I've noticed a few odd holes in my close cropped lawn over the past few
days. This morning I was woken up to a large (50+) flock of starlings
probing the lawn, upon closer inspection large areas of the lawn appeared to
have sprouted 30mm high spikes (3-4mm diameter) which appear to be
crysalis(sp?) cases no sign of the emerged 'imago', are these mayfiles???
and do they 'hatch' in large numbers together or has some enviromental
factor triggered this??


Nik

"NikV" wrote in message
...
I've noticed a few odd holes in my close cropped lawn over the past few
days. This morning I was woken up to a large (50+) flock of starlings
probing the lawn, upon closer inspection large areas of the lawn appeared
to have sprouted 30mm high spikes (3-4mm diameter) which appear to be
crysalis(sp?) cases no sign of the emerged 'imago', are these mayfiles???
and do they 'hatch' in large numbers together or has some enviromental
factor triggered this??


Nik
Crane flies --see this
http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th6g.htm

The message
from "NikV" contains these words:

I've noticed a few odd holes in my close cropped lawn over the past few
days. This morning I was woken up to a large (50+) flock of starlings
probing the lawn, upon closer inspection large areas of the lawn
appeared to
have sprouted 30mm high spikes (3-4mm diameter) which appear to be
crysalis(sp?) cases no sign of the emerged 'imago', are these mayfiles???
and do they 'hatch' in large numbers together or has some enviromental
factor triggered this??

The starlings are doing you a favour and ridding you of leatherjackets
and their pupae. They munch on grass roots.

They're daddy-long-legs / crane flies. Mayflies hatch from water: aka
caddis fly, the grubs make a protective jacket of débris and carry it
about. May be of grass, reed, and twig detritus, or small pebbles and
bits of shell.

I used to catch loads of them when I was an anklebiter, to observe in a
goldfish bowl. (The grubs, not me.)

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
[...]

They're daddy-long-legs / crane flies. Mayflies hatch from water:
aka
caddis fly, the grubs make a protective jacket of débris and carry
it
about. May be of grass, reed, and twig detritus, or small pebbles
and
bits of shell.
[...]

Some people call caddis "mayflies", but it would mislead a fisherman.

--
Mike.

The starlings are doing you a favour and ridding you of leatherjackets
and their pupae. They munch on grass roots.

They're daddy-long-legs / crane flies. Mayflies hatch from water: aka
caddis fly, the grubs make a protective jacket of débris and carry it
about. May be of grass, reed, and twig detritus, or small pebbles and
bits of shell.

Cheers thanx for the replies.

Got my three year old putting a pinch of grass seed and filling with sand
from sand pit - there are hundreds/thousands of holes - trouble is hes a bit
heavy handed and I came home to find a lawn dotted with piles of sand (and
some seed) LOL

Why the synchronised emergence??? Did not see any this morning at all

Nik

NikV wrote:
The starlings are doing you a favour and ridding you of
leatherjackets and their pupae. They munch on grass roots.

They're daddy-long-legs / crane flies. Mayflies hatch from water:
aka
caddis fly, the grubs make a protective jacket of débris and carry
it
about. May be of grass, reed, and twig detritus, or small pebbles
and
bits of shell.

Cheers thanx for the replies.

Got my three year old putting a pinch of grass seed and filling
with
sand from sand pit - there are hundreds/thousands of holes -
trouble
is hes a bit heavy handed and I came home to find a lawn dotted
with
piles of sand (and some seed) LOL

Glad you can hang on to your sense of humour: after all, your lawn
will still be there long after the youngster's stopped being an
entertaining three-year-old!

Why the synchronised emergence??? Did not see any this morning at
all

They lay their eggs, and the kids hatch out, when conditions are
right. I don't know if this is the last you'll see of them this year,
or if there'll be another wave later on. (My favourites are those
American things which only hatch out every (?) thirteen and seventeen
years, but when they do, they really go for it: US Internet
acquaintances had some lovely pictures earlier on. Sometimes I think
the UK gardener's life is almost boringly easy.)

--
Mike.

The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains these words:
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
[...]

They're daddy-long-legs / crane flies. Mayflies hatch from water:
aka
caddis fly, the grubs make a protective jacket of débris and carry
it
about. May be of grass, reed, and twig detritus, or small pebbles
and
bits of shell.
[...]

Some people call caddis "mayflies", but it would mislead a fisherman.

Caddis flies = mayflies.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "NikV" contains these words:

The starlings are doing you a favour and ridding you of leatherjackets
and their pupae. They munch on grass roots.

