Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Dalgety Bay - flutter-bys

Even though the square has a lot of features - more than last year's apparently - I've spent a huge amount of time probably in about 100m square! This small square of old woodland and wet woodland (with pond) is so rich that I actually don't have time to go anywhere else! I'll have to force myself to though as I'm sure I'm missing many walkpast stuff that has popped up - plants in particular. Nice to see some butterflies as the Orange Tips have got going.

Hopefully this weekend I may manage a session of more than 30 minutes in the field. Then I'll probably need extra study time though! Small pots have long since been replaced by a big-ass pooter, though some stuff still goes in pots of course.

Moth trap finally produced a few ticks, although slim pickings still with only one of each of five species. Cold nights and sunny days. Can't complain about the sun though.

Hydrophoria - a very common antho on low vegetation

Scallopy thing

Numbers:
744 diptera Portevinia maculata A hover fly
745 coleoptera Cantharis decipiens A soldier beetle
746 lep-moth Xanthorhoe fluctuata Garden Carpet
747 diptera Bibio marci St.Mark's Fly
748 lep-butterfly Pieris napi Green-veined White
749 lep-butterfly Anthocharis cardamines Orange-tip
750 flowering plant Tilia x europaea Common Lime
751 * diptera Hydrophoria lancifer  Deer Warble Fly
752 diptera Cheilosia albitarsis A hover fly
753 * diptera Tricyphona immaculata A crane fly
754 lep-moth Eupithecia vulgata Common Pug
755 lep-moth Odontopera bidentata Scalloped Hazel
756 lep-moth Opisthograptis luteolata Brimstone Moth
757 lep-moth Xanthorhoe designata Flame Carpet

7 comments:

  1. I see you must have some wild garlic in your square. Not a sniff of it round here, unfortunately. Thanks for the pipunculidae info, hope I see a few, preferably not all difficult ones.

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    1. I have two wild garlics but I have NO ramsons that I can discern. I specifically have no ramsons where the Portevinia were swarming! What I DO have is a ton of sand leek. Enquiries on dipterists forum have thus far met with no response. I can see myself digging up sand leek bulbs looking for larvae!

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    2. That's interesting, I thought they were entirely Ramsons specific. Should be out up here any day now, Ramsonms flowers are just opening.

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  2. Previously in my ramsons haunting experiences I have watched the ramsons develop for ages before finally the Portevinias came about when the flowers opened. Ramsons is a pretty obvious plant and takes up a lot of real estate so I'm struggling to believe I'm overlooking it. We're talking 10s of male Portevinia in evidence too

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    1. Can't think that I've ever seen a Portevinia away from a Ramsons patch/carpet. As you say, Ramsons is pretty damn obvious, so guess they really are using that Sand Leek - which is quite exciting seeing as Sand Leek is a non-native and Portevinia isn't previously known from Fife (though Ramsons certainly is, so why aren't they on that too?)

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    2. There's definitely Portevinia on ramsons in Fife. I have verified records from years ago that haven't made it onto HRS (don't ask - long iRecord related story which was triggered by exactly this species' absence on HRS maps!). I bet every patch of Ramsons in Fife has it

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  3. Yep - just checked - NT18 and NT28 both have Portevinia (earlier NT18 record from ramsons - different site). Probably amounts to everywhere it's been looked for!

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