Joy of Wildlife Waddlers

Wednesday 4th September, Dingle Farm, Bicton

Dingle Farm is an arable farm with free range chickens and some other animals. An area of the farm has been set aside encourage improved biodiversity. The north of the site is bounded by the River Severn and a small tributary runs down the western edge. There is a separate area of wetland a little way from the main area.

Once we had parked up and prepared, our hosts guided us onto the farm. Unfortunately, they overestimated the speed at which entomologists travel as they strode out passing some rather good-looking rough vegetation. 

A few of us hung back in this area to make some early records. 

However, we soon regathered and entered the first field.

We headed straight to the well vegetated field margin and hedgerow. And insects were soon observed, photographed, or potted and shown to our hosts.

A Long-winged conehead.

Photograph: David Williams

Some Dock bug nymphs.

Photograph: David Williams

And a Roesel’s bush cricket.

Photograph: David Williams

Beating thistles revealed a tortoise bug, Cassida rubignosa.

Photograph: David Williams

Our hosts departed as they had other things to do. We carried on in our usual manner.

The hedgerow and vegetation were very productive.

A Bramble leaf was spotted that hosted three species. From left to right in the photograph a Green shieldbug, a Cluster fly (species unknown) and a Hairy shieldbug.

Photograph: David Williams

A nettle was observed that was inhabited by a cluster of Heterogaster urticae nymphs and adults.

Several leaves of an English Elm within the hedgerow were home to numerous galls caused by the mite Aceria campestricola.

Photograph: John Martin

Not everyone dallied looking at the hedgerow so we became rather strung out. I did a head count and a few of the group had wandered out of sight. 

I was not overly concerned.

They were experienced responsible adults.

They would turn up at lunchtime, if not before.

At some point a Silver Y larva was photographed.

Photograph: David Williams

A gap in the hedgerow took us into a second field. We again headed straight for the hedgerow on the far side.

Unfortunately this was less productive. We had been spoilt by the first.

Lunchtime was fast approaching.

We intended to take lunch at the side of the River Severn. I remembered from my preliminary visit, in the winter, that there was a large flattish area on the river bank, and that access was down a path from the corner of this field.

We made our way to the corner.

No path down.

Oops!

Looking round there was a gate in the corner at the other side of the field. We made for it.

On the way we noticed a pair of Small whites, apparently so busy doing what they were doing that they seemed oblivious to what was going on around them. They made no attempt to fly away as we approached and photographed them and even tried to pry their wings apart slightly to determine what they were.

Through the gate we went and were met by another large field.

Ah yes.

The memory came back.

The path down to the River Severn was in the corner of this field!

We progressed towards it.

A Tree damsel bug was beaten out of the hedge.

Photograph: David Williams

We also found an Orange ladybird adult and larva.

Photograph: David Williams

And towards the target corner we noticed a single blue flower of Chicory that had either survived the hay cut or grown since the cut.

Descending the path down to the River Severn I was rather flustered to see that the flat area I remembered was now covered in fairly dense vegetation!

Including some Orange balsam.

Photograph: John Martin

Gathering by the river was out of the question. But one person did decide to perch there.

The rest of us found a spot nearby that was less vegetated.

As we ate lunch, one of our hosts turned up grasping a cake tin.

The tin was full of Apple cake which was distributed amongst the gathering.

My plan almost worked. All but one did turn up at the lunch spot.

Eventually even he arrived ... and he was carrying an extra bag.

And in that bag were hot cheese and onion pasties.

These were distributed.

What a feast!

Time to move on.

The plan was to follow the path through the woodland away from the river following the stream that formed the boundary to the site.

We passed a Sycamore. This was beaten and out popped a spider, Dieae dorsata.

Photograph: David Williams

Continuing alongside the stream we noticed a plant that seemed out of place – a Tree fern.

This was identified as Dicksonia antarctica, or Australian tree ferns. Here is another photograph showing the fronds.

Photograph: John Martin

On we went.

Just visible through the vegetation was this log covered by a host of fungi (species unidentified). [Post publication the fungi have been identified as fairy inkcaps, Coprinellus disseminatus.]

