Tuesday 25 September 2012

Thomas Hardy and the Victorian Non-Humans

I came across a poem, An August Midnight by Thomas Hardy while thinking about the ways poets, particularly in Victorian times, related to the non-humans around them. The scope for non-humans is quite broad, inclusive of, in this case insects and furniture.

The title: An August Midnight is more than just a label for the poem, it sets a temporal location for the events and feelings described, pinpointing the time of day and season of the year. The first word, the indefinite article 'An' also has an important role, widening the scope to not just one, but any August midnight.

A shaded lamp and a waving blind,
And the beat of a clock from a distant floor:

The opening lines set a scene using only objects and sounds. The lamp and window blind mark out an interior space; the ticking clock places the scene above or below other interior spaces. These are non-human objects, but they mark out the boundaries of a room, a space that exists for humans. The lamp-shade is a boundary for the source of the light in the room, it hides the glare of the lamp itself and diffuses the light. The 'blind' marks a window boundary, again filtering the light to stop too much getting in or out. They are inanimate themselves, being animated only by the lamp-light or the breeze from outside causing the blind to wave.

On this scene enter -- winged, horned, and spined -

Into the poem now comes a stage direction: the characters, as for a play, arrive on the scene. At first there is no sense of scale: it could be a fabled dragon making its appearance felt.

A longlegs, a moth, and a dumbledore;

Not a dragon, but nocturnal insects making use of the breeze and the open window on a warm August night. The insects are given their vernacular names rather tan the more scientific labels used in the developing science of taxonomy. Now that they are here, we should try to find out a little more about them. The 'long-legs' could be any of a number of members of the Tipulidae superfamily: including Tipula paludosa a common crane-fly in Britain with a habit of entering houses on late summer evenings. Butterflies and moths are both members of the Lepidoptera ordo. The 'dumbledore' is harder to identify: not a headmaster of a fictional school for wizards, but another insect of some kind. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a dumbledore could have been a humble-bee or bumble-bee; also dial. a Cockchafer or May-bug, an insect known for crashing into lighted windows. Beetle, moth and fly, each different from each other. Joining them, already there but unnoticed before is a fly (so a house fly Musca domestica?)

While 'mid my page there idly stands
A sleepy fly, that rubs its hands . . .

'Mid mypage'? Mid my page there are marks of various kinds, letters and punctuation and spaces between them making up a poem. To which there are just two stanzas, each of 6 lines. Each line has four beats. The lines rhyme, but there are different schemes for each stanza: the first rhymes ABABCC, the second has a tighter AABBCC pattern. The rhyme patterns reflect the mood of each stanza: the first more open and distant, the second focussed and reflective.

One word: 'and' appears in each of the first four lines. The whole stanza builds a single sentence. A sentence full of 'ands' as linking words uses a technique called 'hypotaxis': this sentence builds layer upon layer. There is another way of building sense into a sentence 'parataxis' places terms side by side. There is an example of this in the way the insects are introduced: 'winged, horned, and spined'.

Not just words, the punctuation holds the poem together. A comma at the end of the first line, a colon at the end of the second. The third line is interrupted by hyphens and ends with a semi-colon: less strong a connector drawing the unnoticed fly into the conversation. And the stanza ends, but not with a full stop to bring the sentence to a close: a recurring point keeps the stanza open. Just as the hand-washing action of the fly continues and continues to distract the attention

The insects enter the scene as unexpected strangers. Even as insects they are as different from each other as their mammal observer is from each of them. Their presence and behaviour raise questions; perhaps more than can be answered here. The unanswered questions are themselves a source of hope.

Monday 13 August 2012

Southeast Asian ladybirds

Another site which might be helpful in identifying ladybirds found in Singapore is Southeast Asian Beetles. There are images of some of the beetles in the region identified to Genus, if not always species level.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Propylea 14-punctata - 14 spot ladybird in Leicestershire and Rutland

Yellow ladybird with black spots.

Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By @Fulup

More details

See the UK Ladybird Survey page for the 14-spot ladybird.

14-spot labybird records in Leicestershire and Rutland

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

Open interactive map in new window

Adalia 2-punctata - 2 spot ladybird in Leicestershire and Rutland

Often as red as the familiar 7-spot ladybird, but with only two spots and much smaller. There is also a black with red spots variation that you may find in your garden or local park.

Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By @Fulup

Four spots on this black 2-spot ladybird.


Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By @Fulup

The more common red with two black spot form of the 2-spot ladybird.

More details

See the UK Ladybird Survey page for the 2-spot ladybird.

2-spot labybird records in Leicestershire and Rutland

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

Open interactive map in new window

Sunday 5 August 2012

Halyzia 16-guttata - Orange ladybird in Leicestershire and Rutland

Orange ladybird preferring to feed on mildew rather than aphids.

Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By @Fulup

More details

See the UK Ladybird Survey page for the Orange ladybird.

Orange labybird records in Leicestershire and Rutland

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

Open interactive map in new window

Chilocorus renipustulatus - Kidney spot ladybird in Leicestershire and Rutland

Black ladybird with red spots and an almost bowler-hatted dome shape.

Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By @Fulup

More details

See the UK Ladybird Survey page for the Kidney spot ladybird.

Kidney spot labybird records in Leicestershire and Rutland

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

Open interactive map in new window

Friday 3 August 2012

Ladybird spider (Eresus Sandaliatus)

Like me, you might be surprised to learn that such a strikingly good-looking spider could be native to the UK. The Ladybird spider (Eresus Sandaliatus) is one of Britain's rarest. So rare that for about 70 years it was thought to be extinct here until it was rediscovered in 1980. Careful conservation work has enabled the spider to grow from just a few individuals to over 1000, but more work is needed for this spider to come off the danger list.

EresusSandaliatusHogeVeluwe
By Viridiflavus (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

The Spider and Harvestman Recording Scheme webite is tracking the whereabouts of this and other spiders. They report on the Ladybird Spider's preferences for south-facing sandy slopes and its four-year life cycle.

To really ensure its survival at least 20 sites where the spider can find a habitat are required. There is also, it has to be said, much still to learn about this spider, its requirements and role in the ecosystem.

The invertibrate conservation trust Buglife has an appeal raising funds for the development of habitats and further conservation work. It is an appeal well worth supporting.

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Adalia 10-punctata - 10-spot ladybird in Leicestershire and Rutland

This small ladybird can be found with a variety of patterns to the elytra, but the pronotum is quite distinctive.

Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By @Fulup
The presence of the 7-spot ladybird (seen in Northumberland), almost sitting on the smaller 10-spot gives a sense of the relative size of these beetles.

More details

See the UK Ladybird Survey page for the 10-spot ladybird.

10-spot labybird records in Leicestershire and Rutland

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

Open interactive map in new window

Psyllobora 22-punctata - 22-spot ladybird in Leicestershire and Rutland

A ladybird with a yellow and black colour combination from larvae, through pupae to adult.


Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) By @Fulup

More details

See the UK Ladybird Survey page for the 22-spot ladybird.

22-spot labybird records in Leicestershire and Rutland

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

Open interactive map in new window

Monday 16 July 2012

Ladybirds of Malaysia (part 2)

I am still learning about the ladybirds likely to be found in Singapore from the Malaysian Ladybird Beetles blog. The range of ladybirds you might expect in Malaysia, at least those encountered by Joento, whose blog this is, can be found in the Subfamilies of Local Species section. I am keen to find public domain or creative commons licensed images of these insects.

Coccinellinae

Cheilomenes sexmaculata


Public domain
Photographer: Surender Dalal

Encyclopedia of Life entry.

