Page 8 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #06

WILD JUNE

Q ROSE CHAFER
BA E EE TLES
Glittering in warm June sunshine, these
metallic-green beetles love to bask on
garden roses and hedgerow dog roses.
You may spot them on other flowers
too, much to the chagrin of gardeners
who can’t forgive their leaf munching.
Chafers make heavy work of flying and
after dark often buzz around porch and
security lights. Unlike most beetles, they
fly with their wing-cases lying flat – the
flight wings flick out from underneath.
TOP TIP Download a free beetles ID guide:
www.discoverwildlife.com/id-beetles Q BADGER
BROCK STARS
Light summer evenings are ideal for
Q TREE BUMBLEBEE watching badgers, especially the cubs.
Most were born underground in February,
SUMMER SWARMS or March further north, so are now 3–4
You won’t find the tree bumblebee in months old. Apart from their smaller size,
old British field guides: it only arrived cubs stand out for their high spirits as
in 2001. But it’s already one of the they play tag near to the sett at dusk,
most common bumblebees in England or romp around the family’s ‘playing tree’
and Wales, and since 2013 has been – you can often spot this by the flattened
spreading in Scotland.The combination earth and lack of vegetation at its base.
of pure white tail and black abdomen is By the month-end most young will be
unique.This high-nesting species takes weaned, and as their confidence grows
over old bird nestboxes, occasionally they spend less time with their mother,
evicting blue tits. On some June days, joining the clan’s other sub-adults and
dozens of males will swarm outside nest adults on earthworm-foraging trips.
entrances, loitering for unmated queens. FIND OUT MORE Watch radio-collared badgers
FIND OUT MORE More about bumblebees: on BBC Two’s Springwatch this month.
www.bumblebeeconservation.org g

UK HIGHLIGHTS
K

The essential wildlife event ts to enjoy this month, compiled Ben Hoare.

L Q SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY
ott Neep; thr ft: Ross Hodd nott; bat: Er c Médard; redshank & yellowhammer: Steve Round; butterfly: David Chapman; bee: Will Watson/NPL FENLAND RARITY

Our columnist Nick Baker reckons the
swallowtail is the “sexiest insect in
the British Isles”. To see it, make a
mid-June pilgrimage to the Norfolk
Broads – RSPB Strumpshaw Fen and
the Ted Ellis Nature Reserve are great sites.
at pink flowers, such as thistles and ra agged robin.
Beet e: Rupert Sosk n; badger: E Look for the spectacular butterflies ne ectaring
Sadly, new research by the University of East Anglia
warns that the UK’s swallowtails are at t risk from
climate change, so their hold here is precarious.
FIND OUT MORE Learn more at www.ukbutterflies.co.uk
and www.butterfly-conservation.org

8 BBC Wildlife June 2018