Dalgety Bay - eight legs good

Ticking along here on a slow burn. Last year I had a poor total of 29 spiders, so this is the one that equals that - a beautiful Scotophaeus blackwalli that I found on a windowsill in the house. It's fully 2mm longer than book range but epigyne checks out fine.

Nice to get into the saltmarsh a bit and find some saltmarsh things tht I was really hoping for. It's really no more than a tiny fringe of the bay, but enough for Saltmarsh Rush (J.gerardii) and Greater Sea Spurrey to be happy there.

My first big distraction of June is out of the way (an off-square bioblitz with one new lifer hoverfly) and the other one is forthcoming. Now what was that again ...

Numbers:

915		diptera	Syritta pipiens	Syrphidae
916	*	flowering plant	Spergularia media	Greater Sea-spurrey
917	*	flowering plant	Bolboschoenus maritimus	Sea Club-rush
918		diptera	Melanogaster hirtella	A hover fly
919	*	spider	Scotophaeus blackwalli	Mouse Spider
920		lep-moth	Selenia lunularia	Lunar Thorn
921		lep-moth	Cabera pusaria	Common White Wave
922		flowering plant	Matricaria discoidea	Pineappleweed
923		flowering plant	Sisymbrium officinale	Hedge Mustard
924		flowering plant	Sonchus asper	Prickly Sow-thistle
925		lep-moth	Perizoma flavofasciata	Sandy Carpet
926		lep-moth	Perizoma affinitata	Rivulet
927	*	flowering plant	Juncus gerardii	Saltmarsh Rush

Two go mad at Eype

Well we were certainly getting strange looks (and questions on our return) from the beach as Tim swung his large sweep net all over the undercliff.
A fantastic day adding lots of new species more details to follow (and several more species to add) but just to say now on 518 for the year.

Also a story of 2 key species for the rest of you.

Western Bee Fly - no sign of one whatsoever.

However as we first approached the undercliff in the morning I was just saying to Tim that I had had no sign of Cliff Tiger Beetle so far this year, and perhaps his visit was a little early in the year. Then literally - an overused word but in this case strictly true - the first insect we saw was Cliff Tiger Beetle. And we must of seen getting on for 10 of them during the day

Off on my travels...

Just a quick post before an early start tomorrow morning, when we'll be heading for Somerset, Devon and Dorset (including rendevous at Eype). Then back for a few days before setting off for some godforsaken place called Uig. All I know is that it's a long way from Norfolk and you meet some mighty strange people up there.

Anyway, still lots going on, now up to 1160 (and my all time garden list now stands at 1899 species) and here's a list for thems that loves them.

