Bramble Patch

Friday, 12th July 2002, West Yorkshire

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When I used to walk across Storrs Hill, between Ossett and Horbury, West Yorkshire, on my way to school almost forty years ago the hollow below the quarry was uniformly grassy. Over the years a dense bramble patch has developed at the south-facing bank of the hollow, nearest the rock face. As you can imagine, it is a magnet for insects on a glorious summer day like today.

bramble stem

There are many microspecies of bramble. Despite all those blooms and the pollinators that they attract, the plant is often self fertile, in which case the offspring are clones. This particular bramble has white flowers. The hairless stems, which are green to wine red, are armed with backward facing spines.

Small Skipper

The bramble blossom is popular with bumblebees and small tortoiseshell butterflies. Small skippers are also present. I don't think I saw one of these actually feed on the bramble blossoms; they tend to rest on the surrounding grasses.

I see three different species of hunting wasp; the most spectacular is this yellow and black one which is a couple of centimetres, about three-quarters of an inch, long. It waves it's antennae as it hunts around the edge of the bramble patch and amongst the grasses nearby.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'

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