The common red-legged robberfly, Dioctria rufipes, is currently on the wing in Brede High Woods and probably elsewhere along sunny woodland edges where it hunts for smaller insects. It is thought that it particularly likes small ichneumon wasps as prey. This species can be recognised in the field by the reddish orange colour of its four front legs and the silvery mark on the side of the thorax.
At Rye Harbour and, no doubt, elsewhere close to the coast, brown tail moth larvae are reaching maturity and wandering away from their webs to seek pupation sites (I swept one from sea kale the other day). Brown tail larvae are notorious for their irritant hairs, for the way they can defoliate bushes and small trees and for their supposedly unsightly larval webs. However, it is not a very common moth except in suitable areas and it is a pity if it is uneccessarily persecuted. Provided the caterpillars are not handled, no one is likely to come to any harm.
Today was the first time to see all four of our popular shingle flowers in bloom - Sea Kale, Sea Pea, Viper’s Bugloss and Yellow Horned Poppy (below).
