Lovely post. I've never seen a large weevil beetle before. Always small and indistinct. Hogweed always had the reputation for poison, esp the giant variety. Thank you for the post.
Absolutely fascinating thank you. I went straight out to find some Hogweed. First seeds too dry but second plant I tried worked a treat - a lovely smell.
Good read - loved reading about Thanatosis - I have observed this in a hoverfly known as the Great Pied Plumehorn (Volucella pellucens) when I have caught and potted it previously - it can sometimes play dead however I left it out of my recent article because i could not find a single reference to it in any literature. So it was interesting to know quite a few insects do it. I reckon i might need to catch a female Great pied to test my theory further as I suspect it might be a response to attack from a wasp when they enter nests. All males I have caught this summer show no Thanatosis response, but haven’t recently tried this on a female. What do you think?
Lovely post. I've never seen a large weevil beetle before. Always small and indistinct. Hogweed always had the reputation for poison, esp the giant variety. Thank you for the post.
So many Painted Ladies! Our garden is full of them.
Thanks. I always learn something.
Absolutely fascinating thank you. I went straight out to find some Hogweed. First seeds too dry but second plant I tried worked a treat - a lovely smell.
Tansy has been performing well in the heat - one for the future garden
Great read! I especially enjoyed the digression on thanatosis as well as the tansy history.
Those hogweed seeds are unbearably beautiful
Good read - loved reading about Thanatosis - I have observed this in a hoverfly known as the Great Pied Plumehorn (Volucella pellucens) when I have caught and potted it previously - it can sometimes play dead however I left it out of my recent article because i could not find a single reference to it in any literature. So it was interesting to know quite a few insects do it. I reckon i might need to catch a female Great pied to test my theory further as I suspect it might be a response to attack from a wasp when they enter nests. All males I have caught this summer show no Thanatosis response, but haven’t recently tried this on a female. What do you think?
Fascinating, Mark! Highly plausible. Looking forward to the results of your experiment,