Here is a closer view of the fungi.

We found some Enchanter’s nightshade. This plant is the host for the stilt bug Metropis rufescens. And one was found.

Photograph: David Williams

Word got back to us from those heading the woodland walk that the path was impassible further on. We left the woodland by heading up the slope into the bordering field.

Near the top of the slope we saw a fungus which "Obsidentify", an identification app, was 98% certain that it was a Collared earthstar, Geastrum triplex.

Entering the field, after a bit of bimbling around the field margin, we started to make our way back.

A hay bale provided a handy seat for a rest.

It started to rain. It curtailed thoughts of moving to another area of the farm. Our rate of progress increased many-fold!

Still, the rain did not deter the occasional pause for observation.

A Fig-leaved goosefoot.

Photograph: John Martin

And a soldierfly was found on a hawthorn, Sargus bipunctatus.

Photograph: John Martin

We think the bipunctatus, i.e. two spots, are the two white areas by the eyes, as there are no spots anywhere else. As with all the soldierflies it has been given a military based common name – "Twin spot centurion".

And now a curiosity. A beetle, we think a rove beetle, that was a contortionist, able to bend its abdomen over its back to form, almost, a ball. Here is a montage of the various poses observed.

Photograph: David Williams

Finally, our new species for the county this week was a frit fly, Chlorops laetus.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

However, that was not the end of the day. When we reached the starting point we were shown into a polytunnel where some hay bales had be laid out for seating and treated to a drink. 

And more...

This was followed by food, a freshly prepared tomato, cheese and potato salad.

We waddled home after an excellent day.

My thanks to the owners of Dingle Farm for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing, for their 5-star refreshments and to the photographers for providing their excellent images for this report.

Joy of Wildlife Chorale

Wednesday 28th August, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre

Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre is situated in Craven Arms and occupies about 30 acres of grassland and woodland bordering the River Onny. It also boasts a fine Visitors Centre.

I was away on holiday enjoying myself. And whilst the cat (me) was away the mice came out to play! In all about 24 people took part in the event at some time during the visit.

The day started warm and dry but with such a large number of people present it took ages to get out of the car park, not as there were lots of invertebrates to check out, but due to the time it took to get ready and, of course, have a good natter.

Eventually they set off, but progress was very slow as people lingered around the hedgerow and the surrounding habitats.

For anyone who has witnessed any of our trips you will know that the suction samplers tend to bring up the rear. BUT on this occasion, they streaked ahead and had to wait for the others to catch them up!

Apparently, there were a good number of bugs (always the case when I am not there), smaller numbers than usual of springtails, spiders and weevils. However, "nice" beetles kept turning up, but not many bumble bees and only a few hoverflies were seen.

Lunch was drawing near, and progress had been snail-like. It took a herculean effort to reach the river where there was a large picnic bench.

Lunch was taken.

It was near here that the cramp ball weevils were observed (photographs later in this report).

Until this time the habitats had been very similar, so the group hiked towards the southern end of the site where there was more bare ground.

Like many sites although there were still bare patches there was much more scrub.

Then the weather played its trump card.

No sooner had everyone arrived at the southern end – the part furthest from the car park – than it started to rain. It soon got heavier, and the sky got darker and darker. 

As there was no sign of any breaks in the cloud play was abandoned for the day. The group returned to the visitor centre at a rate proportional to the heaviness of the rain!

To the café, where a group, quietly celebrating a birthday, were somewhat nonplussed to be invaded by a large group of wet entomologists eagerly seeking tea and cake.

Photograph: Clare Boyes

However, after a hearty rendition of Happy Birthday by the group all was forgiven.

There have not been many people treated to the massed voices of the Joy of Wildlife Chorale.

Now… who should we approach for a recording contract?

Oh! 

I almost forgot.

What was seen during the day?

Here are some photographs.

A Saucer bug.

Photograph: John Martin

A water bug, Notonecta glauca.

Photograph: John Martin

A rhopalid bug, Corizus hyoscyami.

Photograph: David Williams

Hairy shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

Green shieldbugs, an adult and a nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

A River limpet.

