Hitchin Wildlife

  Hitchin Cemetery Aug-Sep 2023 The end of summer saw the wildflowers in the meadow areas taking on a brown look and turning to seed. Where the flowers (and insects) did persist, some of them were looking a bit worn, like the Six Spot Burnett moth below.  One plant which flowers later than most is Wild Carrot of which there is a lot growing in the meadow areas, their flowers often having a tiny little spot in the middle just visible, below left. There is a theory that the reason the dark area exists is to try and deter a little parasitic fly ( Kiefferia pericarpiicola ) which lays its eggs on the seedhead which then develop into tiny pink galls. The idea is that if a fly investigates a seed head and detects the dark area it might reason that a competitor has already laid her eggs there and then move on to the next flower. I'm not sure there is much good evidence for this as this flower from the cemetery has both the dark area and the galls. Below right is Turnip Sawfly which I spot