June sees the UK wildlife year at its peak with young birds fledging the nest and some adult birds starting again with a second brood, and insects such as Damselflies and Dragonflies take to the air and the hedgerows are filled with wild flowers. Launching themselves like rockets into the air and standing proud and tall like an alternative flag of the UK, Foxgloves Digitalis purpurea, dominate the hedgerows this month with their flash of regal purple. This plant has evolved to be pollinated by Bumble bee Bombus species and the flowers are designed to guide these furry insects through a tight tube to reach the nectar and to utilise bee mobility for pollination. Honey attracts the bees and guides them into the bell structure and unwittingly the bees acquire pollen on their backs to carry on to the next plant. This way pollination occurs. Some bee species however cleverly outwit this mechanism and 'rob' the nectar by chewing a hole at the base of the bell! The Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris and White-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lucorum are big heavy bees with short tongues and are not agile enough to enter the flowers, so engage in nectar robbing from the base of the flower. The prominent stature of this plant however indicates that one should be wary of it and indeed every part of this plant is poisonous and contains glycosides that are known to act on the muscles of the heart, most notably digitoxin which is used today to treat cardiac problems. Pictures of amazing insects and plants to look out for this June Orchids Other plants also come into their own at this time of year. Often low to the ground, hidden from view and missed by the passer-by, June is catwalk time for our most flamboyant, beautiful, native plants – Orchids. Though unfortunately many are now rare and threatened in the wild here. Orchids are slow growing and need stable habitats where soils remain undisturbed. Intensification of agriculture in the UK has therefore had a detrimental effect on these species, whereas in the past traditional methods of farming hugely favoured their survival. Species have, over time, evolved to become expert advertisements for their insect pollinators, with exuberant, luscious, aroma-filled, brightly coloured flowers or highly adapted, insect mimicking forms that deceive insects into paying a visit. Early Purple Orchids Orchis mascul and Early Marsh Orchids Dactylorhiza incarnate are some of the earliest to flower with their rich purple colours bright against the surrounding green of vegetation, whereas species such as Common Twayblade Listera ovata and Man Orchid Aceras anthropophorum are far more subtle green and white and blend into the background. Insect mimicry is obvious in species such as the Bee Orchid Ophrys apifera, where velvety, brown and yellow patterned flowers really do look like bees – amazing! Some orchids are even thought to give off a scent that is similar to pheromones produced by female bees and this adds to the visual stimulus for male bees to mate the flowers. Early summer sees the full development of many of our insect species. If you happen to be wandering about at dusk, as ecologists like me often do, and you are somewhere in the south of England it is possible you will see the Chinook helicopters of the insect world, noisily and rather precariously flying around vegetation. Dumbledore, rather than a character from Harry Potter, is also an old name for large insects that fly slowly and clumsy in flight. Pictures of amazing insects and plants to look out for this June Stag beetles June is also the time of year when Stag Beetles Lucanus cervus emerge from their long period of development for a brief spell as an adult, probably for no more than a month. After 3-5 years of development, eating dead wood deep within a tree, these spectacular insects emerge to breed. If male Stag Beetles are interested in the same female then a battle commences. As the name gives away, Stag Beetles are equipped with huge antlers that they use in fights over females. The males basically have a pushing contest, just like male deer do in the autumn. They try to knock each other over, lift them in the air and generally get them out of the way. The winner gets to mate the female and the loser leaves to try his chances elsewhere. The female flies off to lay her eggs in the dead wood of a tree. Unfortunately due to health and safety issues, dead wood is often removed from public places and this has led to a decline in dead wood beetles like Stag Beetles. You can do your bit to encourage such species into your garden by leaving dead wood and in particular by up-ending large logs and burying the end of them in the soil to form a loggery. This will encourage beetles to lay eggs here. Pictures of amazing insects and plants to look out for this June Honey bees If you are lucky as I have been recently (or as most would think, unlucky!) when one congregated for 24 hours on an Apple tree in my garden, you may see a swarm of Honey bees Apis mellifera at this time of year. One minute there is blue sky and sunshine and then the sky is black and filled with tremendous buzzing sounds and thousands of bees! Early summer is a frantic time for bees and hives soon reach capacity and things get a little crowded. Having already laid larvae that will become future queens, the Queen takes off to find a new home, followed by workers and a few male drones. Where she settles, the remainder of the colony land around her to guard her and a seething mass of bees is formed. Meanwhile scouts are sent out to find a new home and they soon return to guide the colony to it. Bizarrely my swarm left at exactly the time it had arrived the next day – intriguing! Apparently beekeepers are always on the look out for such swarms to start new colonies. This is particularly so when bees are in decline here and a good proportion of hives do not make it through the winter. Pictures of amazing insects and plants to look out for this June Bats This time of year is a particularly important time for our 17 bat species. Now that bats have had time to feed and stock-up fat reserves during spring on the increasing number of insects available, it is time for them to give birth. In June and July, female bats congregate together in traditional roosting sites such as buildings and trees, often in large numbers, to form maternity or nursery roosts. This can, if you know where to look, be quite a spectacle to see, with sometimes 300+ bats emerging at dusk to feed. It is thought that this communal activity is both important for predator avoidance, as if there are more individuals then the chances you will be picked off are less, but also ensures a system of baby-sitting. Genetic work has also shown that bats return to the same sites each year, with bats often flying many miles to do so. Greater Horseshoe bats Rhinolophus ferrumequinum are known to fly between Purbeck on the Dorset coast to Gloucestershire for example. Each bat usually only has one youngster but occasionally twins do occur in species such as Pipistrelle Pipistrellus and Noctule Nyctalus noctula. The young, as with most mammals, are tiny, pink and bald and the mother relies upon her tail membrane to contain the youngster. With young mouths to feed, activity at the roost is intense and bats can be seen leaving and returning to the roost as they take turns to guard the young and feed, to ensure they are able to produce the vital milk for their young. With such great levels of activity at the roost, bats swarm and dive around the roost, filling the air with their acrobatic forms as they enjoy this great social occasion and catch up with the relatives! There is so much happening out there in the British countryside this month that there is no excuse but to get out there and enjoy it! Picture gallery of wildlife and plants to look out for this June