Monday, June 17, 2013

Guernsey

This weekend was mostly taken up with family time, but just managed to locate a few specimens in the little time I had.

597 - Common Pondskater (matched description in the key m o l)
598 - Great Green Bush Cricket (nymphs)
599 - Ditropis pteridis (plantbug on Bracken)

Does my bum look big in this?

600 - Blue-tailed Damselfly
601 - Yellow Shell
602 - Grapholita compositella (moth)
603 - Philodromus dispar (spider)
604 - Uromyces trifolii (Clover Rust Fungus)
605 - Dark Arches
606 - Marbled Coronet
607 - Poplar Grey
608 - Common White Wave
609 - Small Angle Shades
610 - Rufous Minor
611 - Agromyza nana (fly larva mining through Clover leaf)
612 - Pegomya solennis (fly larvae mining through Common Sorrel leaves)
613 - Anthrenus fuscus (a carpet beetle)
614 - Anaspis maculata (beetle on Hawthorn blossom)
615 - Sweet Alison (naturalised)
616 - Red-hot-poker (garden escape)
617 - Weld
618 - Hemlock
619 - Broad Centurian (soldierfly)

A couple of beetles I am having trouble with:

This beetle flew in and landed on the back of my hand when I was working on the patio. c.4mm long - black with 2 dull red spots - very spiny legs - very distinctive was the two inner striations looping back on themselves. Did some browsing and thought it may be part of Histeridae family?

I realise that this is a click beetle, but I have no means of identifying it beyond that. Was 11mm long.

8 comments:

  1. Mark - there's a top Telferguide at http://markgtelfer.co.uk/beetles/elateridae-eucnemidae-and-throscidae/ to Elateridae. I struggled when trying it on a small one, but need to persevere more - and I did manage to confirm the Haemarrhoid Beetle

    ReplyDelete
  2. Think the beetle is one of the Hydrophilidae - but if so, which one?? Soz.

    ReplyDelete
  3. cheers guys, I shall check 'em out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Methinks I've seen your Ditropis pteridis in my own square (currently sinking under the weight of bracken...) and assumed it was a hopper nymph. Cheers for the heads-up.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Been researching the beetle with the red patches and the best I can come up with is Margarinotus purpurascens, although the inner striae do not seem to match perfectly (but perhaps this is a variable feature). Can anyone confirm or reject this ID?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just tried out the click beetle key and came out with Athous haemorrhoidalis perhaps? [a musketeer with bum-grapes?]

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mark, I'm sure that your click is the common Athous haemorrhoidalis. And the histerid looks right for M. purpurascens, comparing to my specimens.

    ReplyDelete