Monday, June 3, 2013

TQ6410: Mothy nights ....


I've been shamefully slacking on the 1KSQ front recently. Actually that's not quite right - I've been slacking with the blog write-ups as I tend to leave them until late evening then wonder why I'm slumped over the lap-top after just two minutes. Possibly too many surveys last month - the Pearl-bordered Fritillary re-introductions are clashing with the bird and other butterfly surveys around the High Weald .... and the gardening gets a bit ballistic too with everything growing at such a rate of knots. OK - excuses over - I'm just cream-crackered - too much fresh air and I'm getting on a bit! Possibly O/D'd on the moth-trapping too - had to switch it off at 2am on Sunday morning as the bats were in danger of mopping up everything and anything flying just above and around the trap. I watched for ages in the overgrown upper meadow but after a while there was such a bat-fest going on I decided enough was enough. I think the Brown Long-eared's are back - although I was only picking up Pipistrelles.

551 - Ruby Tiger Phragmatobia fuliginosa - 21/5
552 - 14-Spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata 22/5
553 - Aspen Populus tremula  - 23/5 in the front meadow all this time, suckers and all. I’ve walked past it loads of times, glanced at it once or twice and mentally dismissed it as ‘just another sallow’ with all its very pale, almost white greenery. My tick of shame .... or one of them! 

24th May .....
554 - Hobby Falco subbuteo  Just S. of the Castle - and heading out of  the square ....
555 - Hairy Tare Vicia hirsute
556 - Lesser Trefoil Trifolium dubium
557 - Dung Fly Scathophaga inquinata 

25th May .....
558 - Longhorn Beetle Rhagium mordax
559 - Crab Spider Minsumena vatia (female) .... found on Hawthorn blossom
560 - Fairy Ring Champignon Marasmius oreades 
561 - Common Hemp Nettle Galeopsis tetrahit
562 - Curled Dock Rumex crispus

Around the plot on 27th May ....
563 - Common Carpet Epirrhoe alternata - two caught at dusk with the net
564 - Soldier Beetle Cantharis pellucida - appeared from nowhere in the workshop - must have been on some hawthorn blossom I’d picked.
565 - Glow-worm (beetle larva) Lampyris noctiluca
566 - Dor Beetle Geotrupes stercorarius

New additions via the moth-trap 27th May - picking up a bit now …. at long last!
567 - Peach Blossom Thyatira batis
568 - Least Black Arches Nola confusalis
569 - Shuttle-shaped Dart Agrotis puta
570 - Scorched Carpet Ligdia adustata
571 - Sandy Carpet Perizoma flavofasciata

More moths in the trap on 31st May
572 - Cream Wave Scopula floslactata
573 - Figure of Eighty Tethea ocularis octogesimea
574 - Pebble Prominent Notodonta ziczac
575 - Pale Tussock Dasychira pudibunda
576 - Waved Umber Menophra abruptaria
577 - Dark-barred Twin-spot Carpet Xanthorhoe ferrugata
578 - Rivulet Perizoma affinitata
579 - Tawny-barred Angle Macaria liturata
580 - Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa

Around the plot and along or near the bridleway by the Castle on 1st June:
581 - Hoary Plantain Plantago media
582 - Creeping (Red) Fescue Festuca rubra
583 - Perennial Rye-grass Lolium perenne
584 - Smooth Meadow Grass Poa pratensis
585 - Dock Shield Bug Coreus marginatus  
586 - Green Shield Bug Palomena prasina  both shield bugs in the front meadow

587 - Wood Millet Milium effusum
588 - Marsh Fox-tail Alopecurus geniculatus
589 - Reed-grass Phalaris arundinacea
590 - Common Click Beetle Agriotes lineatus  mostly in the young oaks in the upper meadow

591 - Wasp Beetle Clytra arietus  in the wild flower bank
592 - Rove Beetle Paederus littoralis – a tiny little beetle

Moth trap in the upper meadow Saturday night 1st June …. best night by far – 35 species (13 new for the Challenge) ..... but not yet ID'd the micros and Caddis Flies:
593 - Peppered Moth Biston betularia
594 - Common Pug Eupithecia vulgata
595 - Orange Footman Eilema sororcula
596 - Foxglove Pug Eupithecia pulchellata
597 - Sallow Kitten Furcula furcula
598 - Lunar Thorn Selenia lunularia
599 - Marbled Brown Drymonia dodonaea
600 - Sharp-angled Peacock Macaria alternata
601 - Nut-tree Tussock Colocasia coryli
602 - Knot Grass Acronicta rumicis
603 - Puss Moth Cerura vinula
604 - Spectacle Abrostola tripartita
605 - Treble Lines Charanyca trigrammica

Around the plot and Church & Castle bridleway Sunday 2nd June:
606 - Rough-stalked Meadow Poa trivialis  So many mystery grasses on this plot to ID  .....
607 - Sheep’s Fescue Festuca ovina  by some of the churchyard tombstones
608 - Black Briony Tamus communis along the bridleway

609 - Yellow Sorrel Oxalis stricta  miniscule where it had been strimmed or rabbit-grazed by the tombstones in the churchyard
610 - Common Blue (butterfly) Polyommatus icarus ....  my 1st of the year!
611 - Hornet Vespa crabro   ditto

612 - Zebra (jumping) Spider Salticus scenicus
613 - Eastern Rocket Sisymbrium orientale
614 - Woody Nightshade Solanum dulcamara
615 - Rough Hawk’s Beard Crepis biennis
616 - 6-spot Burnet moth (larva) Zygaena filipendulae in the front meadow

Just a small selection of pics of recent stuff  .....


Minotaur Beetle - not a new tick as this was my first invert of the challenge but they just keep turning up in the upper meadow. It looks good for dung beetles (as well as moths) up there .....


This one had a little mite (or two) hanging on for the ride ..... are these the same as Bumble Bee mites or are they specific to beetles?

Longhorn Beetle Rhagium mordax - landed on my finger while I was photo-ing hawthorn blossom. If only they were ALL this easy to find ….
 Crab Spider Minsumena vatia (female) .... found on Hawthorn blossom in the lower meadow

Peach Blossom Thyatira batis 
Common Lizard - one of several on the old (horizontal) telegraph pole by the parking area. I ticked it a while back but it's only now warm enough to get them to pose for photos ....
A sample of Saturday night's catch  - took me ages to train them to sit still for the camera ....
Common Blue Polyommatus icarus  Pleased to see one back in the water meadow just S. of  the Castle yesterday afternoon
Mystery Hoverfly ..... despite buying the recent book!


No luck so far with this one either (saw-fly?) .... and a couple of mystery beetles, a spotless ladybird, another hoverfly,  a weevil and even a couple of plants evading ID! And some micros and Caddis Flies are still in the in-tray .....

Pressing on (not literally) with 616 species .....

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