1102	Empis scutellata	Diptera	Empididae	01/06/2018
1103 *	Psila fimetaria	Diptera	Psilidae	01/06/2018
1104	Deilephila elpenor	Lepidoptera:moths	Elephant Hawk-moth	01/06/2018
1105	Tethea ocularis	Lepidoptera:moths	Figure of Eighty	01/06/2018
1106	Lomaspilis marginata	Lepidoptera:moths	Clouded Border	01/06/2018
1107	Mythimna albipuncta	Lepidoptera:moths	White-point	01/06/2018
1108	Parapoynx stratiotata	Lepidoptera:moths	Ringed China-mark	01/06/2018
1109	Ephestia woodiella	Lepidoptera:moths	False Cacao Moth	01/06/2018
1110	Bactra lancealana	Lepidoptera:moths	Rush Marble	01/06/2018
1111 *	Bactra furfurana	Lepidoptera:moths	Mottled Marble	01/06/2018
1112	Thera britannica	Lepidoptera:moths	Spruce Carpet	01/06/2018
1113	Thera obeliscata	Lepidoptera:moths	Grey Pine Carpet	01/06/2018
1114	Donacaula forficella	Lepidoptera:moths	Pale Water-veneer	01/06/2018
1115	Clepsis spectrana	Lepidoptera:moths	Cyclamen Tortrix	01/06/2018
1116	Empis livida	Diptera	Empididae	02/06/2018
1117	Helophorus minutus	Coleoptera	Hydrophilidae	01/06/2018
1118	Oecetis ochracea	RSO	Caddis Fly	01/06/2018
1119	Volucella bombylans	Diptera	Syrphidae	02/06/2018
1120	Melanotus villosus	Coleoptera	Elateridae	01/06/2018
1121	Volucella pellucens	Diptera	Syrphidae	03/06/2018
1122	Papilio machaon	Lepidoptera:butterflies	The Swallowtail	03/06/2018
1123	Aeshna isosceles	Odonata	Norfolk Hawker	03/06/2018
1124	Aphelia paleana	Lepidoptera:moths	Timothy Tortrix	03/06/2018
1125	Crudosilis ruficollis	Coleoptera	Cantharidae	03/06/2018
1126 *	Zophomyia temula	Diptera	Tachinidae	03/06/2018
1127	Argyresthia cupressella	Lepidoptera:moths	Cypress-tip Moth	03/06/2018
1128	Trypoxylon attenuatum	Hymenoptera	Crabronidae	03/06/2018
1129 *	Odontomyia ornata	Diptera	Ornate Brigadier	03/06/2018
1130	Tenthredo mesomela	Hymenoptera	Symphyta	03/06/2018
1131	Adaina microdactyla	Lepidoptera:moths	Hemp Agrimony Plume	03/06/2018
1132 *	Allantus cinctus	Hymenoptera	Symphyta: Blennocampinae	03/06/2018
1133	Stauropus fagi	Lepidoptera:moths	Lobster Moth	03/06/2018
1134	Denticollis linearis	Coleoptera	Elateridae	03/06/2018
1135	Hypena rostralis	Lepidoptera:moths	Buttoned Snout	03/06/2018
1136	Evergestis pallidata	Lepidoptera:moths	Chequered Straw	03/06/2018
1137 *	Furcula bifida	Lepidoptera:moths	Poplar Kitten	03/06/2018
1138	Dorytomus longimanus	Coleoptera	Curculonidae	01/06/2018
1139	Sericomyia silentis	Diptera	Syrphidae	05/06/2018
1140	Beris vallata	Diptera	Common Orange Legionnaire	05/06/2018
1141	Helophilus trivittatus	Diptera	Syrphidae	03/06/2018
1142	Chrysopa perla	RSO	Lacewing	05/06/2018
1143	Sphecodes ephippius	Hymenoptera	Bare-saddled Blood Bee	06/06/2018
1144 *	Pemphredon inornata	Hymenoptera	Crabronidae	06/06/2018
1145	Hylaeus hyalinatus	Hymenoptera	Hairy Yellow-face Bee	06/06/2018
1146	Lindenius albilabris	Hymenoptera	Crabronidae	06/06/2018
1147	Chrysotus blepharosceles	Diptera	Dolichopodidae	06/06/2018
1148	Chloroclysta truncata	Lepidoptera:moths	Common Marbled Carpet	06/06/2018
1149	Sphinx ligustri	Lepidoptera:moths	Privet Hawk-moth	06/06/2018
1150	Diachrysia chrysitis	Lepidoptera:moths	Burnished Brass	06/06/2018
1151	Scoparia subfusca	Lepidoptera:moths	Large Grey	07/06/2018
1152	Chrysis ignita	Hymenoptera	Chrysididae	07/06/2018
1153	Andrena nitida	Hymenoptera	Andrenidae: Grey-patched Mining Bee	07/06/2018
1154	Aphrodes makarovi	Hemipteroids	Cicadellidae	07/06/2018
1155	Riponnensia splendens	Diptera	Syrphidae	08/06/2018
1156	Agriotes lineatus	Coleoptera	Elateridae	08/06/2018
1157	Agriotes obscurus	Coleoptera	Elateridae	08/06/2018
1158	Rhamphus pulicarius	Coleoptera	Curculionidae	08/06/2018
1159	Eumerus strigatus	Diptera	Syrphidae	07/06/2018
1160	Ptychoptera albimana	Diptera	Phantom Crane Fly	08/06/2018

Dalgety Bay - Learn to fly

Not much by way of numbers moving but yesterday I found a significant fly - the hover fly Parhelophilus versicolor. It's new to me and new to Fife/VC85, but it's also fly #161 of the campaign, which equals the number of flies I identified during the whole of last year!

Furthermore it's fly #337 of my PSL list, which means I've now recorded as many flies as moths (yes, I know - I haven't been mothing for that long!).

One more fly and I may officially consider myself to be a bit of a dipterist.

Parhelophilus versicolor - female

with a larger and yellower Helophilus

Numbers: 913

And the inevitable ...

Dalgety Bay - Syrph City

Well as predicted there's been a slowing of pace in the additions but with some nice things. Most significant was my 6th new hover fly and 2nd new county hover of the year in Brachyopa insensilis.

I was planning to key out my first caddis last night as I don't get many in the garden moth trap. It looks like what I believe is called a Cinnamon Sedge, but I couldn't find the damn book. Very irritating..

Anyway, the Brachyopa more than compensated and the caddis will wait.

Brachyopa insensilis

Criorhina floccosa

Criorhina floccosa

Numbers:

901		diptera	Melanomya nana	Little Black Blow Fly
902		lep-moth	Agrotis exclamationis	Heart & Dart
903		diptera	Chrysogaster solstitialis	A hover fly
904		fungus	Protostropharia semiglobata	Dung Roundhead
905		diptera	Volucella pellucens	Syrphidae
906		diptera	Criorhina floccosa	A hoverfly
907		diptera	Hebecnema vespertina	A muscid fly
908		diptera	Nemopoda nitidula	Sepsidae
909		lep-moth	Korscheltellus lupulina	Common Swift
910	*	diptera	Brachyopa insensilis	A hover fly

Eype update

Just a quick update to give an idea of what groups and numbers of species I have been recording so far this year. Then hopefully quite a few more species to be added after Tim's visit this Sunday.

