Aliens invade Leicestershire

Before I start talking about how much I love a good thunder storm I want to add something interesting about the weekend's Damselfly encounters. Did you know that the female yellow damselfly has its own latin name, Ischnura elegans f.infuscans? No, neither did I. Each of the different colours that the females can come in has its own classification, as if it were a different species. Strange but true.

It is also a good opportunity to add a little about another creature we saw yesterday. A deadly alien so bad that you must report it to the authorities if you see one. There wandering around on a stinging nettle leaf, minding its own business, at the edge of Thornton Reservoir was a Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis).

This ladybird was released accidentally into North America in the eighties and now dominates over all the native species. It was accidentally released into Britain in 2004 and will replace our familiar 7 and 2 spot ladybirds as the primary aphid eater. It out eats all other lady birds and will predate on the Laval stages of British ladybirds. If that is not bad enough if it lands on you it probably will bite you. It will also try and come into your house during the winter, perhaps in large numbers and feed on you as you sleep. Seriously! So really not a nice insect to have. It came to this country from Asia in bunches of flowers and has in four years spread all over southern England. Scary stuff!

If you see one (and they are not always black) make sure you report it here http://www.harlequin-survey.org/

Today, there were no aliens. There was not allot of anything really. The rain threatened, then it came. Drizzle at first and then real rainy rain after. In the first instance I thought all the wildlife was gone. There was no birdsong. There wasn't any insects either. But then I noticed that the rain presented opportunities for other species. The lack of avian predators allows some of the slower moving creatures a chance. The wetness helps too, that is, if you are a slug. I counted 64 slugs on the way home. Occasionally it was hard to put your feet down in the gaps between slugs.

Here's a big slug enjoying the rain.

In fact this is a Large Black Slug. No really, that's its name. Arion Ater. He only eats after it rains and so was trekking across my path to feast on the vegetation on the other side. Here are some facts about slugs that I bet you always wanted to know. It has four tentacles. The top two are eyes, the bottom two feel the terrain in front of it. The rough shoulder like hood is called the Mantle and has a breathing hole or pneumostone on one side.

So the moral of the story is, if you go out in the rain you are much less likely to be eaten as predators don't like the rain.