[253] Pavo cristatus, Peacock

[253] Pavo cristatus, Peacock

Introduction

Pavo cristatus is a bird with a spectacular tail that is generally known as a Peacock but its official name is the Indian Peafowl or Common Peafowl or Blue Peafowl.

It should not be confused with [009] Aglais io and Papilio polyctor, two unrelated species of butterfly, both called peacocks (and a few other species of butterfly.)

Two closely related species, Pavo muticus and Afropavo congensis, are also called Peafowl.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Galliformes

Family – Phasianidae (Pheasants)

Genus – Pavo

Scientific Name – Pavo cristatus

Name

We run into problems with general names for common animals like [054] Cattle and chickens (domesticated Red Junglefowl.) To be precise, a male bird is a Peacock and a female is a Peahen, just as any male and female birds are cocks and hens.

This bird has been called a peacock since about 1300. Pekok, peacocke, pocok, pyckock and many other spellings became standardized as peacock in the late Seventeenth Century. I don’t think it has anything to do with peas.

Pavo is its name in Latin and cristatus, also Latin, means crested.

Description

The Peacock is actually a pheasant, or at least it is in the Pheasant family Phasianidae.

It is easy to think of a Peacock as a bird with a spectacular tail but everything else about its appearance is also spectacular. Its thorax and neck are a vivid iridescent shade of bright blue, which may be called peacock blue; the head is a pattern of shades of blue with white flashes; and it has a crest topped with blue and black.

They have a very long, impressive array of colourful tail feathers.

The tail feathers do not stop the birds from flying over short distances.

The tail can be display in a large fan-shape and is used in courtship rituals and as a display of power. It gives the appearance of many eyes. (The display is actually the tail coverts, feathers which normally cover the tail. The true tail feathers are much smaller and are hidden below or behind.)

The female Peahen is smaller with duller colours of green and brown and a less impressive tail. She may display her tail to ward off other peahens or to warn her offspring of danger.

They are omnivorous and will eat mostly plants, flower petals, seed heads, also insects and arthropods, reptiles and amphibians. Domesticated birds can eat cereal grains, cheese, meat and vegetable like greens, carrots and peas.

Habitat and use

The Indian Peafowl is native to India and Sri Lanka but has been introduced in many other countries in the World. In their natural habitat they live in forests, nest on the ground and roost in trees.

In the UK it is often found as an ornamental bird, generally in captivity in parks and gardens and country houses. You may see them in wild or semi-wild situations and there are several on Brownsea Island.

Mythology and Religion

In Hinduism the Peacock is associated with Kartikeya, the God of War; Kaumari, the Warrior Goddess; the demon king Surapadman and others.

It appears in the Burmese and Sinhalese zodiacal signs.

One Ancient Greek myth concerns Argus, the hundred-eyed servant of Hera, who was sent to guard Io, who had been turned into a cow. Zeus sent Hermes to kill Argus but Hera preserved his hundred eyes in the peacock’s tail. (This, of course, is why the Peacock Butterfly is called Aglais io.)

Chaucer, in the early Fourteenth Century, referred an ostentatious person as ‘proud as a pekok,’ and this analogy is still used.

Other Notes

Once you have heard it, the call of a Peafowl is easily recognisable. It is a long loud single note – a sort of slurred diphthong.

 You can often spot the sound in the background in period dramas or any film or television with a location on a large country estate.

See also

[256] The (Common) Pheasant is a close relative coming soon.

[252] Passiflora caerulea, Bluecrown Passionflower

[252] Passiflora caerulea, Bluecrown Passionflower

Introduction

Passiflora caerulea, the Bluecrown Passionflower, is a climbing plant cultivated as a garden plant with spectacular blue flowers.

Of course, all the species of Passiflora are called Passionflowers and Passiflora caerulea may also be called the Common or Blue Passionflower.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Malpighiales

Family – Passifloraceae

Subfamily – Passifloroideae

Tribe – Passifloreae

Genus – Passiflora

Scientific Name – Passiflora caerulea

Cultivars are available.

