Elan Valley

One of these, the Purple Hairstreak, can be easily overlooked as it spends most of its time in the top canopy of oakwoods during July and August. Its larvae feed on oak buds and leaves.

Over two hundred species of moths have been identified in the Elan.
One of our largest and most spectacular is the Emperor Moth. Both adults have large black eye-spots on each wing, the day-flying male being more orange than the greyer female. Male Emperors are able to detect females by scent over 2 km away.

Dung Beetles are large, black, shiny insects which are commonly seen along the grassy tracks of the Elan. They dig holes in the ground and roll balls of dung down to feed their larvae on.

Seventeen kinds of dragonfly and damselfly have been seen on the Elan Estate. Our largest British species, the Golden-ringed Dragonfly, breeds commonly along the many streams within the Elan. It has bright yellow and black stripes across its body and can reach up to 84 mm in length.
Large black slugs up to 15 cm in length can sometimes be seen in large numbers, particularly in the Elan oakwoods. As slugs lose water quickly from their soft, moist, bodies they emerge only at night or on wet days.

A search around the outside walls of the Visitor Centre during spring and summer may reveal the presence of a beautiful, 10mm long, green and pink metallic insect called a Ruby-tailed Wasp. They can be watched running over the surface of walls, with characteristic jerky movements, in search of the nests of Mason Bees (which dig holes into the mortar in which to lay their eggs). The Ruby- tails lay eggs in the same nest, their grubs then eat the Mason Bee larvae!

Froghoppers are jumping, frog-like, bugs up to 12mm long that are responsible for producing cuckoo-spit which is the froth found attached to grass and plant stems in spring. The young froghoppers or nymphs feed on sap. They form the cuckoo-spit by producing a sticky fluid which they froth by blowing into it to provide protection from the sun and to deter predators.
A closer look under the leaves of oak trees in late summer or early autumn may reveal small growths called galls. These are caused by a tiny ant-like insect called a Gall-wasp, their average size being no more than 3mm. Females lay eggs in the leaves and when these hatch the leaf tissues swell up around the larvae. These then feed inside the gall, pupate, and eventually emerge as adult wasps the following year.
The oak trees of the Elan have several different kinds of gall, made by different wasp species