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Weird winter wildlife

©Katrina Martin/2020VISION

Discover odd animals and peculiar plants.

Winter wings

The winter moth’s name speaks for itself. It’s a moth and it flies in winter (well, also in autumn if we want to be technical). An insect that’s active on cold December nights is weird enough, but to make matters stranger it’s only the males that fly. Females have tiny, stubby wings that are too small to function. Instead, they climb a tree and release pheromones, drawing males to them.

Male winter moths have pale, greyish-brown wings. They fly at night and can be found almost anywhere there are trees and shrubs. They’re often attracted to lights, so keep an eye out around windows and external lamps. You might also see them lit up in car headlights as you drive.

A winter moth resting on a wooden board. It's an almost triangular, pale grey-brown moth

Winter moth © Vaughn Matthews

Jumping through the snow

Winter moths aren’t the only intriguing insects on our list of winter weirdness. Allow us to introduce the snow flea! Like the winter moth, adult snow fleas are only active between autumn and winter. Unlike the winter moth, the snow flea’s name is deceptive. It’s not a flea at all – though it is related to them. It’s a species of scorpionfly (which are neither scorpions nor flies, they belong to the order Mecoptera). You might have seen one of its close relatives in summer, perched on a nettle or bramble leaf.

The common scorpionflies that we see in summer have wings and can fly, but snow fleas are effectively wingless. Another difference is that the male common scorpionfly has a scorpion-like tail (it’s not a stinger!), but male snow fleas do not. Since they can’t fly, snow fleas depend on their legs to get around. Their middle and hind legs push off together to propel them into the air, springing forwards by up to 100 mm. Snow fleas live on moss and can sometimes be seen moving around on the snow.

A female snow flea climbing over detritis on the ground

Female snow flea © Brian Eversham

Shrinking shrews

There are only a few mammals in the UK that hibernate through the winter – bats, hedgehogs and hazel dormice. The rest have found their own ways to survive our harshest season. The prize for the strangest strategy might just go to the common shrew.

In autumn, shrews begin to shrink. Whilst most mammals are packing on the pounds to bulk up for winter, common shrews lose around 10-20% of their body weight. The weirdest thing is that it’s not just fat and muscle they lose – their organs and bones shrink too, including their brain and skull! Their smaller bodies need less energy to keep them running, giving them a better chance of surviving the winter.

Common shrew

Common shrew ©Paul Adams

Feliz nivalis

Snowdrops are as bizarre as they are beautiful. Their nodding white flowers are a mood-boosting sight on a cold winter’s day, when little else is blooming. Their scientific name, Galanthus nivalis, poetically translates to ‘milk flower of the snow’.

Flowering from frozen ground seems like a strange strategy, but they have some tricks up their leaves to help them thrive in cold weather. For a start, the leaves have hardened tips to help them push through the frozen soil; in French they’re called perce-neige – ‘snow piercer’. Snowdrops also produce anti-freeze proteins, which bind to ice crystals and stop them from growing and damaging the plant’s cells. You might see snowdrops wilt in harsh weather, but thanks to this adaptation they can bound back!

Several clumps of snowdrops surrounded by snow

Snowdrops © Gillian Day

Going for gold

Have you ever seen a dancing duck? Plenty of birds use special displays to try and win over the opposite sex. The male goldeneye is one of them. They’re already dressed to impress, with a bright white body, glossy green head and piercing golden eye, but in late winter they break out their dance moves.

There’s a bit of head bobbing and foot paddling, but their signature move is a strange and spectacular showstopper. They throw their head back dramatically, bending like a ballerina until their neck is parallel to their body, their beak pointed to the sky. This peculiar performance is usually accompanied by a soundtrack of squeaking calls.

A male goldeneye swimming

Male goldeneye © Fergus Gill/2020VISION

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