Name

This is a bit of a long story. It is to do with Christian theology, and you can leave this section out if you want.

The Biblical story of Jesus includes his Crucifixion, and the word ‘passion’ is used in a Christian context to refer to his suffering and death. Spanish missionaries in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries adopted Passiflora caerulea as symbolic of the Passion and they were able to find many references.

• The pointed tips of the leaves represent the Holy Lance or Holy Spear used to pierce the side of Jesus on the cross during his Crucifixion.
• The tendrils represent whips used on him before the Crucifixion.
• Ten petals and sepals represent ten faithful apostles (excluding St. Peter who denied Jesus and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.)
• Radial filaments of the flower, numbering about a hundred, represent the crown of thorns placed on his head before the Crucifixion.
• The chalice-shaped ovary represents the Holy Grail.
• Three stigmas and five anthers represent the nails and wounds of Jesus.
• Blue and white colours represent heaven and Purity.
• The three days that the flower stays open symbolizes the three years of his ministry.

It has similar name in other European languages. In some countries its flowers give it the name of a clock flower and in a Hindu context it is related to the five Pandavas and the blue colour relates to Krishna.

As we have seen in [106] Blue Tit, caerulea means blue.

Description

The Passionflower is a vigorous deciduous climbing plant. [In the US, it would be called a vine.]

Its star-shaped leaves generally have five lobes and each one has a twining tendril.

The complex flower can be three or four inches in size. The petals are almost white, but the vivid impression of colour comes from a circle of filaments, each one violet, white and blue. Its stamens and stigmas also stand out in the centre.

Its fruit is a large orange berry, which is edible.

Habitat and use

Passiflora caerulea is native to South America but cultivated elsewhere as a garden plant. Flowers from the cultivars differ in size and colour, some being completely white.

Other Notes

I saw this plant in my walks around town and then discovered it in a few more gardens locally.

I have now discovered one growing on a wall I can see from my house less than a hundred metres away.

See Also

You are unlikely to see Passiflora edulis, native to Tropical South America, but its fruits are commercially available, as Passionfruit, large berries with sweet, soft interiors. The fruit comes in green and purple varieties and the juice is either sold separately or added to other fruit juice mixtures.

Nothing else closely related to Passiflora is likely to be seen in Britain.

[251] Passer domesticus, Sparrow

[251] Passer domesticus, Sparrow

Introduction

Passer domesticus, the Sparrow, used to be a very common garden bird but is now declining in numbers. It is so much associated with people that its full common name is the House Sparrow.

It is normally just called a Sparrow as its other UK relative, the Tree Sparrow, is rarer and not normally seen in rural locations.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Passeriformes

Suborder – Passeri

Parvorder – Passerida

Superfamily – Passeroidea

Family – Passeridae

Genus – Passer

Scientific Name – Passer domesticus

Name

The word sparrow comes via Old English from older roots associated either with this bird or [327] the Starling.

Passer was the Latin name for the Sparrow, coming from earlier roots meaning ‘bird’ or ‘to fly.’

Description

About half of the extant species of Birds are Passerine in the order Passeriformes (known as songbirds in America or as perching birds elsewhere.) The 6 500 species are allocated to this order because of their relationship to the defining species Passer domesticus. They have four toes on each foot, three pointing forwards and one backwards.

Most of the species in the family Passeridae come in the genus Passer and most of these are similar looking small mottled brown birds.

The House Sparrow has the reputation of being the most common bird in Britain because it’s very used to living with people. I think most people will recognize the familiar small mottled brown birds with conical bills suited to eating corn and other seeds.

The male bird has a marked stripy pattern on his back with a mixture of dark brown and lighter, almost orange brown. His head is dome shaped and plain dark brown. His underparts are almost all white with a dark patch under the chin.

Female birds are plainer without the dark head and chest and duller coloration.

Sparrows will make nests in the eaves under rooves or hedges in domestic gardens. The call is a familiar chirrup, often repeated for some time. They are quite gregarious and can form noisy roosting groups each evening.

