Creepy-crawlies in the Cemetery

Bridgnorth Cemetery, Wednesday 19th June 2019

After our second wash-out of the year the previous Wednesday we looked forward to a day in the sun and warmth at Bridgnorth Cemetery. 

Looking forward to and reality do not always agree but on this occasion, apart from a few insignificant drops of rain and some rather large clouds, they did, providing welcome relief from the run of poor weather that has dogged us this month.

The day did not start well. The area we were going to park in was cordoned off due to "essential tree work" and all the obvious parking spaces within the cemetery were taken up by Bridgnorth Council vehicles. Eventually we parked in front of one of the chapels hoping that it was not going to be needed during the day.

The cemetery appeared to be in two halves. The first section where the graves seemed to be arranged in a random pattern with the vegetation allowed to prosper:

And the second with the graves in neat rows:

We spent most of our time wandering around the first section as the longer vegetation is more attractive to insects giving them areas to feed, breed and hide. Also the older headstones are often colonised by lichens:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Lichens form communities on the stones and as with other life forms some lichens predate on others to gain the resources they need to survive:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

In the photograph above the lichen on the right is a Cladonia and the one on the left is Diploschistes muscorum which is attacking the Cladonia for its algae to help it develop.

Many insects feed on algae and others use it for shelter. On another stone a host of mites could be seen around and on a lichen:

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Lichens and the stones they are on also provide excellent backgrounds for photographs. I cannot vouch for whether the following insect were found on the surfaces they were photographed on or placed there for the background effect:

A Chequered click beetle - Prosternon tessellatum

Photograph: Bob Kemp

 A nymph of a forest bug - Pentatoma rufipes

Photograph: Bob Kemp

 A Middle-barred minor moth:

Photograph: David Williams

A zebra spider with prey

Photograph: Bob Kemp

 And a moth that was new to me - a Bird's-wing moth.

Photograph: David Williams

Where there are stones aggregated into a structure there will be gaps between them which can be exploited. One such exploiter is a spider of the genus Amaurobius which builds its web across the holes and cracks and waits for its victims in the space behind. It can be enticed out of its lair by the judicious use of an electric toothbrush on the web.

The day was not all about stones, lichens and using them as background for photographs or teasing out spiders, we did search the vegetation and the trees.

The day saw the debut of a new piece of machinery to help our searches: the battery powered leaf blower. As with the petrol version it can be plumbed to suck rather than blow. This was used extensively until the bag used to collect the material split. After that we had to resort to our old favourite the moth-vac.

The battery-vac has a much smaller nozzle which may lead to reduced catches but it is about a quarter of the weight of the moth-vac and easier to handle making it a very attractive piece of equipment. I will try to include a picture of it in action in a later report.

Back to the animals that we found.

Great excitement from our Spider-Man greeted the discovery of this harvestman:

Photograph: David Williams

This is Homalenotus quadridentatus and was only the second time it had been found in the county.

We found a host on nymphs and larvae.

Firstly a couple of ladybird larvae.

A very ornate larva that develops into a small yellow and black ladybird common in grassland - a 24-spot ladybird:

Photograph: David Williams

A more plain one that will develop into a large red and black ladybird that lives primarily in Scot's pine - a Cream-streaked ladybird:

Photograph: David Williams

Next a couple of moth larvae.

A Scarce footman:

Photograph: David Williams

And a Mullein, found unsurprisingly on a Mullein plant.

And finally in this kiddies section some grasshoppers and their relations.

A meadow grasshopper:

Photograph: David Williams

An oak bush cricket:

Photograph: David Williams

And an aptly named Speckled bush cricket.

Photograph: David Williams

And what of the adults?

Here are a few.

The moth vac was very effective at finding a number of Bordered shieldbugs. These are normally quite elusive but when one is found you may well find several. And so it proved here when half a dozen or so were found.

Photograph: David Williams

A second much more common species of shieldbug was found. This is known by two common names Sloe bug or Hairy shieldbug (the nymphs are very hairy - less noticeable on the adults). Its scientific name is Dolycoris baccarum.

Photograph: David Williams

Hoverflies seem to be very scarce this year. We were hopeful at the start of the season that numbers may have recovered but that early optimism has died of late as they have proven harder to find. This one is Volucella pellucens.

Photograph: David Williams

Our final adult is one that is easy to overlook as just another blue damselfly - a White-legged damselfly. 

Photograph: David William

So a great day amongst the creepy-crawlies in the cemetery came to an end. Yet again we managed to visit an excellent site that has a desire to look after the needs of our animals as well as respecting the reason for its existence.

And finally I hope that the driver of this car before driving off remembered that he had put his photographic equipment on the roof.

Until next time, Bye!

Thank you to Bridgnorth Council and the staff at the Cemetery for letting us do what we enjoy doing; to Caring for God's Acre for making all the arrangements and to the photographers David Williams and Bob Kemp for providing their photographs for me to use.

