Return of the world-first Berberis sawflies?

Do you remember my world-first insect discovery last October? The first Berberis sawfly larvae ever to be spotted in Yorkshire! Well, it could be that they are now back, in their adult form!

Since Saturday 16 June, I have been noticing up to 7 of these black sawflies on and around the berberis bush that the larvae were eating last autumn.

I sent some photos to insect expert Andrew Halstead at the Royal Horticultural Society, to see if he could identify them for me. (You’ll remember he wrote an article about Berberis sawfly in the UK – including a mention of my sighting – for the Sawfly Study Group Newsletter in January of this year.)

He replied:
“These pictures are all of Arge sp sawflies and could be Arge berberidis, particularly if they are seen in the vicinity of its host plants (Berberis and Mahonia).”

So, these could well be the first adult Berberis sawflies (Arge berberidis) ever recorded in Yorkshire!  I’m going to send some samples to the Natural History Museum in London to have them identified for certain!

Find out more about Berberis sawflies (including photos of eggs, larvae and adults) here

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Lord Deramore’s School

On Friday 15 June, I performed Buzzing! to Years 5 and 6 at my old primary school, Lord Deramore’s, in Heslington, on the outskirts of York. It had been many years since I’d last stood up and performed in that hall!

I was welcomed very warmly by the pupils and staff. The head teacher, Mrs Powley, even invited me to stay on for Special Mention Assembly, where children from each year were praised for something particularly special they’d done that week.

A week later, on Friday 22 June, I went back to the school to do a Poetry Workshop with Year 6. They are in exactly the same classroom that I was in when I was in Year 6 (which is a long time ago …) It’s a classroom full of character – with a spiral staircase, a balcony and a heavy arched door with wrought-iron hinges.

The pupils and I set about Having Fun With Words together. This culminated in their writing poems about the minibeasts they had found and photographed in their houses and gardens. (And the ladybird larva they found in the classroom that morning, which we examined under a microscope they have linked to a computer.)

I was very impressed by the skill they showed in observing and identifying the creatures they had found, and in finding out about them. And then, how they took this information and incorporated it into some really imaginative poems. I was also amazed to discover that one of the pupils had learned one of my poems – Betty – off by heart, from my website! She recited it to me beautifully.

I’m looking forward very much to going back to the school to hear the children perform their poems for me, and show me the artwork they’ve created to go with them.

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