In times of dry weather, they like to bathe in the dusty earth. It’s a way of preening and removing parasites and they will do it in preference to water baths, often in groups.

They are fairly omnivorous and can eat whatever they can glean from human habitations. They will come to bird feeders in gardens.

Habitat

The natural range of the House Sparrow consists of all of Europe, most of Asia and parts of north Africa. It is common and widespread. It has been widely introduced elsewhere and is now found in North and South America, southern Africa and parts of Australia.

It likes rural locations and hedgerows and is not often seen in grassland or woodland

Other Notes

The most common birds in Britain are actually the Chaffinch and the Wren. Both can be found in urban locations but are primarily country birds. Neither of these two are represented in this blog but the Chaffinch appears with its less common but more picturesque relative, [291] the Bullfinch.

With modern building methods, Sparrows don’t find nest locations so easily and are becoming rarer in towns. Where I live [067] the Goldfinch is now more common.

See also

The other native species of Sparrow found in Britain is Passer montanus, the Tree Sparrow. It has a chestnut brown top to its head and a significant marking on its cheeks – a white square filled with dark brown. Both sexes are identical.

It is found in woodland and may sometimes breed near to houses, but it is much rarer than the House Sparrow.

Passer montanus is found over temperate Eurasia and south-east Asia. Like the House Sparrow it has been introduced to other countries.

Other Sparrows are similar in appearance with differing geographical locations. Several Passer species look almost identical to our two resident species.

[250] Parus major, Great Tit

[250] Parus major, Great Tit

Introduction

Parus major, the Great Tit, is a common and widespread woodland bird, slightly larger than its relative [106] the Blue Tit. Like the Blue Tit it is seen in urban gardens and is attracted to bird feeders.

The word Tit is used in the names of most birds in the family Paridae and several other small birds.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Aves (Birds)

Order – Passeriformes

Family – Paridae (Tits)

Genus – Parus

Scientific Name – Parus major

Name

Parus is the Latin for this bird (and perhaps for other types of Tit.) Major means greater.

Description

The genus Parus used to include most of the fifty species now in the family Paridae but several recent changes have split almost all of them to other genera. It now contains just the Great Tit and three other geographically separate species. (One of them, the Japanese Tit is almost identical to the Great Tit and is sometimes considered to be a subspecies.)

The appearance of Parus major has much in common with that of the Blue Tit. It is slightly larger, with a flatter head and shorter bill. The head has triangular white cheeks but is otherwise all black (or very dark blue.)

In males there is a marked dark stripe down the breast. This is less evident in females and juvenile birds.

Habitat

Parus major is common and widespread across Europe and parts of Asia and northern Africa. They like woodland environments and do not migrate in winter. It is a bird that has adapted to live with human settlements and it lives in parks and gardens. It comes to bird feeders in woodlands and gardens.

Other Notes

The Great Tit is notorious among birders, who generally prefer not to be call birdwatchers because they listen as well as look. It has at least forty varieties of call sounds that are not exciting enough to be called songs.

See also

There are several other similar small birds that may be found in Britain. The following species are called Tits.

• Cyanistes caeruleus, Blue Tit.
• Poecile palustris, the Marsh Tit, and Poecile montanus, the Willow Tit. Both are slightly smaller than Blue Tits, much rarer and only found in woodland. They are almost impossible to tell apart except by the sound of their calls.
• Lophophanes cristatus, the Crested Tit. Somewhat similar to the Blue Tit with a very definite crest. This bird is restricted to coniferous forests so its British range is restricted to parts of Scotland.
• Aegithalos caudatus, the Long-tailed Tit. Like a small tit with a long tail, this bird used to be in the genus Parus but has been split so that it doesn’t even make Paridae. It is fairly common and may be seen in parks and gardens, always as a flock of about twenty birds.
• Panurus biarmicus, the Bearded Tit, has never been a true tit and is now also called the Bearded Reedling or Bearded Parrotbill. It looks quite similar to a Long-tailed Tit and should more accurately be called moustached than bearded. They are not common and you are unlikely to see one more than a metre away from reeds in wetland environments.
• Remiz pendulinus, the Penduline Tit, also not in Paridae, looks quite similar to the Bearded Tit and is a very rare visitor to the UK.

