South and back

I had to travel to London for a few days. Not too much on the agenda whilst there so I managed to go to a couple of my favourite sites,  Nunhead Cemetery and Brockley Cemetery, I also mooched about looking for plants in the streets, and I had a garden I could investigate. I'd not been to London at this time of year for a good many years, and whilst I used to live in southern England I was not much into insects and my botanising was pretty much limited to the chalk Downs and orchid hunting. So the trip added quite a few species to the pan-species list. I only took the wee Olympus Tough with me so the photos may not be quite up to the usual standard, especially since mine is a fairly old TG-4, although it is a surprisingly good macro camera. It is taking quite a while to work through all the photos, more than 700, and things like Andrena bees are a bit of a headache to identify, so this post is somewhat incomplete.

The first evening I managed to find Petty Spurge (everywhere) and Hop on the Brockley streets. Annual Mercury, Euphorbia oblongata and Greater Celandine were also added fairly sharply the next day. But Tuesday afternoon at Nunhead Cemetery was more the business, sunny and warm, not too much wind, and lots of flying insects; why had I not brought a net? 

Hoverflies were everywhere as were a lot bees, Holly Blue were most evident with the occasional Orange Tip and Speckled Wood and I was quickly on to Dock Bug - new. 

Dock Bug Coreus marginatus

Searching through the low hanging branches of a few oak sp I came across the spectacular Black-headed Cardinal Beetle Pyrochra coccinea.

Cardinal Beetle Pyrochra coccinea

 

 

I thought I had a Cream-streaked Ladybird, but too small! It was one of the more confusing iterations of 10-Spot. 

10-Spot Ladybird Adalia decapunctata

7-Spot and 14-Spot were also found.

7-Spot Ladybird Coccinella septempunctata

14-Spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata

 

Bee-flies turned out to be Dark-edged, and not the hoped for Spotted. But the striking Anthomyia pluvialis was common - and new.

Anthomyia pluvialis

 Another dipteran that I think I've only recorded once before was Phasia hemiptera.

An interesting Tachinid fly that is a parasitoid of plant bugs like Birch Shieldbug Elasmostethus intersinctus, laying its eggs on the adult bug, the larvae once hatched eat the host from within until it expires (I think this to be correct).

Most frustrating was a tiny 'picture-winged' fly Euleia heraclei, the Celery Fly. I like these insects but they are not easy to photograph, especially with the TG4, this is where I most missed my EM-1.

Celery Fly Euleia heraclei, tiny, and very active

Equally frustrating were what I think were a species of nomad bee which appeared to be hunting for nests of burrowing bees. These were so active and rarely paused for a moment.  In the end I managed to identify them as Nomada fabriciana and get some very poor images. There were several other bee species, these are always tricky to identify but 'm fairly happy with these identifications, correction welcome!

Andrena scotica Chocolate Mining Bee

Andrena chrysosceles

Andrena haemhorrhoa

 

I collected a few very small beetles on flowers which turned out to be Byturus tomentosus and Meligethes aeneus, both common enough things, but I'd not found them previously. These are the sort of things which are much easier to identify if you have Duff, the investment was worthwhile for sure. 

 The hoverflies were very active with many Myathropa florea. More interesting perhaps were Eupeodes luniger found on the bridge just before the cemetery where there were 100s of aphids (still unidentified) on Prickly Lettuce. Dasysyrphus albostriatus briefly on a gravestone and Epistrophe melanostoma.

Epistrophe melanostoma, female (thanks CS and RM)

Myathropa florea

Syrphus vitripennis (probably) female

Syrphus sp

Xylota segnis

Eupeodes luniger

 

Birds were plentiful, Chiffchaff and Blackcap especially, but there was a Whitethroat singing in Brockley Cemetery.

Green Hairstreak was a nice surprise in Brockley Cemetery.

Holly Blue in Nunhead and Brockley Cemeteries.

 

Large Red Damselfly at Nunhead.

