Autumn Life

I almost walked into this caterpillar as I was walking in the woods. It was casually swing back and forth in the breeze preventing all attempts for my camera to keep it in focus. I finally had to use flash which kind of spoils the result. The out of focus picture shows the caterpillar doing a good impersonation of a silver birch.

It is the caterpillar of the Peppered moth and has just finished its session of leaf eating and is making its way down to the ground where it will bury itself before emerging as a moth next May.

This moth can appear in either of these two forms. It was thought that during the 19th century it had evolved into the dark form in the north of England so as to merge in with the sooty background. As the air pollution has cleared it was thought the moth would revert to its original lighter pattern. However there must be some doubt about this theory as you still see both variations.

Here is evidence that the Himalayan Balsam is not all bad. Or is it?

Bees are very active at the moment and are busy collecting nectar from the balsam. As it has been a poor year they are dependent on this flower for much of their food. When the bee emerges from the flower it is covered in white pollen which it carries to the next plant. Bee keepers like this plant as it is a source of rich nectar and provides a very sweet honey. However it is not all good news. The balsam is an invasive foreign invader and out competes native plants. There is also evidence of a double whammy for the bees favour these flowers and ignore native wildflowers, which do not get their vital pollinating service.
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