We travelled south to the Wyre Forest to join members of Invertebrate Challenge in a search for Long-horned beetles and bugs (and anything else that took our fancy). Nine of us made the trip, easily outnumbering the members of Invertebrate Challenge. We are not crowing; it was a team effort.
Not wishing to keep you in suspense we did find two long-horned beetles. Unfortunately both were the same species Rutpela maculata; the first insect was found feeding on an umbellifer, I am not sure where the second was observed.
That is one of our target groups ticked off, what about bugs? In all we found seven species of shieldbugs and their allies and a reasonable selection of hoppers and other bugs. The star of the day (for me) was the Tortoise bug Eurygaster testudinaria. It is not a shieldbug I have seen before. Fortunately, we had a couple of the Wyre Forest group with us who were able to confirm that they are present in the forest.
I found two adult and one nymph. The Great Spider Catcher, who had forsaken his mega-pooter (or “Spider-Vac” as he prefers to call it) in favour of a voluminous sweep-net, then proceeded to collect several more. Later as we lunched one of the Invertebrate Challengers found a rather fetching orangey-pink teneral nymph (which nicely matched her rainproof). This species of bug is clearly as common as muck in this area.
Another interesting find was the Wood Dor Beetle Anoplotrupes stercorosus. We stumbled across these quite frequently as they bimbled about on the short grass and bare earth of the rides. We were treated to a demonstration of how to listen to a beetle “rasping” but many of us refused to have a go fearing the beetle would find the warmth and darkness of our ears too attractive to resist.
As we lunched, in the company of a Silver-washed fritillary, a curious looking beetle was netted. It was soon identified as a member of the Silphidae which are “burying” beetles. However our beetle was a “non-burying” member of the family Oiceoptoma thoracicum which is usually found in woodland attracted by dung, carcasses and rotting fungi – clearly our sandwiches were not as fresh as we thought.
After lunch we continued to wander about and spotted a collection of Buff-tip Phalera bucephala caterpillars on a birch. According to the UK Moths website “the yellow-and-black caterpillars live gregariously and feed on a number of different deciduous trees, sometimes defoliating entire branches.” They were certainly making short work of this unfortunate tree.
Birch shieldbugs Elasmostethus interstinctus were also in the “common as muck” category. They were all over the place - on oak, bracken, heather and just about every plant and, yes, birch. I found one birch leaf, which you must concede is quite small, supporting a group of seven late instars and adults. Unfortunately my photograph of this leaf and its supporting cast was not in focus so you will have to imagine the scene.
Our final significant find was neither a beetle nor a bug but a Golden-ringed dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii resting on Bracken that had grown up alongside a fallen Silver birch. It seemed quite content for us to look at it and patiently posed for photographs even ignoring a slight jolt that I gave it when I got too close with the camera.
During the day the Great Shieldbug Finder took my photograph. Thank you; it will redress the balance for all my photographs of others within the group. Here it is:
We returned to the cars (uphill most of the way) in good spirits.
What a good day.
Friday 22nd August 2014
The second trip of the week was a day out in the south west of the county in the wilds to the west of Clun. I did warn drivers that they needed a good map as it is easy to go astray on the narrow twisting and frequently un-signposted roads of this area ... and so it proved as both drivers managed to take at least one wrong turn during the journey to Lower Shortditch Turbary.
Four of us assembled at the lay-by opposite the Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s site. The weather was dry and sunny with a few fluffy clouds scudding across the sky in the stiff breeze that felt as though it came direct from the Artic. This forced the Arranger to don every layer of clothing he could find in the back of his car.
The site looked a picture with the heather in full bloom, surrounded on two sides by conifers. Photographs never capture the true impact of such landscapes but here is my effort. Please use your imagination to enhance the image to realise its true impact.
We set off across the heather and wet grassland. The ground was very well vegetated hiding very uneven wet ground underneath. It was a struggle to keep upright. The first thing I spotted was dog poo. What is the point of bringing your dog all the way to here and then just leave its waste products behind? Soon my mood was lightened as we found, in very quick succession, a Hieroglyphic ladybird and what, after considerable fumbling through guides and discussion, we decided was an instar of the Heather shieldbug (this identification will need to be confirmed by the National Recorder).
A path was found and we followed it. Unfortunately this soon disappeared but the ground was dryer and more even making progress less hazardous. Common heather was the dominant plant but, if memory serves me correctly, Bell heather and Cross-leaved Heath were also present (but don’t quote me on that, I am not a Botanist!). Bilberry was abundant and there were some Gorse and Broom bushes. The only trees I saw were Rowan and these were youngsters that seemed to be struggling to survive.
A track was found so we had a coffee break that continued into lunch. Lunching with our backs to the wind we did not notice the dark clouds gathering behind us. After lunch it started to rain, annoying but not threatening. We carried on assuming it was a passing shower and found a Painted Lady butterfly.
And the shower did pass. To be replaced by a downpour. A tactical retreat to the cars was accomplished rapidly.
After a while the rain stopped and we drove to Rhos Fiddle. Unfortunately we did not have long there so saw very little of the site which did not do it justice. All being well if these “walks” continue next year I will try to schedule a return visit in late spring or early summer.
Keith Fowler
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