Bridport & Thorne week 3

Its that time of year when (although there is always, always, plenty to look at in any 1km square!) most of the records are from lichens, bryophytes and various non-insect inverts. I, like many people, find it a bit of a struggle to keep plugging away with these groups. But persevering, I thought I would use my newly purchased FSC guide to Woodlice to look more closely at this group. I am glad I did as not only did I add several species of wood lice to each square I also made an interesting discovery in the Bridport square. This was as follows. I was turning over stones in the back garden looking for woodlice when I suddenly noted a couple of amphipods ('Sandhopper' like things) jumping around. Strange, as I thought that the only non-marine amphipods in the UK were the true Sandhoppers you see on any beach and several species confined to freshwater habitats. When I looked into it on the net it would appear there is a fairly newly introduced amphipod which now occurs in South West UK. It is called a Lawnhopper (Arcitalitrus dorrieni) and can be found under stones in much drier habitats than the other amphipods.

Photos - 2 this week as the lawnhopper photo is not very good!

Common Striped Woodlouse

 

Lawnhopper

 

Group	Thorne	Bridport	Group	Thorne	Bridport
Slime moulds	1	1	Hemiptera	1	0
Lichens	14	5	Coleoptera	2	0
Fungi	14	2	Diptera	1	0
Bryophytes	15	7	Hymenoptera	2	2
Plants	61	44	Butterflies	0	0
Molluscs	5	2	Moths	3	0
Annelids	0	0	Insects RSO	0	0
Arachnids	2	0	Fish	1	0
Myriapods	0	0	Amphibia	0	0
Crustacea	8	5	Reptiles	0	0
Springtails	0	0	Birds	33	36
Odonata	0	0	Mammals	4	2
Orthoptera	1	0	Total	168	106