Coelophora inaequalis

Coelophora inaequalis mating

Photographer: JamesDouch [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Micraspis discolor

IMG_6898a1
Photographer: leemt2, on Flickr

Chilocorus nigritus

Coccinella transversalis


Epilachninae

Epilachna indica


Scymninae

Scymnus apiciflavus

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Anatis ocellata - Eyed ladybird in Leicestershire

The largest ladybird of the United Kingdom, the Eyed ladybird is distinctive for the pale rings surrounding the black spots on the elytra.

The pale rings are only hinted at on the edge of the elytra of this example.

This ladybird is usually found in woodland areas, mostly of conifers, like Scots pine, Douglas fir and larch.

UK Distribution

Widespread and stable.

More details

See the UK Ladybird Survey page for the Eyed Ladybird.

Eyed labybird records in Leicestershire and Rutland

The National Biodiversity Network records are shown on the map below. (See terms and conditions)

Open interactive map in new window

Monday 2 July 2012

Ladybirds of Malaysia

As you would expect, the closest match for the ladybirds of Singapore would those of neighbouring Malaysia. An interesting website to explore is the ongoing blog Malaysian Ladybird BeetlesJoento is an amateur entomologist from Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia.It is interesting to match some of the images of Malaysian species from this site with Singaporean images posted on Flickr.

Micraspis discolor

A yellow ladybird was spotted and photographed at Telok Blangah in SW Singapore in January 2012. This has the same elytra (wing case) and pronotum (neck guard) as the Micraspis discolor on the Mayalsian site.

Chilocorus nigritus

A dark, almost metalic looking ladybird has also been spotted in Choa Chu Kang New Town,Singaore in 2008. It looks quite like  the Curinus coeruleus species sometmes found in Malaysia

Thursday 28 June 2012

Harmonia testudinaria in Singapore?

Remote hunting for ladybirds in Singapore is proving both interesting and frustrating. A search for 'ladybird singapore' on Flickr provides lots of hits, for example. This can give some clues about where and when to look for these beetles, but not necessarily the name of the species found.
The examples uploaded to Flickr for ladybirds do not look similar to the species found in the United Kingdom. I am guessing that there would be more of an overlap with the ladybirds present in Australia. That could be helpful as there are efforts, in the 'Atlas of Living Australia' to map the presence of ladybird species there. Another site interested in of ladybirds present in Australia is 'Ladybirds of Australia', especially the Image Gallery.
One ladybird that seems to be present in both Singapore and Australia is Harmonia testudinaria.
Harmonia testudinaria 2

One was seen on March 8, 2008 in Choa Chu Kang New Town, South West, Singapore. It has been mapped across Australia in the Atlas of Living Australia.

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Are there any ladybirds in Singapore?

Some visitors from Singapore came round to visit us and left with a challenge to find out more about the ladybirds of Singapore. They took this on armed only with a guide to the ladybirds of the UK. To be honest, I didn't know if there are any ladybirds in Singapore. But they seemed keen and confident that they were there to be seen.
It turns out that there are ladybirds in Singapore and they do look a little different to their UK cousins. For example: a question was raised on the Nature Society (Singapore) Forum about ladybirds, including a picture of what looks like an 8-spot ladybird.
Another site carries a warning that not everything that looks like a ladybird turns out to be one. There are spiders that are excellent ladybird-mimics.There are some surprising pictures on this site on Macro-photography in Singapore.
There are people too who share a passion for ladybird spotting. In November 2011 The Curious Gardener blogged about different ladybirds the the habits that she had observed. As in the UK,  there are some aphid eating ladybirds and some that have adapted to eating mildrew. Of course, ladybirds across the world all go through the same stages of larva, pupae and adult.
So from a quick survey of sites on the Internet, it appears that the challenge of spotting ladybirds in Singapore is a valid, but challenging one. How many types of ladybird can be found? What is the best time of year for spotting them? What kinds of food do they prefer? Are they increasing or decreasing on the island? What steps are people taking to ensure that their own children are able to take delight in these amazing creatures?