Anyway, I have kept plugging away and the list has risen to 258. Additions have been as follows:
Clubiona terrestris - a spider found in the moth-trap. I'd rather some moths to be honest, but nice to clinch this one - a female ID on epigyne pattern.
Segestria senoculata - a spider found whilst sorting out our woodpile; quite a distinctive thing.
Intermediate Screw-moss Syntrichia intermedia - on our front patio within sight of this computer...
Springy Turf-moss Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus - searched for, and found, on the lawn following postings of others
Pointed Spear-moss Calliergonella cuspidata - found (and photographed) at the same time as previous species
Schendyla nemorensis - a centipede, bit of a tricky one but looked OK
White-shouldered House-moth Endrosis sarcitrella - found by my son in his bedroom
Barren Strawberry Potentilla sterilis - in flower! What's it thinking of?!
Nipplewort Lapsana communis - leaves only
Great Willowherb Epilobium hirsutum - leaves only
Marsh Tit Poecile palustris - this bird has been holding territory just outside the square boundary for a while. I may have encouraged it to cross the line slightly. Annoyingly, a Brambling sat near it did not follow suit and remained stubbonly outside the square.
Empoasca vitis - tiny green leafhoppers beaten from Yew. I happened to have bought a key to the subfamily Typhlocybinae of the family Cicadellidae several years ago, a bit by mistake to be honest, and I've never found an opportunity to use it until today. Surprisingly easy really (although the 45 x microscope helped a tad...)
Eristalis tenax - dronefly on the wing, albeit sluggishly, today. Most hopeful sign of spring so far.
Allajulus nitidus - a slightly less common millipede but I think it looks OK.
Polydesmus angustus - a mating pair - male ID on gonopod shape.
Silpha atrata - beetle found under a log today
Phytoptus avellanae - thanks to Seth's tip, found some larger hazel buds and the teeny weeny mites inside - thanks Seth.
Large White Pieris brassicae - an unusual first butterfly of the year, but I finally got round to looking carefully at a pupa on the wall of the house.
Springy Turf-moss and Pointed Spear-moss on the lawn
Intermediate Screw-moss. (I hate mosses.)
Barren Strawberry
Allajulus nitidus is a good find, and one up on me. I hope you're right but the tail-tip characters of iulid millipedes (upturned vs. straight/downcurved with or without a downcurved hook) are not always straightforward, especially on immatures. And can be damaged. So worth keeping a specimen.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. Yes, these tail-tip characters seem pretty critical in the key but I have struggled with them, and certainly had Tachy.niger with a broken tail tip so far. The jump from my 30x scope to my current (borrowed) 45x with brighter lights has helped enormously and this does look definitively straight on this one. But I think you're right that I should be cautious and I'll hang on to it for comparison with other beasties in future. Might even be able to get a photo.
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