Black and blue

Been away a bit recently, but a reasonable moth night on May 21st raises hopes that things on that front may start improving soon. A bit of colour in the garden this afternoon.

Wasp Beetle in garden

Azure Damselfly in garden

911	Rhopalus subrufus	Hemipteroids	Rhopalid Bug	21/05/2018
912	Setisquamalonchaea fumosa	Diptera	Lonchaeidae	21/05/2018
913	Necrodes littoralis	Coleoptera	Shore Sexton Beetle	21/05/2018
914	Colostygia pectinataria	Lepidoptera:moths	Green Carpet	21/05/2018
915	Opisthograptis luteolata	Lepidoptera:moths	Brimstone Moth	21/05/2018
916	Apamea sordens	Lepidoptera:moths	Rustic Shoulder-knot	21/05/2018
917	Agrotis exclamationis	Lepidoptera:moths	Heart and Dart	21/05/2018
918	Xestia c-nigrum	Lepidoptera:moths	Setaceous Hebrew Character	21/05/2018
919	Ochropleura plecta	Lepidoptera:moths	Flame Shoulder	21/05/2018
920	Mythimna flammea	Lepidoptera:moths	Flame Wainscot	21/05/2018
921	Phalera bucephala	Lepidoptera:moths	Buff-tip	21/05/2018
922	Plutella xylostella	Lepidoptera:moths	Diamond-backed Moth	21/05/2018
923	Eupithecia assimilata	Lepidoptera:moths	Currant Pug	21/05/2018
924	Apamea crenata	Lepidoptera:moths	Clouded-bordered Brindle	21/05/2018
925	Acasis viretata	Lepidoptera:moths	Yellow-barred Brindle	22/05/2018
926	Clytus arietis	Coleoptera	Wasp Beetle	23/05/2018
927	Coenagrion puella	Odonata	Azure Damselfly	23/05/2018

Dalgety Bay - What's up doc?

Easterly winds forced me to seek the shelter of a woodland clearing yesterday and thank goodness they did! There's a small area where the local countryside trust (dog toilet maintenance dept.) have removed a Rhodedendron bush and a couple of dead trees and left a sunny open space covered with woodchip. It is a dipteran paradise! Shame they removed the logs, but whatever. I could have spent many happy hours in there but sadly only got a lunchtime this time around. However, it was plenty time to bag a few goodies and spend some quality time watching fly interactions through close focus binoculars.

Probably my favourite of the day was the extraordinary dolichopodid Rhaphium monotrichum. As an aside I came across a great Russian site for Dolis here

In other news yesterday photos of a wasp which I had reared from a spider were passed on to a wasp expert who returned an ID within minutes (if not seconds). Fantastic. The specimen will go to live in NMS where the ID will be 100% confirmed.

Now I just need to take a week off and we can wrap this thing up in May ;)

The Clearing of Wonder

Meeeeeh, what's up doc? Rhaphium

Polysphincta tuberosa - spider killing waspiness

Numbers:

811		flowering plant	Vicia hirsuta	Hairy Tare
812		lep-butterfly	Lycaena phlaeas	Small Copper
813		hemiptera	Philaenus spumarius	Cuckoo-Spit Insect
814		diptera	Limonia phragmitidis	Tipuloidea
815		diptera	Graphomya maculata	A muscid fly
816	*	hymenoptera	Polysphincta tuberosa	A wasp
817		diptera	Calliphora vomitoria	Calliphoridae
818	*	flowering plant	Carex canescens	White Sedge
819		spider	Microlinyphia pusilla	A Linyphiid spider
820		lep-moth	Epiblema cirsiana	A micro moth
821	*	diptera	Raphium monotrichum	A long-legged fly
822		diptera	Dolichopus popularis	A long-legged fly
823	*	hemiptera	Macustus grisescens	A leaf hopper
824	*	hymenoptera	Cynips quercusfolii	A gall wasp
825		gall mite	Aceria cephaloneus	A gall mite

Dalgety Bay - a lot less bovver

Amazingly yesterday I found my fourth new hover fly of the month, and a new one for the county in Orthonevra brevicornis. It's one of a number of "wetland" species that have shown up and give me hope for lots of other related goodies through the season.