For several other species of small birds see [005] Reed Warbler.

[249] Pararge aegeria, Speckled Wood

[249] Pararge aegeria, Speckled Wood

Introduction

Pararge aegeria, the Speckled Wood, is one of the most common and widespread British butterflies, easily recognizable from its speckled brown appearance. I suppose it could be called the Speckled Wood Butterfly but I don’t think it ever is.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Lepidoptera

Family – Nymphalidae

Subfamily – Satyrinae (Browns)

Tribe – Satyrini

Subtribe – Parargina

Genus – Pararge

Scientific Name – Pararge aegeria

Name

This butterfly can obviously be called speckled and it tends to live in and around woods, but I can’t trace the etymology of either Pararge or aegeria.

Description

The upper wings of the Speckled Wood ae usually held out when resting. They are brown with a pattern of a number of lighter speckles. Some of the speckles contain a dark circular spot. This speckled appearance gives them some camouflage in the dappled sunlight in trees.

There is variation in the exact colours, especially between subspecies. The main colour varies from dark brown to orange-brown and the speckles can be white, cream, pale yellow or a light orange colour.

The underside of the wings is like a blurred version of the tops.

The general size and wing length vary throughout their range.

Adults only take liquid food – honeydew from insects or nectar from flowers. Caterpillars feed on grass such as [176] Yorkshire Fog.

It is the only species of British butterfly that hibernates either as a caterpillar or as a pupa. Two overlapping cohorts emerge as adults in the spring.

Habitat

The Speckled Wood is found over the Palearctic region – Europe, Northern Africa, and Western and Central Asia. Two subspecies cover this area, which includes England and Wales and the island of Ireland, with gradual intergrading where geographical ranges overlap.

In addition, there are two isolated subspecies found in Northern Scotland and the Isles of Scilly.

The only other two species of Pararge are found on the island of Madeira and the Canary Islands.

Pararge aegeria is found in grassy and flowery habitats such as meadows and woods

Other Notes

This seems to a fairly common butterfly species in semi-urban locations – in parks and gardens.

See also

We still have another half a dozen types of butterfly to come but this is the last of the Browns.

[248] Papaver rhoeas, Poppy

[248] Papaver rhoeas, Poppy

Introduction

Papaver rhoeas, the (Common) Poppy, is a common and widespread wildflower associated traditionally with cornfields. Its red flowers are now associated symbolically with Armistice Day remembrance.

It is also known as the Corn Poppy, Annual Poppy or Flanders Poppy. The Shirley Poppy is a cultivar group derived from Papaver rhoeas that has a different floral appearance.

I will consider other species within the genus Papaver. Other plants in the genus Papaver are called Poppies and so are some other relatives in the subfamily Papaveroideae.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Plants

Division – Vascular Plants

Class – Angiosperms (Flowering Plants)

Order – Ranunculales

Family – Papaveraceae

Subfamily – Papaveroideae (Poppies)

Tribe – Papavereae (paraphyletic)

Genus – Papaver

Scientific Name – Papaver rhoeas

There are many cultivars of this and other species and hybrids.

Name

Poppy comes from Old English probably from the Late Latin papaver, the name of this flower. The Latinized Greek rhoeas also meant the same plant. Somniferum means sleep-producing.

Description

There are about a hundred species in the genus Papaver but the taxonomic status of the genus is currently under discussion. It may be paraphyletic.

Papaver rhoeas is very easy to recognize in the field because so much about it is distinctive.

Its single stems are hairy bearing a pendulous hairy bud.

The flowers are vivid red, circular and open with a central dark spot.

The fruit is a distinctive capsule with a circular patterned top.