Mammals 6, Birds 65, Amphibian 2, Reptiles 1, Odonata 0!, Orthoptera 2, Hemiptera 2, Butterflies 13, Moths 56, Coleoptera 11, Hymenoptera 18, Diptera 18, RSO 1, Mollusc 10, Spiders 0, Crustacea 0, Annelids 4, Anemone 1, Bryzoan 1, Plants 217, Bryrophytes 10, Algae 9 and Fungi 10.
This gives a total of 465.

A couple of photos taken at Eype in the last week.

                                         Cream-spot Tiger.

                                         Western Bee-fly

Dalgety Bay 900

I feel like saying "at last" even though 900 just into June is a riproaring romp compared to last year!

Nothing spectacular happened to put a nice image on the happy event - just a gradual grinding away at commoner species and a lot of fly genitalia peeping. I should pass some of last year's totals very shortly - flies and spiders in particular. From here on rather than try to make the total as quickly as possible I'll probably chill out a bit and take it easy. I feel like I may have said that before though.

Here's a picture of my best find while out looking for moths the other night. You may be able to spot that it isn't, in fact, a moth but rather a Giant Polypore. Surprising how often fungi stand out in the dark.

Numbers

883		diptera	Leucozona lucorum	A hover fly
884		diptera	Eupeodes corollae	A hover fly
885	*	diptera	Fannia armata	A lesser house fly
886		gall mite	Eriophyes laevis	A gall mite on alder
887		diptera	Tipula lunata	Tipuloidea
888		spider	Pseudeuophrys lanigera	A spider
889		diptera	Dasineura ulmaria	A gall midge
890		coleoptera	Agriotes obscurus	A click beetle
891		coleoptera	Polydrusus formosus	A Broad-nosed Weevil
892		diptera	Pollenia amentaria	A cluster fly
893		millipede	Tachypodoiulus niger	White-legged Snake Millipede
894		fungus	Meripilus giganteus	Giant Polypore
895		diptera	Empis tessellata	An empid fly
896		diptera	Fannia parva	Fanniidae
897		diptera	Fannia lepida	A lesser house fly
898		flowering plant	Senecio jacobaea	Common Ragwort
899		diptera	Tephritis vespertina	Tephritidae
900		coleoptera	Aphidecta obliterata	Larch Ladybird
901		lep-moth	Eupithecia intricata	Freyer's Pug

Wonderful moment...

I've been hoping for one of these in the garden, but don't see them every year. A brief distant photo, a flutterby around my head and it was off. Magical!

And then it came back.

And then a Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth appeared.

The merry, merry month of May...

Well, birds weren't very good, moths weren't very good, insects generally a bit down. But something must have been good as I added 425 species during the month and broke the 1100 species mark!

Some nice things recently included a couple of scarce weevils, a scarce Lasioglossum, a few pretty moths, a couple of new empids and a mole wandering around the garden. Doubt if the pace will be maintained in June as there are trips to the West Country and Scotland that will take up a couple of weeks. See you at Eype next Saturday, Pete (my birthday, I'll be 63, getting creakier by the week).

Mole in garden - didn't investigate for mole flea

Empis aemula ♂ - lifer

Empis caudatula ♀ - lifer

Water Ernine and White Ermine

Gold Spot

Here's a breakdown of the last 3 months:-

	TG4523 Mar 2018	TG4523 Apr 2018	TG4523 May 2018
Algae	0	0	0
Fungi/Lichens	19	22	22
Bryophytes	4	4	4
Vascular Plants	102	120	160
Cnidarians	0	0	0
Molluscs	7	8	9
Annelid Worms	0	0	0
Arachnids	38	50	62
Myriapods	6	6	6
Crustaceans	3	3	3
Springtails	6	6	6
Insects: Odonata	0	0	6
Insects: Orthopteroids	0	1	4
Insects: Hemipteroids	21	38	59
Insects: Hymenoptera	9	31	56
Insects: Coleoptera	87	119	203
Insects: Diptera	60	111	203
Insects: Butterflies	0	6	12
Insects: Moths	24	43	153
Insects: RSO	3	4	13
Fish	0	0	1
Reptiles	0	0	1
Amphibia	0	0	0
Birds	74	92	104
Mammals	10	12	14
Other Animals	0	0	0
Echinoderms	0	0	0
	473	676	1101

Surprised to see that coleoptera are keeping up with diptera, with 203 species each. Here's the species list for those that like them:

