Pudding4brains

Did you see this yesterday, I thought the item on page 6 "Meer zwijnen en insecten" was interesting. I would have liked to see the whole list of what the 23 new insects (+1 jellyfish! ) were.
Have you seen anything about it anywhere else?

http://www.spitsnieuws.nl/sites/defa...20111007_0.pdf

Did you feel the earth tremor? We didn't feel a thing over here - hope you are OK!

Hi Arp
Thanks for the reply and the various links. Over the last two days I've learnt more about Ragwort and the insects it supports than I ever knew!

My quest was partially solved late last night when I found this company - Ragwort-UK Ltd.

That's another business idea down the drain!

Thanks for your help.

Hi Arp - a pupae in the butterfly cocoon has hatched! I will post this evening about it -just off to the Hoge Veluwe now, see you later .

Hi p4b
I'm rearching biocontrol of ragwort using flea beetles and cinnabar laravae. I note your images of the species on this site and wonder if you had any specific detail or links you could supply me with. I would be grateful for any information.
Regards
The Woodman, UK.

Thanks Arp, sorry my innocent question turned out to be so much work for you, I went on the walk and you turned detective .
I am relieved though that he he said American and I am not going mad. He was indeed on about other invasive species, grey squirrel and walabi/kangaroo. You are probably right and I just misunderdtood, and presuming the ladybird he was talking about was the one I was looking at.
Well done for tracking him down, hope he wasn't cursing me too much. Thanks again, I don't feel so bad I didn't get chance to visit yesterday.
Shirley

Perhaps it was just me and I didn't grasp eveything he was saying.

Looking at the link that it could be Nephus bipunctatus. The size looks right and it was black and the red markings were at the back of the elytra, I can picture it in my mind it seems pretty good to me. I wouldn't have said it was hairy though, but the hair just might not of been visible to the human eye, in a woodland with people crowding round it was quite dark.
Thanks for all your thinking!
I am busy this morning but I am so tempted to go back this afternoon if I have time, and see if it is still there or at least on the same tree - two day's on it's unlikely I know , but then I know I have done my best.

No it was nothing like the Hippodamia convergens and was very small. It wasn't in a bunker but on damaged bark in a crevice I think where it had been stripped by deer.

Off to bed now, tot morgen!