[You may notice some [217] Aphids in the last picture.]

Habitat and use

The Common Poppy is native to most of Eurasia and North Africa. It is widespread and common in fields and grassland and roadside verges.

Until the modern agricultural methods of the last Century the Poppy used to be a common agricultural weed in cornfields. It is now often used in the wildflower mixed plants that are sown in parks.

Papaver rhoeas is widely cultivated as a garden plant with many varieties and cultivars. This is also true for other species, especially Papaver orientale, the Oriental Poppy. The flowers come in various colours and forms.

Other Notes

Papaver somniferum, the Opium Poppy, has been widely cultivated as a crop since Neolithic times for three products.

• Edible seeds known as poppy seeds, commonly seen associated with bread.
• Opium for use in the pharmaceutical industry and in the illegal drug trade.
• Thebaine, oripavine and other alkaloids used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce other drugs.

Some varieties of Papaver somniferum are cultivated as ornament plants and many varieties do not produce any opium.

The Remembrance Poppy is very well-known in the UK but its significance does not extend much further than Commonwealth countries. It dates from just after the First World War and is associated historically with the fields in which parts of this conflict took place.

The poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’ was written in 1915 by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.

In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow; Between the crosses, row on row; That mark our place; and in the sky; The larks, still bravely singing, fly; Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago; We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow; Loved and were loved, and now we lie; In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe; To you from failing hands we throw; The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die; We shall not sleep, though poppies grow; In Flanders fields.

Even the poppies often sown in modern wild flower meadows in rural parks are probably not of wild origin. We see mixed red and pink flowers, not the standard red of wild poppies.

See also

Papaver cambricum, the Welsh Poppy, is similar in appearance to Papaver rhoeas but with a yellow or orange-yellow flower that does not have the dark centre. It is native to Wales, south-western England and mountainous areas within Spain and France. It prefers damp, shady and rocky locations and is now sometimes cultivated as a garden plant.

Eschscholtzia californica, a close relative is also cultivated as a garden plant. Its flowers are usually orange or yellow but can be red or pink

[247] Panorpa Species, Scorpionflies

[247] Panorpa communis, (Common) Scorpionfly

Introduction

Panorpa communis is a species of Scorpionfly, generally called the Common Scorpionfly, but it is indistinguishable from the two other British species Panorpa germanica and Panorpa cognata without microscopic examination.

It should not be called a Scorpion Fly because it is neither a scorpion nor a fly. Scorpionflies have their own order and this blog will also look at other less well-known orders.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Mecoptera (Scorpionflies)

Family – Panorpidae (Scorpionflies)

Genus – Panorpa

Scientific Name – Panorpa species

The exact species it not normally possible to identify.

Name

The similarity with scorpions is obvious for the male.

New Latin Panorpa comes from Ancient Greek roots pan-horpe meaning all-sickle. Communis is a Latin word meaning common, although the Latin vulgaris is much more often used as a species epithet to mean the same thing.

Mecoptera, from Greek, means long-wings.

Description

There are only about six hundred species within the order Mecoptera of which about half are Panorpa species.

(We can compare this with about a million types of Diptera; half a million Coleoptera; 200 000 Lepidoptera and 100 000 Hymenoptera.)

Scorpionflies have long tube-like mouthparts, long wings and elongated bodies. the female abdomen ends in a pointed structure but the male has a curved tail with genitalia that give it the look of a scorpion.

Panorpa communis is quite a large insect, about three centimetres long. The female has a long body that is pale yellow and black with a pattern of stripes along the back. The tail is dark red. Its wings are mostly clear with dark spots and its mouth is long and downwards pointing.

The male genitalia at the end of an upturned abdomen looks similar to the sting of a scorpion.

The three British Panorpa species feed mostly on dead insects and other dead flesh. Larval forms also feed on dead insects.

Habitat and use

Panorpa communis is native to Europe and Northern Asia. Panorpa cognata and Panorpa germanica are found over much of Europe.