I'm realising this is a long list of species... and let alone what else I recorded round and about and in Brockley Cemetery, although a quick mention for Psallus albicinctus which I found there, and there were many interesting galls, especially on Turkey Oak. 

Psallus albicinctus, keyed through Nau, the fine spots on the head and pronotum, the shape of the hind femur and the extent of the spots on the hind femur led me to this ID, quite an uncommon bug I think (specimen retained and microscopically examined).

 

However, a quick jump to the garden of where I was staying where on an angelica cultiva there was a Honey Bee that remained very still, remarkably so until under closer observation I discovered why.

 

Misumena vatia with an unfortunate Apis mellifera Honey Bee

The long task of editing the images complete, now to add everything to iRecord.... I added around 30 species to my P-SL in, effectively, two days. I think I might head south again shortly, maybe. 

Bug

Spring has been cold and slow to warm up. An early Cuckoo at the community woodland was a welcome surprise and a small hirundine movement on 19th included all three species. The occasional flock of Pink-feet are heard and/or seen heading north. Moth trapping has been very slow and unspectacular with just Water Carpet as additional to the year. Most of the time its been just too cold to bother.

Water Carpet

However, interesting things have been found. The vane traps, still unmodified, I must sort out the rain protection, have produced a few interesting beetles.

Epuraea melanocephala and  fore tibia for ID feature

 

Melinopterus prodromus, there's an improved key in Duff. A surprise was that this species can be so much larger than M. sphacelatus, by at least 1mm. This image shows the notoriously awkward to see 8th stria well. A trick with these is to put them in liquid as the pale/orange rear edge to the pronotum will then show up well. However, I always think there is a difference in the pores on the pronotum which is a quick clue to the beetles identity.

Anacaena globulus

It's unsurprising I'm catching Aphodines as there are horses in a nearby field to one of the community woodland traps and at home there are plenty of Red and Roe Deer, frequently in view from the house in the evening. I've caught M. sphacelatus and Agrilinus ater as well.

 Anyway, to cut to the chase the star beast was found making its way across the kitchen floor by Louise.

Eremocoris abietis

One large (hard to see) and several smaller spines on fore femur.

Hairs on the hind tibia shorter than the width of the tibia.

 There are twenty records of this Highland specialty bug on the NBN (perhaps only 13 accepted) - this record has already been verified. Heck of a good find for the kitchen floor. The kitchen is proving to be a seriously effective trap for rare species.

Friends appeared from north and we went for a walk around the community woodland in the afternoon. Standing by one of the small pools and a beast from the deep appeared on the surface.

Newt sp -  Lissotriton

Lissotriton newts are tricky to identify, ideally you have to see the throat and if it is spotted or not. There was no choice, insect net was deployed and with a quick dip a newt was captured.

No spots on the throat = Lissotriton helveticus Palmate Newt.

 As a bonus the net was full of Ampullaceana balthica Wandering Snail, which I'd not seen before and was new for the CCW.

I'm still doing some botany. The list of common species I've never recorded  is fairly shocking, Harrap's book is helping but an attempt to download a plant list for a tetrad around home was unsuccessful, I need to read the BSBI instructions most likely.

Latest common plant to be added is...

Ceratium globeratum Sticky Mouse-ear

 Also found Gooseberry growing out in the wild, a good way from any garden. Currently puzzling over various small Cruciferae species....

Migrants

A while back (2019, time flies) Sarathy Korwar released an album - More Arriving, which I like very much, both the music and the humanity expressed resonate in these divisive times (digital album available on Bandcamp for £7.20ish). Anyway, this is a bit of a crude device to put some politics (Scottish Parliament elections approaching....) into a bit a seasonal phenomenon with migrant birds currently trickling back to their breeding grounds. I heard Cuckoo yesterday at the community woodland whilst minding my insect traps, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were also present.