The click beetle Athous haemorrhoidalis was hanging off seemingly every bush and the third sarcophagid of the year was snagged. Finally a nice Gymnocheta was spotted on a sunny leaf, though my photo left a lot to be desired (too much to show!).

This morning Common Terns finally showed up in the bay and a surprise Small Copper turned up in the sweep net.

Small Copper

Orthonevra brevicornis

Athous haemorrhoidalis

The already-recorded Bibio leucopterus

Numbers:

802		coleoptera	Athous haemorrhoidalis	A Click Beetle
803	*	diptera	Euleia heracleii	A picture-winged fly
804		lep-moth	Elachista argentella	Swan-feather Dwarf
805	*	diptera	Psila merdaria	A fly
806		diptera	Gymnocheta viridis	A tachinid fly
807		diptera	Sarcophaga carnaria	Sarcophagidae
808		diptera	Muscina levida	A muscid fly
809	*	diptera	Orthonevra brevicornis	A hover fly
810		bird	Sterna hirundo	Common Tern
811		flowering plant	Vicia hirsuta	Hairy Tare
812		lep-butterfly	Lycaena phlaeas	Small Copper
813		hemiptera	Philaenus spumarius	Cuckoo-Spit Insect

Dog day afternoon

Pleased to get Cynomya mortuorum in the garden this afternoon, haven't seen many round here and this is the first for the garden. The longhorn beetle Tetrops praeustus is fairly common in Norfolk, but I don't think you get it in Scotland? A few other bits included Royal Fern along one of my brackish dykes. It's fairly common in the sand dunes and willows along the coastal strip, but I wasn't really expecting it in the square. A Reed Warbler was in the garden this morning.

Dog fly of the dead

Tetrops praeustus

894	Eupeodes latifasciatus	Diptera	Syrphidae	18/05/2018
895	Salticus scenicus	Arachnids	Salticidae	18/05/2018
896	Evergestis forficalis	Lepidoptera:moths	Garden Pebble	19/05/2018
897	Lacanobia thalassina	Lepidoptera:moths	Pale-shouldered Brocade	19/05/2018
898 *	Fannia similis	Diptera	Fanniidae	20/05/2018
899	Dolichopus plumipes	Diptera	Dolichopodidae	20/05/2018
900	Festuca arundinacea	Vascular Plants	Tall Fescue	20/05/2018
901	Tachycixius pilosus	Hemipteroids	Lacehopper	20/05/2018
902	Dilophus femoratus	Diptera	Bibionidae	20/05/2018
903	Osmunda regalis	Vascular Plants	Royal Fern	21/05/2018
904	Acrocephalus scirpaceus	Birds	Reed Warbler	21/05/2018
905	Leptophyes punctatissima	Orthopteroids	Speckled Bush-cricket	21/05/2018
906	Ectemnius continuus	Hymenoptera	Crabronidae	21/05/2018
907	Amara plebeja	Coleoptera	Carabidae	21/05/2018
908	Tropidia scita	Diptera	Syrphidae	21/05/2018
909	Tetrops praeustus	Coleoptera	Plum Longhorn Beetle	21/05/2018
910	Cynomya mortuorum	Diptera	Calliphoridae	21/05/2018

Dalgety Bay - 800 up

Another sunny weekend of barbecue and beer didn't get in the way of some very productive solo walks and so 10 days early here we are over the 800 line. If it goes like this the end of May could see 850 which would be a "beyond wildest dreams" scenario. This small area is just uber-productive and the moth trap has finally managed to score up some notches of its own.