In America the very similar Panorpa nuptialis, also called a Common Scorpionfly, is used in forensic entomology as they are usually the first insects to arrive on a dead body, where they may stay for just over a day. Their presence indicated that the body is only recently deceased.

Other Notes

I have seen these insects on several occasions on leaves and flowers. I will not attempt to distinguish the three species.

See also

While most insects are included in the four main orders, there are several other orders with relatively small numbers of species. You may see an earwig (Dermaptera) or lacewing (Neuroptera) but you are unlikely to see termites, stick insects or mantises in Britain. Here are two more orders that you may possibly spot.

Caddisflies

There are about 15 000 species within the order Trichoptera. (Trichoptera, from Greek roots means hair-wing. Caddis may date from Seventeenth Century English but its origin is unknown.)

The larval stages live underwater and the adults, looking fairly similar to moths, generally live for just a few hours without feeding.

Two hundred species have been seen in Britain and I won’t attempt to give a species identification. You generally have to start by counting the number of tiny spurs on each leg – the front, middle and rear legs will be different.

They can look a bit like moths with long antennae and are seen sometimes by the large community of moth-trappers.

Alderflies

The Order Megaloptera includes Alderflies and a few species of Dobson flies and fishflies. Most of about sixty species of Alderfly come within the genus Sialis.

Their life-cycle is similar to caddisflies with the larval stage living underwater and in mud. The adults may fly for a few weeks.

This one, at the water’s edge, was depositing her eggs on reeds.

[246] Palomena prasina, Green Shield Bug

[246] Palomena prasina, Green Shield Bug

Dolycoris baccarum, Sloe Bug

Introduction

Palomina prasina, the Green Shield Bug (or Shieldbug), is a common and widespread European shield bug and it is usually green. Several other species could have been given the same name.

In my last post about bugs, I will also look at Dolycoris bacarum, the Sloe Bug.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Hemiptera

Suborder – Heteroptera

Infraorder – Pentatomorpha

Superfamily – Pentatomoidea

Family – Pentaotomidae

Tribe – Nezarini, Carpocorini

Genus Palomena, Dolycoris

Scientific Names – Palomena prasina, Dolycoris baccarum

Name

The common names are self-explanatory. I can’t trace either Palomena or Dolycoris.

Prasina, from Latin and Ancient Greek means light green. Baccarum, from the Latin, means ‘of the berries.’ (I am sure you will have noted its genitive plural ending.)

Description

We have met Dock Bug, [095] Cinnamon Bug, and [124] Parent Bug, and also the less closely related bugs: [202] Mirid Bugs [217] Aphids. The blog for [094] Dock Bug included an introduction to bugs and to shield bugs in particular.

As you know, species within Hemiptera are numerous and the subfamily Pentatominae has about fifty tribes, and five thousand species in a thousand genera. They all have the appearance that gives them the name shield bugs. About thirty species may be found in the UK.

There are about twenty species of Palomena, of which Palomena prasina is the only one found in Britain. They are common and widespread and can also be found all over Europe.

As you know, the forewings of a beetle are hardened into wing covers known as elytra. (It’s a Greek word so its endings are not like Latin. The singular is elytron – like phenomenon or criterion.) Shield Bugs have front wings called hemelytra where the near half (the corium) is hardened and the far part remains membranous. I have said all this here because the membranous bit at the end doesn’t have a name, but with shield bugs it looks slightly different.

The Green Shield Bug looks almost entirely leaf-green from a back view – but the membranous end to the hemelytra is light brown or darker brown in colour.

The adults may turn greenish brown to bronze in colour before hibernating around November.

They emerge in spring, feed on the sap from plants and mate in June.

The eggs hatch and the new larvae go through five instars before becoming adults ready to hibernate. The nymph stages, which you may see in July and August don’t have wings or elytra, look different. If you want to recognize bugs you have to consider all the instar stages. These are final instars.

