Prehistoric Bugs in my Garden

Millipedes (Arthropoda: Myriapoda: Diplopoda) and Woodlice (Arthropoda: Crustacea: Isopoda) look like creatures from the past and in fact they are ancient life forms. The body plan of both these groups of animals evolved millions of years ago and they have changed very little since. Obviously, these designs perfectly fit the habitats that these creatures inhabit and Mother Nature has decided to leave them pretty much alone. Woodlice date from around 160 million years ago and therefore walked with dinosaurs, which became extinct 65 million years ago. The ancestry of millipedes is even more impressive. In 2004 a fossil millipede was found near Aberdeen in Scotland. The fossil has been dated to 420 million years ago and is one of the oldest fossil land animals ever found. Humans, on the other hand, have only recently evolved with the first apes dating from 25 million years ago. Will we be as successful as the millipedes? Will we, or our evolved future family members, be around in 400 million years?

Creepy Crawlies in the Garden

Window Lace Weever (Amaurobius fenestralis)

Gardens are full of thousands, if not millions, of creepy crawlies. As children we were all (well boys were anyway) fascinated by these tiny secretive bugs. My childish side comes out when I am in the garden - I just can't resist turning over stones to see whats there. Maybe they are not pretty but to me they are absolutely fascinating. What forces sculptured these amazingly complex and highly technical designs, and why?

White Legged Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)

White Legged Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)

Springtail

Lace Weever (Amaurobius similis)

Earwig (Forficula auricularia)

Earwig (Forficula auricularia)

Earwig (Forficula auricularia)

Common Rough Woodlice (Porcellio scaber)

Common Rough Woodlice (Porcellio scaber)

Centipede (Lithobius forficatus)

Bristletail (Petrobius maritimus)

Photography Fellowship Panel

In November 2009 I was honoured with a Fellowship by the Irish Photographic Federation. Here are the 20 images I used in my panel entitled Insects and other arthropods of County Mayo.


White Legged Millipede (Tachypodoiulus niger)


Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)


Tachinid Fly (Dexia rustica)


Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)


Small Blue (Cupido minimus)


Peacock (Inachis io)


Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)


Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)


Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)


Keeled Skimmer Male (Orthetrum coerulescens)


Keeled Skimmer Female (Orthetrum coerulescens)


Holly Blue (Celastina argiolus)


Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages)


Dark Green Fritillary (Mesoacidalia agaia)


Common Rough Woodlice (Porcellio scaber)


Common Green Grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)


Common Green Grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)


Bumblebee (Bombus Sp.)


Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamnii)


Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

Garden Biodiversity

Gardens provide valuable habitats for wildlife throughout the world. They are particularly important for many species of invertebrates. The level of biodiversity found in even quite small gardens is quite stunning. In The ecology of a garden: the first fifteen years Jennifer Owen describes a detailed scientific study conducted in her small suburban garden in Leicestershire, England. Between 1972 and 1986 zoologists identified a staggering 1,782 species of animals. This number is a significant underestimate of the actual number of species as some groups of inverebrates were not sampled in detail. Incredibly, they found 533 species of one group of animals, the ichnemonid wasps. The juvenile stages of ichneumonids predominantly parasitise insect larvae. Several of these were previously unrecorded in Britain and at least one was new to Science. So keep a look out - you might discover a new species during the family barbecue! On a summers day in my own garden (1/3 of an acre in the west of Ireland) I suspect that there are more than a million individual animals present. Apart from the obvious groups such as the birds, bees and wasps (Hymenoptera), bugs (Hemiptera), flies (Diptera), beetles (Coleoptera), butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) and spiders (Arachnida) there are vast numbers of tiny, unseen, animals such as springtails living in the soil and leaf litter. I have photographed over 150 species of animals in my garden but I obviously have a long way to go. Below are a few of these:


Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)


Common Rough Woodlice (Porcellio scaber)


Hawthorn Shield Bug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)


An Ichneumonid Wasp