One of the most successful butterflies in this very odd year weather-wise has been the Red Admiral, which has continued to fly well into October. No less than six were nectaring on the Church Cottage Ivy when I passed this morning.
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| Red Admiral. Photo. John Elliott Click to enlarge |
Honey bees from the Weymouth Road apiary were numerous, as were flies of several species but most exciting was a single insect that at first sight I mistook for a hornet.
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| Volucella zonaria. Photo. John Elliott Click to enlarge | |
It was indeed a hornet mimic, copying the European hornet Vespa crabro, It is completely harmless but hopes to protect itself from predators by looking like a far from harmless hornet.
A Mediterranean species, only two had been recorded in Britain prior to 1940 and it was considered rare,, but it has since spread over the south of the country, and this is the second one I have seen in Martinstown this year. The females lay their eggs in the nests of hornets or wasps and the larvae then live as commensals (that is both species benefit from the relationship). After the larval stage the pupae overwinter in the soil and emerge the following spring.
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