The main migrant event (in the natural as opposed to human world) has been a huge arrival of moths from Mauritania/Western Sahara (thanks SN), namely Small Mottled Willow Spodoptera exigua. I trapped in our garden on 7th April and there were two Spodoptera exigua, one netted in the evening and one in the blue LED Heath trap.

Small Mottled Willow Spodoptera exigua

 

According to Leverton and Cubitt 2024 these are the first records for Mid-Perthshire. The next night I trapped at the community woodland and caught another. That would indicate there are many thousands at loose in the Perthshire countryside.

These light trapping sessions, at home and  at the community woodland were excellent overall. I'd not seen Small Mottled Willow before so that was NFM, and there was also Satellite in the trap which I've seen very few of. The next evening at the CCW there were two more moth species NFM, a very fresh and smart Lead-coloured Drab and two Eriocrania sangii as well as another Satellite and a Water Carpet.

Satellite

Eriocrania sangii

Lead-coloured Drab

Water Carpet

The Eriocrania sangii are slightly problematic. The better marked one looked good for E. sangii, but unfortunately there is a confusion species, E. semipurpurella. The extent of the pale tornal spot should be good enough to determine the species but I noticed online a comment that dissection might be necessary, and checking Chris Lewis' commentary he also recommended dissection for certainty. Females are fairly straightforward to determine with dissection, the differences with males are more subtle. One of my specimens had lost most of its scales, although there were long scales on the hind wings so it was one of these two species, just possibly I had both.

Dissecting tiny moths seems like an impossible task but generally it is surprisingly easy, chop off the abdomen and put it in 10% KOH. Just leave it there for 10 hours or so at a cool temperature, everything can be speeded up by increasing the temperature, but don't completely dissolve the specimen! Then tease everything apart under the microscope with mounting pins. 

The two moths turned out to be males and the dissections required removing the aedaegus from the rest of the genital apparatus. The differences are quite subtle -explanation here- 

https://www.mothdissection.co.uk/species.php?ABH=2.00800 

 

Aedaegus of each moth.

 

The whole gendet.

Subtle,but I think these are ok for E. sangii.

 On a somewhat lighter note a pair of Long-tailed Tits performed rather nicely for me at the CCW.

Long-tailed Tit.

To more earthy  matters, the dead leveret by the hub is a treasure trove, if a tad smelly.

Why a treasure trove? Because it is full of beetles. Catops chrsomeloides (confirmed MS, thank you) was the smallest and most active, requiring a rather disgusting poot from the corpse! Nicrophorus vespilloides was spectacular but not unexpected, Thanatophilus rugosus, familiar, and the next day quite a few Oiceoptoma thoracicum, something I'd not seen prior to moving to Perthshire.

Red-breasted Carrion Beetle Oiceoptoma thoracicum, on the hare and on other suitably enticing carrion there were 30 in all.

Nicrophorus vespilloides

 The Common Whitlowgrass is, well, common at the woodland this year and even flowering under the hub building.

Common Whitlowgrass Erophila verna

In the sunshine there were quite a few Peacock Butterflies, Dark-bordered Bee-fly and a few hoverflies which I struggled to photograph or identify. I need to go back with a net.

Peacock Aglais io
 

A couple of Drinker were likely searching for somewhere to pupate.

Drinker Euthrix potatoria

 

The vane traps have begun to capture things, although I need to modify them as they require a better rain guard. I'll probably report on those in the next post, but they are producing beetle species I'm unfamiliar with, so much time is required to identify the captures.

Finally, and in another obtuse political reference linking with the post title, there was a small drama on the surface of the pond by the hub. On inspecting it I found Pterostichus nigrita/rhaeticus swimming across the surface, not what either species is adapted for (to species by dissection only), it must have fallen in. The carnivorous pond skaters (species not determined) took a significant interest and it looked like the beetle was going to be dinner. But, perhaps the bugs were sated on tadpole, the Pterostichus made it to some vegetation and clambered out. 

Pterostichus nigrita/rhaeticus- more fortunate than many humans trying to reach UK shores.