Best of the weekend isn't featured here, but is the county first and county third (NBN, usual caveats apply) Limnophora olympiae, which I'll post a link to here when it's up on my fly blog

Tipula oleracea emerged in abundance

Trichosirocalus troglodytes on Ribwort Plantain

Ubiquitous in England and Wales they say

Garden first Pebble Prominent

Adela reamurella, apparently new to me, which is a surprise

Numbers:

771		diptera	Phaonia populi	A muscid fly
772		diptera	Tephritis hyoscyami	Tephritidae
773		fungus	Calocybe gambosa	St.George's Mushroom
774	*	spider	Tetrix denticulata	A spider
775		coleoptera	Trichosirocalus troglodytes	A weevil
776		diptera	Cynomya mortuorum	A blow fly
777		diptera	Tipula oleracea	Tipuloidea
778		diptera	Xylota segnis	Syrphidae
779		flowering plant	Festuca ovina	Sheep's Fescue
780		flowering plant	Lotus corniculatus	Common Bird's-foot-trefoil
781		flowering plant	Ornithogalum angustifolium	Star-of-Bethlehem
782		flowering plant	Rosa rugosa	Japanese Rose
783		flowering plant	Salix caprea	Goat Willow
784		flowering plant	Atriplex prostrata	Spear-leaved Orache
785		lep-moth	Aphomia sociella	Bee Moth
786		lep-moth	Epermenia chaerophyllella	A micro moth
787		lep-moth	Epiphyas postvittana	Light Brown Apple Moth
788		lep-moth	Hadena bicruris	Lychnis
789		lep-moth	Lomographa temerata	Clouded Silver
790		lep-moth	Notodonta ziczac	Pebble Prominent
791		lep-moth	Perizoma affinitata	Rivulet
792	*	diptera	Limnophila olympiae	A muscid fly
793		diptera	Phaonia palpata	A muscid fly
794	*	flowering plant	Alopecurus pratensis	Meadow Foxtail
795		flowering plant	Arrhenatherum elatius	False Oat-grass
796		flowering plant	Lathyrus pratensis	Meadow Vetchling
797		flowering plant	Luzula major	Great Wood-rush
798		flowering plant	Meconopsis cambrica	Welsh Poppy
799	*	lep-moth	Adela reamurella	A micro moth
800		flowering plant	Epilobium hirsutum	Great Willowherb
801		flowering plant	Tanacetum vulgare	Tansy

A few new Symphyta

Three new Symphyta in the last few days, so they're beginning to get going. The battle between beetles and flies seems to be heading the way of diptera, with totals of 173 diptera and 167 coleoptera so far this year. Not many birds or moths recently, but for those who like their Odonata, this was a nice new species for the garden this morning.

Hairy Dragonfly (female)

859 *	Dolerus haematodes	Hymenoptera	Symphyta: Selandriinae: Dolerus	06/05/2018
860	Pyrochroa serraticornis	Coleoptera	Red-headed Cardinal Beetle	15/05/2018
861	Apion frumentarium	Coleoptera	Apionidae	15/05/2018
862	Eutrichapion viciae	Coleoptera	Apionidae	15/05/2018
863	Harpocera thoracica	Hemipteroids	Miridae	15/05/2018
864	Siphona geniculata	Diptera	Tachinidae	15/05/2018
865	Adalia decempunctata	Coleoptera	10-spot Ladybird	15/05/2018
866 *	Rhamphomyia micropyga	Diptera	Empididae	15/05/2018
867	Cheilosia lasiopa	Diptera	Syrphidae	15/05/2018
868	Hilara maura	Diptera	Empidoidea	16/05/2018
869	Cantharis pellucida	Coleoptera	Cantharidae	16/05/2018
870	Fannia lustrator	Diptera	Fanniidae	16/05/2018
871	Stenus flavipes	Coleoptera	Staph.	15/05/2018
872	Rhagonycha limbata	Coleoptera	Cantharidae	17/05/2018
873	Philonthus cognatus	Coleoptera	Staph.	17/05/2018
874	Epirrhoe alternata	Lepidoptera:moths	Common Carpet	17/05/2018
875	Parhelophilus frutetorum	Diptera	Eristalini	17/05/2018
876	Eurithia anthophila	Diptera	Tachinidae	17/05/2018
877 *	Coenosia lacteipennis	Diptera	Muscidae	17/05/2018
878	Eumea linearicornis	Diptera	Tachinidae	17/05/2018
879	Hydrotaea dentipes	Diptera	Muscidae	17/05/2018
880 *	Fannia rondanii	Diptera	Fanniidae	17/05/2018
881	Rumex acetosella	Vascular Plants	Sheep's Sorrel	18/05/2018
882	Agrostis stolonifera	Vascular Plants	Creeping Bent	18/05/2018
883	Aquilegia vulgaris	Vascular Plants	Columbine	18/05/2018
884	Bromus hordeaceus	Vascular Plants	Soft-brome	18/05/2018
885	Bromus sterilis	Vascular Plants	Barren Brome	18/05/2018
886 *	Tenthredo temula	Hymenoptera	Symphyta	18/05/2018
887	Cassida rubiginosa	Coleoptera	Thistle Tortoise Beetle	18/05/2018
888	Hercostomus cupreus	Diptera	Dolichopodidae	18/05/2018
889	Panorpa germanica	RSO	Scorpion Fly	18/05/2018
890 *	Pamphilius sylvaticus	Hymenoptera	Symphyta	18/05/2018
891	Enallagma cyathigerum	Odonata	Common Blue Damselfly	18/05/2018
892	Cornus sanguinea	Vascular Plants	Dogwood	18/05/2018
893	Carpinus betulus	Vascular Plants	Hornbeam	18/05/2018

