several reasons.

One, when they give birth which can be at a phenomenal rate! Small wasps parasitise aphids by injecting their eggs into them, the aphids will kick about trying to avoid this.

Ants feed off their 'dew' as it comes out their tail end but I haven't seen them bothered by that.

I think they will often sit in a tail up position simply because it makes them either more invisible or look bigger to ward off predators, I'm not sure which.