Orb-web Spiders

I gathered some roses from a bush in my garden yesterday to put in a vase indoors. Afterwards I noticed something creeping about on the roses and went to investigate. It was this tiny spider which must have been transported into the house with the roses. It is an orb-web spider (Araniella cucurbitina). This is one of the smallest orb-web spiders, often spinning its web across a single leaf. It is only ten millimetres in length including its legs and has a bright red spot under the tip its abdomen. It is abundant in a wide range of trees and bushes.

Although the family name Araneidae is now preferred, these spiders are called Argiopidae in much of the older literature. Orb-web spiders spin more or less circular webs. The orb is built in a framework whose shape depends on the available supports. Most of the webs are slung in bushes, but walls and fences are equally acceptable. A description of the web-making process can be found here. Further information in the Araneidae can be found here.

Araniella cucurbitina

Soldier Beetles

So called because of their bright colours, which are reminiscent of military uniforms, soldier beetles are predatory, often hunting on the flowers found in grassland, hedgerows and woodland margins. Their wings are covered by a soft elytra, with a straight join down the middle of their back and they fly well in sunshine. These Rhagonycha fulva were seen at Allen Banks and appear to be mating. They are a very common species and, although they are harmless, are often called the bloodsucker because of their colour. Their bodies are little more than ten millimetres long. I am grateful to Joe Botting of British Bugs for his help with identification (even though they are beetles and not bugs).

Rhagonycha fulva

Golden-rod

Golden-rod (Solidago virgaurea) is a perennial herb up to 85cm tall with erect, simple or branched stems. This plant was pictured in open woodland at Allen Banks and I am grateful to both Phil Gates and Roy Norris for their guidance in identifying it.

Historically, the plant has been used in folk medicine; the flowering heads are collected before they are fully developed and dried in shade. The drug contained has been used in numerous brands of proprietary medicine prescribed for kidney and bladder disorders, arthritis and rheumatism. In homoeopathy an essence, based on fresh material, is given for the same ailments. A weak infusion can be taken as a diuretic or used externally as a stronger infusion to bathe slow-healing cuts, burns and eczema. There are no known harmful side effects.

Golden-rod (Solidago virgaurea)

Allen Banks

The historic woodland at Allen Banks was given to the National Trust in 1942 by the Bowes-Lyon family and has a long and varied history. The 'Wilderness Walks' were created between 1830 and 1860 to provide a wild contrast to the formal parkland and gardens surrounding Ridley Hall; they include bridges across the River Allen, flights of stone stairs from the river bank to the higher parts of the woods, an artificial pond, seats and several scenic viewpoints along the valley. Today, the woodland remains a peaceful place to walk and observe the natural world.

The River Allen near Raven Crag
My interest focused again on some the plant life:

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Enchanter's Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana)
Beech nuts (Fagus sylvatica)
Despite my best endeavours, I am unable to positively identify the following but I think this plant is Common St. John's Wort (Hypercium perforatum) ...


And this is the seed head of a Rough Hawkbit (Leontondon hispidus) ...


Further information about Allen Banks can be found here

Cross-Pollination

I am grateful to Phil Gates, who in his own delightful blog entitled Cabinet of Curiosities, cross-references his excellent picture of the seed capsule of a Common Mouse-ear with this picture of the plant in flower from my previous piece. Thanks to Phil also for helping identify the plant.

Cottonshope Burn

The sykes and springs which feed the Cottonshope Burn are on the high ground near to the Roman road known as Dere Street and not far from the Roman fort at Chew Green, itself just on the English side of the border with Scotland and very near to the source of the River Coquet. A narrow road, starting at Cottonshopeburnfoot and climbing steadily, leads the traveller north, through part of the Forestry Commission's Byrness plantation and into a wide-valley wilderness grazed by Cheviot and Black-faced sheep.

I recently bought a revised edition of Francis Rose's The Wild Flower Key, and have been trying to master the mysteries of wild flower identification. I took some pictures in the valley of flowers I've not previously photographed: Self-heal I already knew and I used the keys in the book to identify two others. If I am wrong, please do let me know. All of the flower pictures were taken using my Nikkor 18-55mm lens and a 6 dioptre close-up lens.

Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica)
Common Mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum)
I found a male Ringlet amongst the long grass on the plantation edge ...

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
... And this Foxlove.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Addendum, 6 July, 2009: Thanks to Phil Gates, a botanist at Durham University, who redirected my initial identification of a supposed Lesser Stitchwort to that of a Common Mose-ear (see above).

The Chimney Sweeper Moth

In my 1933 edition of Moths of the British Isles, the author Richard South says that the Chimney Sweeper moth is "very constant except that some specimens, after being on the wing for a day or two, become sooty brown. It is the fringe at the tip of the forewings rather than the tip itself that is white, and this sometimes extends for a short distance along the fringe of the outer margin. The moth is also known as The Looping Chimney Sweeper, in reference to its caterpillar, or The Chimney Sweeper's Boy. The caterpillar feeds in spring on flowers of the earth-nut (Conopodium denudatum). The moth is a sun lover and flits about flowers growing among or near its food plant in June and July. The species is widely distributed and frequents moist fields, borders of woods and even waysides".

The picture was taken during a third visit to the hay meadows at Barrowburn, Upper Coquetdale. It was a breezy day again with lots of movement in the grasses and flowers.

Chimney Sweeper Moth (Odezia atrata)