Shingle Tingles

Wednesday 1st July 2026, Middle Spoad, Newcastle on Clun

Our visit this week took us to a former farm, through which the River Clun flows. This floods the meadows in winter and has a defining influence on the character of the land. The mature hedgerows and trees include willows and alders, plus several Black Poplars.
We began our investigations in a particularly scenic meadow, though we had crossed a bridge over the River Clun to get there, noting the extensive areas of exposed river shingle as we did so.

The meadow was made all the more attractive in the July sunshine by good numbers of butterflies.

Small Skipper

(both Small and Essex Skippers were present, but only the former was photographed)

Ringlet

Meadow Brown. Photo: John Martin

Small Tortoiseshell

Painted Lady

Aside from the several adult Painted Ladies, a nearly full-grown larva was spotted on knapweed.

Painted Lady larva

This provoked closer scrutiny of thistles (their usual first choice foodplant), where several others were  subsequently found.
The many other finds from the grassland areas included this Tachinid fly, Phasia pusilla

photo: Nigel Jones

And a number of hoverflies including Eristalis intricaria. 

photo: John Martin

Meanwhile, the grasses themselves were being scrutinised, and two parasitic fungi noted. This is Epichloe typhina (‘Choke’) on False Oat Grass

photo: John Lyden

And this is Ustilago filiformis (a cereal smut) on Glyceria maxima. 

photo: John Lyden

While investigations of the grassland continued, others moved to the margins and sampled the hedges. This revealed a couple of bug species in particular abundance: Heterotoma planicornis

And nymphs of the Tree Damselbug, Himacerus apterus

The attractive nymph of Deraeocoris ruber was too smart not to be photographed.

Among the many insects extracted from the oaks were a Forest Bug

And the micro moth Carcina quercana.

At this point we reach the first of several county firsts recorded on the day. The Black Poplars, notable organisms in themselves, were hosting a ‘pouch gall’ Pemphigus populinigrae, not previously recorded in Shropshire.

photos: John Lyden

A Kidney-spot Ladybird larva was beaten from one of the many willows

Continuing the river-influenced theme, various sizes of yellow sally stonefly were absolutely ubiquitous in everything we beat or swept.

Moving closer to the river, Alder Tongue Gall was recorded.

photo: John Lyden

The Alders were not having an easy time of it – these galls are caused by Taphrina sadebeckii. This has been recorded in Shropshire only once before, last century and at the other end of the county in Colemere.

photo: John Lyden

I stated above that we began our investigations in the meadows. This is not entirely correct. Our Dipterist was so taken with the river shingle that he made straight for it and then spent much of his day in it.

photo: Keith Fowler

Others joined him later. To me, river shingle means 5-spot Ladybirds, a scarce species in Britain. In Shropshire it has been recorded a couple of times, in river shingle at the Welsh edges of the county, often frustratingly on the wrong (ie Welsh) side of the river! Well, there weren’t any, at which point my interest waned, beyond snapping a male Beautiful Demoiselle.

It is fortunate that the rest of the group was more diligent, because this habitat turned out to be a goldmine of super finds. To begin with, here is a Giant Lacewing, Osmylus fulvicephalus, a most splendid creature. Most of the relatively small number of Shropshire records of this species are from the Wyre Forest and this seems to be the first one from anywhere in the southwest of the county.

A Figwort Sawfly was taken from the figwort growing on the shingle.

photo: Nigel Jones

More strongly associated with shingle or river sediment were the spider hunting wasp Anoplius concinnus, with dozens of males seen running around over a raised bed of gravel, a very local shore fly species, Athyroglossa glabra and an equally local horsefly species, Tabanus cordiger.

Tabanus cordiger. Photo: John Martin

Next, Alliopsis pilitarsis, another county second record, but of a very scarce fly with very few records nationally.

photo: Nigel Jones

And finally (for the exposed river shingle) three notable beetles. The first two are both county first records: the little click beetle Zorochros minimus

photo: Caroline Uff

And the rove beetle Philonthus rubripennis.

photo: Caroline Uff

Also found was the ground beetle Bembidion decorum, a third county record, but the first in recent times. What a day!

But we were not done yet. Dragging ourselves from the shingle and the meadows, we headed off to a pond. Sadly, but predictably given the weather, it was almost completely dry. It did admit to a couple of noteworthy finds though, including this Iris Sawfly larva, Rhadinoceraea micans. 

photo: John Martin

In the herbage next to the irises was a Poplar Hawkmoth, doing its best dead-leaves impression.

A short distance from this, another hawkmoth was spotted – an Elephant Hawkmoth.

And finally... to round the day off, a bug which was only recorded in Shropshire for the first time a couple of Wednesdays ago at Wildegoose Nursery made a second appearance:  Liorhyssus hyalinus.

 An exceptional day. Many thanks to our host for allowing us to indulge ourselves so richly.
 
  
 
Photographs © the author except as noted.