Sympathy for the Devil's Butterfly?

The report (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/03/29/eabfly129.xml) from Butterfly Conservation that the UK population of Small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae), formerly known in Scotland as 'The Devil's Butterfly', has declined by around 80% is a concern. The agency point one finger at an 'alien parasitic' fly Sturmia bella that utilises the butterfly's eggs that are laid in large batches on nettles. This fly is normally found on the continent but was recorded in the UK for the first time in 1998 (and, you guessed it, its appearance has been linked to our recent milder winters). As far as I am aware, the parasite is currently restricted to Southern England so it seems likely that the current shortage of the butterfly are at least partially down to our cold, excessively wet, summers (the adult butterfly normally spends a lot of time basking to raise its body temperature). It would be interesting to do a systematic survey of the nettle food plant for eggs and larvae throughout the UK and to relate that to the parasite's distribution.

Seeing the Changes 127

In spite of persistent and torrential rain, visited in Loughor by an Ichneumon fly Ophion luteus.

Seeing the Changes 126

In Oxwich, Round-leaved wintergreen (Pyrola rotundifolia) was in flower. Got a good picture of a Silver-Y moth (Autographa gamma) in the dunes. Robber-flies were mating. Six-spot burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae) larvae were evident along with a diverse range of grasshopper colours. In Bynea, Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) were very prominent and some Few-leaved hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) were in flower. Cultivated apple (Malus domestica) was producing fruit on waste land and a Common green shield bug (Palomena prasina) popped out of its old skin.

Seeing the Changes 125

In Bynea and Loughor, Bumble bees (including Bombus pascuorum), Common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) and hoverflies (including Neoascia podagrica and Volucella pellucens) were struggling in the wind. A male mosquito and a Turnip sawfly (Athalia rosae) took energy from umbellifers in Loughor. A lone Common field grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) was too lethargic to move in Bynea.

Scum to the Rescue?

The claim (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/31/biofuels.travelandtransport) that the American company Sapphire has raised about $50m of venture capital (some of it apparently from the Wellcome Trust) to extract 'green crude' from algae could be a real salvation (if it works). The company claim that the oil is "up to 100 times better than biofuels" and it certainly has several advantages. The process does not take up acreages of agricultural land (needed for food production), would not require any major changes in automobile technologies (unlike ethanol), generates a product that does not (unlike real crude) contain significant quantities of sulphur, nitrogen and benzene and, most importantly, only returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere that was removed by the algae in photosynthesis. The process does not use drinking water and is said to produce fuels similar in cost (at what price, precisely?) to those generated from fossil fuels. Sapphire are vague about the identity of the algae used but claim they could be in commercial production within 3-5 years (interestingly, eating substantially into the claimed '100 months needed to save the world' (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/01/climatechange.carbonemissions?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront). There are, of course, many unanswered questions about this proposed process.

Getting Energised Over Energy

A hurricane of angry words (a 'perfect storm'?) are being generated (e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/jul/31/householdbills.familyfinance) about the ratcheting costs of energy (gas, electricity and fossil fuels). One must remember that all forms of energy (even if generated with 'green' technologies) are finite and it is hardly remarkable that costs are increasing when more of the growing world's population wants the benefits of energy-hungry technologies (cars, air-conditioning, central heating, refrigerators etc). I wouldn't normally attempt to defend them but some of the allegedly obscene profits of major energy companies are essentially paper profits (as the prices that competing markets are prepared to pay for oil, natural gas etc increase, their holdings whether in storage or even in transit increase the 'bottom line' without actually doing anything new). There is no doubt that growing irritation with energy costs is worrying many people but there seems little that can really be done about this (although it may further encourage people to try to be more energy efficient as this will save money). Rather worryingly (http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLR,GGLR:2006-25,GGLR:en&q=BBC+fuel+costs&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&oi=news_group&resnum=1&ct=title), a BBC survey suggested that many people would be prepared to vote for whoever offered them the lowest fuel costs. I was deeply saddened to hear that drag racers were finding the costs of fuel for their sport excessive. I also think it's a strange time to be attempting to develop commercial space travel.

Don't Wear Flip-Flops

Yet another sad story on breakfast time TV of a young girl who was bitten on her toe by an Adder (Vipera berus) as she walked on a gravel path in a natural history reserve. It is very likely that the adder was making the most of the limited opportunities to bask in the present 'summer' and might have been a bit slow to remove itself after detecting the vibrations of the walkers. The snake certainly wasn't responding offensively (it essentially 'wasted' its venom). I suppose that the basic 'take home message' is to wear appropriate shoes in such locations (as well as not to go charging through any undergrowth)?