Dalgety Bay - Sarc-asm

So maybe someone will remember this lovely duo - a Pipunculid and an intriguing small calypterate taken not only on the same day but in the same sweep. I had reservations about the initial tachinid determination of the calypterate and when I whipped out its bits I was pretty convinced it was a sarcophagid. Turns out to be true, and what a tiny sarcophagid it is! I'm used to them being enormous - usually the biggest flies in any batch and longer easily than both these placed end to end. Maybe I can post a side-by-side later.

Anyway, finally I cleared the decks enough yesterday to determine that it's Pierretia nigriventris, which I thought was new for county until I checked NBN this morning. It wasn't in the Nature of Fife 2006 county list though so it's new-ish! It has a curious distribution on NBN, which seems to include about 75% of coastal squares in Wales!

Everything else is more-or-less routine apart from a new hover for me in the shape of Neoascia tenur (which may turn out to be N.meticulosa ... but still new in both cases!)

Numbers:

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
758		diptera	Helophilus pendulus	A hover fly
759		diptera	Sarcophaga subvicina	A flesh fly
760	*	diptera	Neoascia tenur	A hover fly
761		diptera	Lucilia caesar	A blow fly
762		lep-moth	Nola confusalis	Least Black Arches
763		lep-moth	Incurvaria masculella	Feathered Diamond-back
764		diptera	Delia platura	A flower fly
765		diptera	Merodon equestris	A hover fly
766		flowering plant	Calystegia sepium	Hedge Bindweed
767		lep-moth	Endrosis sarcitrella	White-shouldered House-moth
768		diptera	Fannia similis	A lesser house fly
769		diptera	Myathropa florea	A flower fly
770		fungus	Calocybe gambosa	St.George's Mushroom

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

A fine pair of antennae

Still steadily adding new species, as usual mainly coleoptera, diptera and lepidoptera. Still, the forecast here for the next few days is for cool, windy weather, so might not add too much more this week. The Lauxaniid fly Lauxania cylindricornis was a new one for me and exhibited an excellent set of antennae.

