Slender Blue-Winged Cricket (Sphingonotus caerulans )Photo By Andreas Eichler, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44094274

Dear Readers, a while back I wrote about the impact of climate change on the range of insects that arriving in the UK, and last week there was an article in The Guardian outlining some of the unusual species that have been cropping up, particularly on the south coast. First up is the impressive grasshopper in the photo above, which is found in northern France and Scandinavia – it was found at Colne Point, in Essex, and was thought to be the first to arrive that wasn’t a stowaway on a ship. It’s easy to forget that many grasshoppers can fly considerable distances (at least until you remember locusts).

Big-eyed Bug (Geocoris megacephalus) Photo By Emanuele SantarelliDepicted place: 64021 Giulianova TE, Italia (42°46′51″N 13°57′19″E / 42.7808016489°N 13.9553688447°E) – https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/148390417, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110808992

A Big-eyed Bug was also found at Colne Point – this was a new species for the UK. It’s a beneficial predator that feeds on a number of moth larvae that are crop pests. As with all these insects, the question is always a) will it survive the winter, and b) how will it fit in to existing ecosystems? The general view is that the big problem is usually organisms that have been deliberately introduced, but it will be fascinating to see.

A number of new moths arrive every month, it seems: retired secretary Jackie Harmer set up her moth trap for the first time, and within a week had found a first for the UK – the Autumnal Rustic (Ocide pergrata) which normally lives in Spain.

Jackie Harmer’s Autumnal Rustic (Ocide pergrata) Photo from https://www.facebook.com/groups/337280795230888/posts/1353889086903382/

And David Cousins, who lives in north Essex, found a Spotted Seal Moth (Enolmis acanthella), not just a previously unknown species, but the first representative of its whole genus, in his moth trap. The caterpillars of this unusual moth feed on lichen.

Enolmis acanthella (Photo By Jean.claude – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60237989)

What occurs to me is that most people don’t pay a lot of attention to insects (or plants), and so who knows how many other species are going unnoticed? It will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few years. This year has been a sensational year for hummingbird hawk moths, for example, with people who have never seen one before being absolutely stunned by them. Anything that encourages people to pay attention has got to be a good thing….

Hummingbird Hawk Moth