Similarly, there is only one species of Dolycoris found in Britain. The Sloe Bug, Dolycoris baccarum, is also common and found over Europe and its life cycle is similar to the Green Shield Bug. The nymphs feed on [210] Yellow Toadflax, [193] White Deadnettle and other species. Adults like [213] Honeysuckle, Raspberries and other species. Despite the name neither nymphs nor adults like [282] Sloes!

It is usually a reddish purple in colour with a brownish scutellum (the triangular section visible in the centre of its back) – turning brownish over winter. The shield has a margin of alternating black and white.

See also

There are several other types of shield bugs found in Britain, apart from those we have already seen. As for all insects, just keep looking on flowers and leaves.

[245] Ovis aries, Sheep

[245] Ovis aries, Sheep

Introduction

Ovis aries, the (Common) Sheep, is the well-known domesticated animal farmed for its meat and for wool. Other species of Ovis are also called sheep.

Like [077] Deer, the word sheep can be either singular or plural.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Chordates

Class – Mammals

Order – Artiodactyla

Family – Bovidae

Subfamily – Caprinae

Tribe – Caprini (Sheep and Goats)

Genus – Ovis

Scientific Name – Ovis aries

There could be about a thousand breeds of sheep.

Name

The Old English word sheep is of unknown origins. Ovis is the Latin for sheep and aries means a ram.

Description

Apart from Goats (See below) the closest relatives of Sheep are [054] Cattle and antelopes. All are cloven-hoofed, ruminant animals that live in herds. Sheep are more closely related to antelopes than cattle. There must be some technical distinctions in anatomy and physiology between cattle, antelopes and sheep so we can start by assuming that almost everything I said about cattle also applies to sheep! (We will come to some differences in a minute.) They are cloven-hoofed ruminant mammals that live in herds.

Ovis aries is thought to be derived from the Mouflon, Ovis gmelini, a wild sheep found in and near Turkey. The Moufflon is mostly dark brown in colour and the males have large, curved horns.

We normally think of sheep as relatively small, completely white farm animals, covered in wool and without horns.

Among the hundreds of breeds, some are brown or partly brown, some have black heads, some have horns … and there are many other possibilities. Now that British sheep are no longer used for wool it is much more common to see non-white breeds.

They have the same four-part stomach as cattle and spend most of their waking hours eating grass, which they crop very low.

They are very gregarious and this flock behaviour can make them easy to manage. On hill farms they can be hefted to a particular area and when necessary herded by sheepdogs.

The lambs look pretty much like smaller versions of the adults.

Habitat and use

Sheep have been domesticated since about 10 000 BC in Mesopotamia and their origins are uncertain. They were probably first kept for their meat, milk and skins and it may have been another three thousand years until they were first bred for wool. Selective breeding for wool has led to mostly pure white breeds.

They were common and widespread domestic animals for Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations and have spread to Europe and beyond.

Sheep are now widely farmed for their meat and wool. About 500 million sheep are slaughtered every year for their meat. Some are kept for milking and cheese production and other products such as sheepskin and parchment.

Other Notes

There are several words used for sheep and many dialectic variations. An adult female is a ewe, a male is a ram and a young sheep is a lamb. In theory, a wether is a castrated ram but the word only seems to be used figuratively in the expression ‘bell wether’ (or bellwether) in a Stock Market context. In some agricultural contexts, a hogget or hog is a sheep of about 9-18 months.

The meat from a sheep is called mutton or lamb. But in some eastern countries, mutton means the meat of a goat, and in the USA all meat from a sheep is called lamb.

The thick woolly coat helps to keep the sheep warm in the winter but shearing takes place in spring to remove the fleece. A new coat is soon regrown.

In the world of farming there are annual shows that include, amongst other things, competitions for the best animals of various types and breeds. You may see some of the more exotic breeds of sheep at these shows.

See also

You will also, of course, see domesticated goats, Capra aegagrus hircus, which are very similar. If you want to tell sheep from goats, don’t be misled by things like horns. There are other technical differences between these closely related species but the easiest way is to look at the tails. Goats hold their tails upwards, sheep don’t.