Lauxania cylindricornis

827	Cantharis decipiens	Coleoptera	Cantharidae	11/05/2018
828	Panorpa communis	RSO	Scorpion Fly	11/05/2018
829	Graphomya maculata	Diptera	Muscidae	11/05/2018
830	Lucilia ampullacea	Diptera	Calliphoridae	11/05/2018
831	Cilix glaucata	Lepidoptera:moths	Chinese Character	11/05/2018
832	Biston betularia	Lepidoptera:moths	Peppered Moth	11/05/2018
833	Nola confusalis	Lepidoptera:moths	Least Black Arches	11/05/2018
834	Petrophora chlorosata	Lepidoptera:moths	Brown Silver-line	11/05/2018
835	Apus apus	Birds	Swift	12/05/2018
836	Tringa totanus	Birds	Redshank	12/05/2018
837	Empis tessellata	Diptera	Empididae	12/05/2018
838	Glyphipterix simpliciella	Lepidoptera:moths	Cocksfoot Moth	12/05/2018
839	Kibunea minuta	Coleoptera	Click beetle	12/05/2018
840	Neria cibaria	Diptera	Micropezidae	12/05/2018
841	Cercopis vulnerata	Hemipteroids	Hemiptera - Cercopidae	12/05/2018
842 *	Lasioglossum leucopus	Hymenoptera	White-footed Furrow Bee	12/05/2018
843	Athous haemorrhoidalis	Coleoptera	Elateridae	12/05/2018
844	Curculio glandium	Coleoptera	Weevil	12/05/2018
845	Palloptera quinquemaculata	Diptera	Pallopteridae	12/05/2018
846 *	Platycheirus fulviventris	Diptera	Syrphidae	12/05/2018
847	Phyllobius argentatus	Coleoptera	Curculonidae	12/05/2018
848	Smerinthus ocellata	Lepidoptera:moths	Eyed Hawk-moth	12/05/2018
849	Ptilodon capucina	Lepidoptera:moths	Coxcomb Prominent	12/05/2018
850 *	Lauxania cylindricornis	Diptera	Lauxaniidae	12/05/2018
851	Anaspis maculata	Coleoptera	Scraptiidae	13/05/2018
852	Coenosia tigrina	Diptera	Muscidae	13/05/2018
853	Hydrotaea albipuncta	Diptera	Muscidae	13/05/2018
854	Spilosoma lubricipeda	Lepidoptera:moths	White Ermine	13/05/2018
855	Agrotis puta	Lepidoptera:moths	Shuttle-shaped Dart	13/05/2018
856	Mydaea urbana	Diptera	Muscidae	14/05/2018
857	Aglaostigma fulvipes	Hymenoptera	Symphyta	14/05/2018
858	Euthrix potatoria	Lepidoptera:moths	The Drinker	12/05/2018

Dalgety Bay - making hay

Monday morning always means a quick attempt to gather together all the weekend's pictures and info because I stay resolutely off-PC all weekend (I already spend far too long staring at a screen). This weekend what would have been big gains (but now constitutes pedestrian plodding - thanks, Tim! ;)) made it all the more likely that I'll reach 800 by month end. Plenty happy with that. Highlight for me was Pipiza luteitarsis hand-caught in the garden, followed by another. A peek at the distribution in the hovers handbook will show that the local distribution is very limited, though there are now three squares in the county since a friend of mine photographed another in the next square last week. This is my 2nd new hover this year and number 84 for my county list (county total c.120)

There's been very limited moth action because of cold nights presumably, but I'm fine with that if things keep going this way. I've passed last year's June total for flies.

I have a collection of nice but more difficult calypterate flies that I'm going to turn my attention to now. Not just because I feel bad about backlog but because these are actually the things I was planning to eschew 1k2 to focus on this year! So things could slow down a bit this week. Mind you, the sun's still shining like crazy so you know what they say. Making hay and all that ...

Numbers:

724		coleoptera	Dalopius marginatus	A Click Beetle
725	*	diptera	Symplecta sticta	A crane fly
726	*	hemiptera	Lygus pratensis	A bug
727		hymenoptera	Andrena helvola	Coppice mining bee
728	*	diptera	Pipiza luteistarsis	A hover fly
729		diptera	Baccha elongata	Syrphidae
730		flowering plant	Allium scorodoprasum	Sand Leek
731		fungus	Puccinia porri	Leek Rust
732		diptera	Rhingia campestris	A hover fly
733		flowering plant	Equisetum palustre	Marsh Horsetail
734		flowering plant	Claytonia sibirica	Pink Purslane
735		flowering plant	Veronica hederifolia	Ivy-leaved Speedwell
736		spider	Microlinyphia pusilla	A spider
737	*	diptera	Scathophagida calida	A dung fly
738	*	diptera	Scathophagida suilla	A dung fly
739		lep-moth	Ecliptopera silaceata	Small Phoenix
740		lep-moth	Selenia dentaria	Early Thorn
741		diptera	Dolichopus ungulatus	Dolichopodidae
742		diptera	Suillia variegata	Heleomyzidae