Stratford sub Castle Guild 9 October 2024
"Beauty and the Beast" Juliet ten Doeschate
An amazing and beautiful photographic journal of brilliant mini beasts, butterflies and other invertebrates in a Wiltshire Garden. Juliet was introduced by our chairman who then introduced herself and her garden which she described as Wildlife Wiltshire. In it she has
photographed insects using a macro lens as well as a magnifying attachment to her mobile phone. Many of her illustrations have been published on the website of the Royal Entomological Society.
Not since reading about Charles Darwin have I seen evidence of so much scientific observation being made in a single private garden. In Darwin’s research he used his children to provide speedy continuity of his work.
Juliet’s family contribution was the moral support from her husband. This was a wonderful talk. We were flooded with a long succession of masterly photographs. The species of butterflies in England numbers 60 of which she has found 20 in her garden. Peacock butterflies can see in colour “but in a different way to humans .... detecting a spectrum from red to ultraviolet’’. The Red Admiral is migratory, as is the Painted Lady which takes six generations for each migration, raising interesting questions about navigation. I have heard that the Monarch Butterfly behaves similarly between Canada and Mexico. Darwin, again, would have to tell us why that is worthwhile.
We also heard about moths, the most spectacular of which was the Rosie Footman which is bright red, as is the Scarlet Tiger Moth. The Yellowtail moth has a very pretty caterpillar. The Mint Moth is ‘micro’, smaller than a 5p coin and is found on mint plants.
Bees were added to our education; there are 270 species, only seven of which are used for commercial honey. Ivy bees are very small and numerous, each with its own cell in the ground. We were shown spectacular pictures of red and black headed cardinal beetles which have red bodies. She went on to tell us of 650 species of spiders, greeted with muted enthusiasm, and dragonflies which are a useful indication of clean water.
Afterwards we were treated to a collection of large prints at the side of the room, all her own.
Useful websites are: ispotnature.org which provides an identification service,
irecord.org.uk, naturespot.org.uk with butterflies and beetles,
.
Much well deserved applause followed her talk and she willingly answered
questions.
Charles Villiers