They're daddy-long-legs / crane flies. Mayflies hatch from water: aka
caddis fly, the grubs make a protective jacket of débris and carry it
about. May be of grass, reed, and twig detritus, or small pebbles and
bits of shell.

Cheers thanx for the replies.

Got my three year old putting a pinch of grass seed and filling with sand
from sand pit - there are hundreds/thousands of holes - trouble is hes
a bit
heavy handed and I came home to find a lawn dotted with piles of sand (and
some seed) LOL

Why the synchronised emergence??? Did not see any this morning at all

Could it be that the starlings were doing the 'emerging'?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains these words:

They lay their eggs, and the kids hatch out, when conditions are
right. I don't know if this is the last you'll see of them this year,
or if there'll be another wave later on. (My favourites are those
American things which only hatch out every (?) thirteen and seventeen
years, but when they do, they really go for it:

Cicadas?

US Internet
acquaintances had some lovely pictures earlier on. Sometimes I think
the UK gardener's life is almost boringly easy.)

Fancy half a hundredweight of slugs and twice that amount of snails?

(Bring your own bucket.)

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains these words:
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
[...]

They're daddy-long-legs / crane flies. Mayflies hatch from water:
aka
caddis fly, the grubs make a protective jacket of débris and carry
it
about. May be of grass, reed, and twig detritus, or small pebbles
and
bits of shell.
[...]

Some people call caddis "mayflies", but it would mislead a fisherman.

Caddis flies = mayflies.

Not to biologists :-) Caddis flies are members of the Order Trichoptera;
mayflies are Ephemeroptera. Quite different.

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.

The message
from (sarah) contains these words:

Caddis flies = mayflies.

Not to biologists :-) Caddis flies are members of the Order Trichoptera;
mayflies are Ephemeroptera. Quite different.

Hmmm. According to Chambers (which is not *ALWAYS* right¹):

Mayfly - a short-lived plectopterous insect (Ephemera) that appears in
May: the caddis fly;

However, they agree with you if I look up caddis!

I Think They Should Be Told.

¹ It would seem...

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Sand from the sand pit is probably far to fine. I'd buy the little fellow
some sharp sand.

Paul DS.

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

The message
from (sarah) contains these words:

Caddis flies = mayflies.

Not to biologists :-) Caddis flies are members of the Order Trichoptera;
mayflies are Ephemeroptera. Quite different.

Hmmm. According to Chambers (which is not *ALWAYS* right'):

Mayfly - a short-lived plectopterous insect (Ephemera) that appears in
May: the caddis fly;

However, they agree with you if I look up caddis!

I Think They Should Be Told.

' It would seem...

Yes. A lot of nomenclature has changed since my day, but I've checked
and that remains the same:-)

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.

The message
from (sarah) contains these words:

' It would seem...

Yes. A lot of nomenclature has changed since my day, but I've checked
and that remains the same:-)

I get thoroughly confused in the mushroom groups: the various species
are always playing musical chairs. Suddenly, you meet an old friend in a
pretty-well unrelated genus to the one you saw it in last time.

And then, over the pond some species remain where you'd expect to find
them, but their specific name is something totally different...

When I first developed an interest in fungi (early '50s), what most
people call 'Agaricus' now were more usually 'Psalliota', and the
Agaricus genus has been subdivided too.

What were all in 'Boletus' seem to have fragmented into 'Suillus',
'Leccinum', 'Porphyrellus', 'Boletinus', 'Gyroporus', 'Strobilomyces',
'Uloporus', 'Aureoboletus' and 'Boletus'.

'Tricholoma' and 'Lycoperdon' have.....

Oh, you get the drift!

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

The message
from (sarah) contains these words:

' It would seem...

Yes. A lot of nomenclature has changed since my day, but I've checked
and that remains the same:-)

I get thoroughly confused in the mushroom groups: the various species
are always playing musical chairs. Suddenly, you meet an old friend in a
pretty-well unrelated genus to the one you saw it in last time.

And then, over the pond some species remain where you'd expect to find
them, but their specific name is something totally different...

When I first developed an interest in fungi (early '50s), what most
people call 'Agaricus' now were more usually 'Psalliota', and the
Agaricus genus has been subdivided too.

What were all in 'Boletus' seem to have fragmented into 'Suillus',
'Leccinum', 'Porphyrellus', 'Boletinus', 'Gyroporus', 'Strobilomyces',
'Uloporus', 'Aureoboletus' and 'Boletus'.

'Tricholoma' and 'Lycoperdon' have.....

Oh, you get the drift!

And I'm depressed. I used to be able to just about manage 'Boletus'.
*sigh* Never mind, the pictures and edibilities in my fungus books still
match, even if the names are no longer current!

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.