Photograph: Mags Cousins

Cramp ball weevil, Platyrhinus resinosus.

Photograph: David Williams

What a curious insect.

They were found on one of the series of “invertebrate logs” erected on the site.

Photograph: Clare Boyes

Apparently the larvae are deposited inside the Cramp-ball (or King Alfred's Cake if you prefer) where they feed on the fungus. The adults then feed on the bark on the log.

Here is another photograph.

Photograph: David Williams

A barkfly, Stenopsocus stigmaticus.

Photograph: John Lyden

A hoverfly, Neoascia podagrica.

Photograph: John Bingham

A bug Arocatus longiceps / roeselii.

Photograph: David Williams

Why the peculiar name?

It was thought that there were two species, Arocratus longiceps which occurs on Plane trees and Arocratus  roeselli which occurs on Alder. However recent research suggests that there does not seem to be any differences between the two species, so they are currently known by this rather clunky name Arocatus longiceps / roeselii.

 Tree pipit (as a change from all these invertebrates!).

Photograph: John Martin

A Slender-horned leatherbug nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

Another change to bring relief, a plant, Broadleaved helleborine.

Photograph: John Martin

A Red underwing.

Photograph: John Martin

A weevil-looking beetle that is not a weevil, Brachidius varius.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

And finally, the prize for finding the "smallest insect in a tray" goes to our summariser, Jim, who found this delightful fairy-wasp, measuring about 0.5mm body-length. Remarkably it was identified by an expert as Mymar pulchellum.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

My thanks Grow Cook and Learn for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing, to Jim for providing a summary of the day and to the photographers for providing their excellent images for this report.

Telford’s best heathland

Wednesday 21st August, Langley Fields, Telford

Langley Fields is a large spoil heap between Town Park and Dawley in Telford. Don't be fooled by the "Fields"

Over the years it has been allowed to naturalise and has been known as Telford’s best example of a heathland.

When I first came to Telford in 1981 I worked in a collection of Portacabins on the edge of the area. Little did I know or find out about this site at that time. I used to take an occasional lunchtime walk around and about, but, to me, it was just somewhere convenient to place some temporary office accommodation. 

Over the years it has survived various threats and continued to develop naturally with some periodic human intervention, the latest being work carried out by Buglife as part of their B-Lines project.

 

Recently Telford and Wrekin Council declared the site as a Local Nature Reserve.

The intention was to park the cars on the side of the road by an entrance to the site, just beyond the new school and sport’s centre that occupies (approximately) the area where the portacabins were in 1981.

However, a local resident complained and told us to park on the generously wide pavement. Parking on the pavement seemed wrong, but we did as we were asked. I am not sure what happens during school terms when parents accumulate along this road to collect their children.

Parking sorted and kitted out and ready to go we entered the site.

An early find was a Long-winged conehead.

Photograph: David Williams

The following photograph was taken much later in the day but I am including it now as it is a good example of the type of habitat in which we spent our time exploring.

One insect associated with heather is the Heather ladybird.

Photograph: David Williams

Despite the amount of heather found in Shropshire the Heather ladybird is quite elusive and rarely found.

A more unwelcome insect of heather is Heather beetle.

Photograph: John Martin

Unfortunately, we did not find a Heather shieldbug.

Due to a number of reasons, which are incredibly boring to relate, we were soon spread out. Whilst some of us concentrated on the heathery habitat and the trees found in it, others went off to explore one of the pools. 

Here are some of the insects that were found on and around the pool.

A couple of Common pondskater nymphs.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

An emerald damselfly.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

A Common darter.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Those of us staying on the drier land came across a micro-ladybird, Scymnus suturalis.

Photograph: David Williams

A rather elaborately haired Pale tussock moth larva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

An Oak bush cricket passing the time of day in an Oak tree.

An ichneumon wasp which may be an Amblyteles armatorius.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A very hairy beetle, Lagria hirta.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a lacebug, Tingis ampliata, that is associated with Creeping thistle.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Remarkably it was lunchtime. Time flies when you are enjoying yourself!

And equally remarkably everyone regrouped in this area.

