We were a reduced group on this trip which was just as well as the car park was full. Our trip coincided with a mass emergence of Edge Renewables vans which occupied many of the spaces. We were, however able to slip between the vans to find an alternative parking area at the side of the offices.
Seven of us gathered by the cars, exchanged pleasantries then added extra layers of clothing to combat the stiff biting breeze, booted up, put on high visibility jackets, signed in en masse, grabbed nets, trays, sticks and bags and set off. We immediately split into two as the great spider hunter went off to the far end of the quarry to carry out his regular monitoring whilst the rest of us meandered elsewhere.
Our first stop was a grassland where we found Centrotus cornutus, a rather bizarre looking treehopper whose pronotum extends sideways to form horns and backwards to cover the whole of the abdomen. It is not a particularly rare bug but it is a delight to find it. Unfortunately it was not as pleased to see us and did not hang about to be photographed. If you would like to see what it looks like then follow this link to the British Bugs website.
We have visited this grassland nearly every time that we have been to Lea Quarry and it was noticeable that the amount of invasive scrub had increased significantly since our first few visits last year.
From the grassland we made our way slowly and in several small parties to the end of the quarry known as the regeneration area. Along the way I found a 2-spot ladybird in a small tree that defied my attempts to identify it.
And nearby I disturbed a Forest bug nymph.
Most shieldbugs that you see at the moment are adults but the Forest bug overwinters as a nymph, becoming adult around July. If you find a shieldbug nymph early in the year it is likely to be a Forest bug.
As we walked along it was obvious that the dominant flora had changed since our last visit. Gone were the yellows of the cowslips and primroses, the violets were less in evidence; these were replaced by stands of purple Aquilegia. I have this plant, or rather a cultivated relative, in my garden; I did not realise it occurred naturally.
Eventually we reached the great spider hunter sitting on his rucksack chair peering into a tray of debris extracted from his “spidervac” casually selecting spiders for identification. It was time for lunch.
Satiated we continued looking for things of interest. I casually beat a hawthorn and out fell an enormous black bee with a long triangular abdomen tipped in red and dark wings. This was the cuckoo bee Bombus rupestris. Rather like the Cuckoo, the bird, cuckoo bees take over the nests of others. In this case B rupestris takes over the nest of the red-tailed bumble bee B. lapidarius. More information about this bee can be found by following this link to the BWARS website.
We moved on and entered a grassland area tucked away between the quarry and the top of Wenlock Edge. Here there was more purple in the form of several Early-purple orchids.
In this area we also netted a small pale slim ground bug Cymus claviculus which although rumoured to be common is the first time it has been recorded in Shropshire since the first record in 1985.
We wandered around some more until deciding to call it a day and head home.
Once again my thanks to Edge Renewables for allowing us access to the site.
Keith Fowler
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to comment on this post...