Out for a short afternoon walk with my son along the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal at Llanellen near Abergavenny to take advantage of the warm spring weather. There was plenty of bird song and invertebrate activity including Holly Blue butterflies and Green Longhorn moths swarming around an Elder tree. However the most notable was two separate records of Violet Oil beetles both from the bare surface of the towpath. I know these beetles occur locally but this was only my second record of adult beetles - see 3rd May 2019 blog post for first.
