Weevil Intent....

I felt a deep sense of unease when I found this weevil crossing our garden path today, because it's a near certainty that its larvae, which feed underground on the roots of plants, are already doing serious damage to some of our plants. The worst culprits are vine weevils Otiorhynchus spp.- and I'm pretty sure that's what this is. The adults nibble conspicuous holes in the edges of leaves, using jaws on the end of that elongated snout, but the first sign that their larvae are at work is when a plant suddenly wilts - because its root system has been destroyed.

Vine weevils can be particular problem if you grow cyclamen or primula speicies, and since I have a collection of Primula auricula varieties growing in pots in the garden, maybe it's time to check their root systems for the fat white grubs of this destructive beetle.

Vine weevils belong to a tribe of beetles called the Otiorhynchini, notable for having no wings and for being able to breed without the need for males, reproducing clonally via parthenogenesis. This goes some way to explaining why they are so prolific - if males are needed, only the female half of the population can lay eggs but if a species is parthenogenetic every individual does so..... and vine weevils can lay up to 800 eggs. There are many closely-related species and you can find a fine illustration of some of them here.

Mystery Moth

Can any moth expert our there help me with the identification of this moth? It was about 10-12mm. long and I found it inside a bird nest box that I was cleaning out.

Twiggy

At first glance I really did think that this was a small piece of twig resting in the apple leaf's surface until ....

...... I took a closer look and realised it was the caterpillar of a geometrid moth, perfectly camouflaged as a twig. I've no idea what moth this will be. If its camouflage and twig-like behaviour serves its purpose and it remembers that it's supposed to be a twig and not a leaf, and finds a twig to blend with, it might avoid the attention of roving blue tits in the garden, that are hunting for food for their nestlings. It has the most ornate mottled pattern on its head..... and .... 

... a side-on view emphasises its essential twigginess.

If you hold an umbrella inverted under a hawthorn branch at this time of year and give the branch a sharp whack several caterpillars like this often fall in ..... along with all sorts of other interesting insects and spiders that breeding blue tits are looking for.

This caterpillar has been kindly identified by Pedro Pires as the pale brindled beauty Phigalia pilosaria