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Irish Times

The tiny ‘eggs' in this field bird's nest fungus are spore-bearing structures

What is this? I found it in my garden in Westmeath at the beginning of July. Karen Williams This a fungus – Cyathus olla – the field bird's nest fungus. It is very small, the 'nest' is only 1.5cm tall and 1cm in diameter. The 'eggs' inside are the spore-bearing structures. When they are struck by large raindrops they are dislodged from the 'nest' and become attached to grass stems where they burst open and spread their spores. They grow on soil, twigs and other organic debris and the fruiting bodies form in the summertime. Harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis var conspicua. Photograph: E Maloney I found this ladybird in my garden last week. Is it a good guy or a bad guy? E Maloney, Dublin There are melanic forms of the benign two-spot lady bird which are black with red spots. Although in its normal form the two-spot (which is a good guy) is red with two black spots, in the melanic form it is black with either four or six red spots. This one that you found is just another iteration of the dastardly harlequin ladybird – Harmonia axyridis var conspicua. So, it is a bad guy. It will eat the larvae of any native ladybird species in the garden. READ MORE Male blackbird with leucism. Photograph: Antoinette Donohue I saw this strange-looking bird at a bus stop in Maynooth. Has this bird stuck its head in a bucket of paint, or is there another explanation? Antoinette Donohue, Maynooth Indeed, on first glance it does look like that, but if you look closely, you will see that it is a male blackbird with the orange bill and characteristic stance. This bird has leucism which is a genetic mutation that causes white patches by preventing melanin being sent to some of the bird's feathers. Generally these birds do not succeed in getting mates and reproducing, so the mutation arises afresh each time rather than being inherited. Caterpillars. Photograph: Alison Kennedy Could you identify these caterpillars who are eating their way through my red currant bush? Alison Kennedy These are the caterpillars of the gooseberry sawfly – so called because it most often feeds on the leaves of gooseberry bushes. But it is not above dining on the leaves of currant bushes too and in fact a heavy invasion can strip the bushes bare. They will recover when the replete caterpillars drop off on to the soil where they pupate, overwinter and become adult sawflies. Adults feed mainly on pollen and are not often noticed. It is the larvae that get all the attention. Violet sea snail. Photograph: Anna Lopez I found this on the coast past Spanish point, Co Clare. Thought it is so beautiful and how it looks like it's knitted. Anna Lopez I spotted this blue shelled sea creature on the shoreline at White Strand Beach, Renvyle, Co Galway. It was 3cm to 4cm in diameter approximately Any idea what it is? Jane Bruton Both of these queries refer to the violet sea snail – Janthina ianthina – which lives on the surface of warmer oceans, floating on its raft of bubbles and feeding on siphonophores (jellyfish-like creatures) such as Velella , the by-the-wind sailor. It produces mucus which it agitates with its foot to mix it with air, thus filling it with bubbles. This creates a bubble raft which keeps it afloat on the surface of the sea, upside down with its shell hanging downwards. The remains of this is shown here in Anna's picture. Violet sea snails, which get detached from this raft, sink to the bottom and die soon after. The empty shells eventually get washed ashore and this is what Jane has photographed and submitted. They are quite fragile and are rare jetsam on our beaches. Please submit your nature query, observation, or photo, with a location, via or by email to weekend@