Langley Fields has a lot of bare areas. These are kept clear by constant use and, I suspect, by various two-wheeled (and maybe more) activities taking place on the site. Whilst this may be frowned on in an area reserved for “nature” it is actually serving a useful purpose.

We had lunch.

Lunch over we did a bit more searching around the edge of this large bare patch before drifting off slowly to the far, northeastern corner of the site.

More Heather ladybirds were found together with Pine ladybirds. One of each was photographed with an innocent bystander trapped between them, which was a tiny springtail, Entomobrya nivalis.

Photograph: David Williams

Whilst considering tiny things we noticed a Gorse bush covered in silk with a host of minute Gorse mites in close attendance.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

There was quite a lot of Ragwort on the site and after much looking we eventually found a Cinnabar moth larva.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And on one of the Ragwort flowers we found what looked like a gall.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

This structure is caused by the fly, Botanophila seneciella. It is not a gall, but froth created by the fly larva that that has dried around a bunch of the florets protruding above the rest.

I heard a grasshopper.

A bit of a surprise as, in my advanced years, I cannot usually hear them.

The long burst of clicking, with help of a wonderful new field guide, informed me it was a Common green grasshopper.

It turns out that I did not hear any of the other grasshoppers and crickets on the site. Here are some of them.

A Mottled grasshopper.

Photograph: David Williams

A Roesel’s bush cricket.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a pair of Field grasshoppers doing what comes naturally.

Photograph: David Williams

We made a lot of use of our suction samplers throughout the visit. This led to the inevitable team inspections of the trays when the samplers were emptied.

Photograph: Neil Nash

Fortunately, the ground was dry.

Here are some of the invertebrates that turned up in these samples.

A Tortoise shieldbug nymph.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

If you look carefully to the left of the bug you will see our favourite wasp, Callitula pyrrhogaster. To give you an idea of its size the shieldbug is about 10mm in length.

The suction samplers are far better at collecting beetles than we are. 

A ladybird, 24-spot.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A ground beetle, Badister bullatus.

Photograph: John Martin

And a water scavenger beetle, Coelostoma orbiculare.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

They also tempt arachnids from their hiding places!

A Garden cross spider.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

A harvestman, Phalangium opilio, also know by the group as Captain Beaky due to the pointed protrusions at the front of its body.#

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

And a very long-legged harvestman, Dicranopalpus ramosus agg. (the agg. is because there is more than one species that looks like this).

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Very occasionally we pick up moths. I do not know if this one was found by our suction sampling or by less mechanical means, Argyresthia goedartella.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Let’s put the suction samplers to one side and concentrate on species that we observed as we meandered our way to the end of the site. A few hoverflies were seen including one of the largest and easily recognisable, Sericomyia silentis.

Photograph: Nigel Cane-Honeysett

Another large hoverfly, which seems to crop up every now and then in the Telford area, was Volucella inanis.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

And a very striking Xanthogramma pedissequum.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

Also on the wing was an Alder sawfly, Enocampa ovata.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

Back to doing what comes naturally, a pair of Spiked shieldbugs was noticed which were mating whilst the female seems to be feeding on a larva. Was this a gift from the suitor?

Photograph: Nigel Jones

We had now reached the far end of the site where a gap in the trees and a seat provided a spot to rest and look out over Telford and beyond.

All we had to do now was walk back across the site to the cars and go home.

After the event I was informed that there were two fly species found that were new to Shropshire:

A frit fly (Chloropidae) which is a small fly with a big name: Pseudopachychaeta oscinina. This is a Nationally Scarce species thought to be associated with spike rushes Eleocharis sp.;

And a Big-headed fly (Pipunculidae) which is a froghopper hunter (boo!). This is another small fly, but, as the family common name implies, it has a big head: Cephalops varipes. This was numerous in marginal vegetation of ponds.

We also made the second record of a picture wing fly, Acinia corniculata. Here are pictures of the male and female.

Male.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

Female.

Photograph: Nigel Jones

My thanks to Telford and Wrekin Council for granting us permission to do what we enjoy doing and to the photographers for providing their excellent images for this report.