Awayday

Llwyn-derw, Wednesday 5th June 2019

Shropshire was left far behind for a day out in mid-Wales to a farm owned by one of our group. The farm is situated just west of Llanidloes. It consists of meadows that border the River Severn and rises to upland pastures where cattle graze.

On arrival we were treated to morning coffee/tea and bara brith. A delightful way to start. (It was raining at the time.)

Sharing the table with the goodies and the centre of attention was a small ant colony that are used as a teaching aid when our host provides training on ants.

Full of liquid and welsh cake we made our way to the meadows where we had been asked to survey.

Photograph: David Williams

But before we got down to entomologizing a couple of moth traps that had been running overnight were checked.

Photograph: John Sweetland

Time to get down to "work". Some early finds were a scorpion fly Panorpa communis

Photograph: David Williams

The inset shows the males genital capsule which resembles a scorpions sting giving the fly its common name. It is harmless. The species can be identified from the shape of the structures on the capsule.

A "down-looker" fly, Rhagio scolopaceus:

Photograph: David Williams

The name arises from their habit of resting head down as shown in the photograph.

Yes, I could have turned it around to prove the point, but I didn't, they really do rest like this.

Finally a bizarre looking weevil, the hazel leaf roller Apoderus coryli:

Photograph: John Sweetland

Once again the earlier rain had made sweeping difficult, but we gave it a go.

Photograph: John Sweetland

The results were a few insects and a very wet net. We resorted to the vacuum sampler! But observation by many eyes was proving the most productive method of finding things including this Volucella bombylans hoverfly.

Photograph; John Sweetland

Between two of the meadows was a small pool.

Amongst the vegetation surrounding this pool we spotted a Large red damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula:

Photograph: John Sweetland

And the colourful larva of a yellow-tail moth.

You may have noticed in the photograph of the pool a jetty. This had a sturdy rail on either side which made excellent perches for us whilst indulging in lunch.

The pool supported a good colony of gypsywort and this plant:

Photograph: John Sweetland

I am no botanist but this looks like a forget-me-not and it is in water, so is it a Water forget-me-not, Myosotis scorpioides?

Ah!, It's not so simple. Looking at the Natural History Museum's species dictionary there are three water forget-me-nots! Common, Creeping and Short-leaved. Help!!

Near to the pool was our only glimpse of the River Severn. Here it is no more than a wide stream making it hard to believe what it becomes as it flows out to sea.

We moved on to the uplands but before leaving the meadows we paused to look at the view:

And noticed more down-looker flies. But these were not looking down they were far too busy.

Photograph: David Williams

Small pearl-bordered fritillaries were our target now. There is a colony on the farm and a few had been seen before our arrival.

On the way we saw a large click beetle with comb-like antennae and two-tone wings -
Ctenicera cuprea.

Nearby there were a couple of Dor beetles making there way across the path.

Photograph: John Sweetland

Occupying the head of a hawkweed/hawkbit type flower were several Oedemera beetles.

Photograph: Les Hughes

Whilst overhead a red kite kept watch.

Photograph: David Williams

Our search for the fritillary was rewarded. One was spotted in the vegetation of a wet flush, but it was too far away to get a good view. We needed to find others that we could get a good look at.

We followed a path that went past a small pool where there was a variety of habitats for us to look at which some of us did whilst others searched for the elusive butterfly.

A green hairstreak was located in the grass.

And a Scalloped hook-tip moth on a birch tree.

Climbing a small hill at the side of the pool gave a good view down the small valley that we had just come up.

You will notice the bracken in the foreground. Bracken can be a nuisance and is difficult to control or eradicate but like many pests there are stages in its development when it is attractive, such as a frond that is ready to unfurl.

Photograph: John Sweetland

The search continued.

Someone came hurrying back... clasping something between his hands... was it the butterfly.

No.

A small elephant hawk-moth. Such a delightful moth it deserves two photographs here.

Photograph: David Williams

Photograph: John Sweetland

The search continued...

Nothing seen. Eventually we gave up and made our way back to the start.

But we kept our eyes peeled.

And as we made our way down the valley two or three flighty orange butterflies were spotted. Unfortunately they did not settle.

A couple of us chased them hoping that they would land and we could get a closer up view (to confirm that they were really small pearl-bordered fritillaries).

They settled.

As we got nearer they took to flight again, hither and thither across a patch of very wet vegetation making pursuit difficult.

They settled

As we got nearer they took to flight again …

This passage occurred several times before we gave up and returned to the others, spotting a small copper on the way.

What were the others looking at and photographing in a gorse bush next to the path?

Yes, a small pearl-bordered fritillary!!!!!

Photograph: David Williams

Content we continued on our way back to the start, only to have our progress checked by the appearance of another butterfly, a Large skipper.

Photograph: David Williams

As we passed through a small woodland there were a few bluebells still in flower.

What an excellent day.

My thanks to Richard Becker for inviting us to and showing us around his farm and to the photographers David Williams, John Sweetland and Les Hughes for letting me use there excellent photographs.