[244] Otiorhynchus armadillo and Other Weevils

[244] Otiorhynchus armadillo and other Weevils

Otiorhynchus sulcatus, Black Vine Weevil

Phyllobius argentatus, Silver-green Leaf Weevil

Polydrusus formosus, Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

Sitona lineatus, Pea Leaf Weevil

Introduction

Otiorhynchus armadillo is taken as a representative of the Weevil family, Curculionidae, which contains about 10 000 species. They don’t all have common names. About four hundred species can be found on the UK. Many of them are considered to be agricultural pests.

Their peculiar appearance is characterized by long snouts with bent antennae projecting sideways.

(Other species in the superfamily Curculionoidea are also called weevils, as are a few other unrelated species.)

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Coleoptera (Beetles)

Infraorder – Cucujiforma

Clade – Phytophaga

Superfamily – Curculionoidea

Family – Curculionidae (True Weevils)

Subfamily – Entiminae (Short-nosed or Broad-nosed Weevils)

Tribes – Otiorhynchini, Phyllobini, Polydrusini, Sitonini

Genera – Otiorhynchus, Phyllobius, Polydrusus, Sitona

Scientific Names – Otiorhynchus armadillo and others as listed.

Names

The word weevil from Old English and Germanic roots used to mean any beetle. It is cognate with weave, probably from the appearance of the pupal case. Individual species tend to be named from their appearance or from one of their host plant species, but many have no common name.

The genus Curculio derives its name from the Latin for a type of weevil. as for many type species, this has given the names to higher taxa up to the superfamily Curculionoidea.

Otiorhynchus, often erroneously spelled as Otiorrhynchus comes from Ancient Greek roots otio-rhunkos, meaning ear-snout. [It’s always easier to find the etymological roots of scientific names than to find why the name was picked. Perhaps the snout looks a bit like an ear.] Armadillo is presumably an allusion to the animal called an armadillo. Sulcatus, from the Latin, means ploughed or grooved.

Phyllobius comes from the Greek phyllo- meaning leaf. Argentatus means silver (coloured.)

Polydrusus perhaps comes from Greek roots, poly-drosos meaning ‘much-dew.’ Formosus means beautiful or well-formed

Sitona from Latinized Greek relates to grains. Lineatus means lined.

Weevils

With so many genera and species, it is not surprising that the taxonomy of this family is complicated and disputed. There are about two dozen subfamilies most of which are not universally agreed. Entiminae, the largest subfamily, has over fifty tribes.

Most of what I can say about weevils applies to all the species that I have seen in Britain. They feed on plants. The larval stages live underground and feed on roots. They overwinter, then pupate, and adults also feed on plant matter. They look like beetle with long snouts.

Some are very specific as to their host species but many have more general tastes.

They are all common and widespread over Britain and found over much larger areas.

Some weevils have very long snouts that can be longer than the rest of the body but all of my examples are from the relatively short-nosed subfamily Entiminae.

Otiorhynchus armadillo

The first insect identified in my new house three years ago.

Otiorhynchus sulcatus, (Black) Vine Weevil

Common and widespread throughout Britain, the larvae feed on roots and overwinter.

Two years later, another visitor to my home.

Phyllobius argentatus, Silver-green Leaf Weevil

A bright metallic green weevil, widespread and common.

I saw this one in mid-Wales.

Polydrusus formosus, Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil

This weevil lays its eggs in the bark or leaves of deciduous trees. Larvae feed on roots underground and overwinter. It is becoming common and widespread in England.

Sighted in Pittville Park, one of my local haunts.

Sitona lineatus, Pea Leaf Weevil

Brown with longitudinal stripes. Feeds on peas and beans causing very little damage. Common and widespread.

Seen at Coombe Hill Nature Reserve, a local site that I visit for birds and dragonflies.

See also

We have more insects to come, even some more beetles, but they won’t look like weevils

As I have said before, keep looking on the leaves and flowers of plants, but also look out in you homes and gardens!