1042	Arge cyanocrocea	Hymenoptera	Symphyta: Bramble Sawfly	29/05/2018
1043	Agrostis capillaris	Vascular Plants	Common Bent	29/05/2018
1044	Geranium versicolor	Vascular Plants	Pencilled Crane's-bill	29/05/2018
1045	Papaver rhoeas	Vascular Plants	Common Poppy	29/05/2018
1046	Pilosella aurantiaca	Vascular Plants	Fox-and-cubs	29/05/2018
1047	Poa trivialis	Vascular Plants	Rough Meadow-grass	29/05/2018
1048	Pulicaria dysenterica	Vascular Plants	Common Fleabane	29/05/2018
1049	Rumex conglomeratus	Vascular Plants	Clustered Dock	29/05/2018
1050	Sonchus arvensis	Vascular Plants	Perennial Sow-thistle	29/05/2018
1051	Tanacetum vulgare	Vascular Plants	Tansy	29/05/2018
1052	Rumex acetosa	Vascular Plants	Common Sorrel	29/05/2018
1053	Isochnus sequensi	Coleoptera	Curculionidae	29/05/2018
1054	Euophryum confine	Coleoptera	Curculionidae	29/05/2018
1055	Crepidodera aurata	Coleoptera	Chrysomelidae	29/05/2018
1056	Pterostichus diligens	Coleoptera	Carabidae	29/05/2018
1057	Notiophilus biguttatus	Coleoptera	Carabidae	29/05/2018
1058	Matricaria discoidea	Vascular Plants	Pineappleweed	29/05/2018
1059	Plantago coronopus	Vascular Plants	Buck's-horn Plantain	29/05/2018
1060	Ranunculus bulbosus	Vascular Plants	Bulbous Buttercup	29/05/2018
1061	Amara familiaris	Coleoptera	Carabidae	29/05/2018
1062	Eutomostethus ephippium	Hymenoptera	Symphyta:Tenthredinidae	30/05/2018
1063	Tipula fascipennis	Diptera	Tipulidae - Craneflies	30/05/2018
1064	Miris striatus	Hemipteroids	Fine Streaked Bugkin	30/05/2018
1065	Eristalis intricarius	Diptera	Syrphidae	30/05/2018
1066	Dryophilocoris flavoquadrimaculatus	Hemipteroids	Miridae	30/05/2018
1067	Troilus luridus	Hemipteroids	Bronze Shieldbug	30/05/2018
1068	Eysarcoris venustissimus	Hemipteroids	Woundwort Shieldbug	30/05/2018
1069	Cephus spinipes	Hymenoptera	Symphyta	30/05/2018
1070	Lonicera periclymenum	Vascular Plants	Honeysuckle	30/05/2018
1071	Seioptera vibrans	Diptera	Ulidiidae	30/05/2018
1072 *	Epiblema cirsiana	Lepidoptera:moths	Knapweed Bell	30/05/2018
1073	Trixagus dermestoides	Coleoptera	Throscidae	30/05/2018
1074	Hedya pruniana	Lepidoptera:moths	Plum Tortrix	30/05/2018
1075	Eudonia angustea	Lepidoptera:moths	Narrw-winged Grey	30/05/2018
1076	Tyria jacobaeae	Lepidoptera:moths	The Cinnabar	30/05/2018
1077	Dypterygia scabriuscula	Lepidoptera:moths	Bird's Wing	30/05/2018
1078	Oligia strigilis	Lepidoptera:moths	Marbled Minor	30/05/2018
1079	Eilema sororcula	Lepidoptera:moths	Orange Footman	30/05/2018
1080	Hercostomus assimilis	Diptera	Dolichopodidae	30/05/2018
1081	Lepidium draba	Vascular Plants	Hoary Cress	31/05/2018
1082	Cerapheles terminatus	Coleoptera	Malachiidae	31/05/2018
1083	Campaea margaritata	Lepidoptera:moths	Light Emerald	30/05/2018
1084	Acronicta megacephala	Lepidoptera:moths	Poplar Grey	30/05/2018
1085	Cassida vibex	Coleoptera	Tortoise beetle sp.	31/05/2018
1086	Matricaria recutita	Vascular Plants	Scented Mayweed	31/05/2018
1087	Tenthredo notha	Hymenoptera	Symphyta	31/05/2018
1088 *	Argyra argyria	Diptera	Dolichopodidae	31/05/2018
1089	Euproctis similis	Lepidoptera:moths	Yellow-tail	30/05/2018
1090	Pseudomalus auratus	Hymenoptera	Chrysidae	30/05/2018
1091 *	Empis caudatula	Diptera	Empididae	31/05/2018
1092	Pinalitus cervinus	Hemipteroids	Mirid Bug	31/05/2018
1093	Earias clorana	Lepidoptera:moths	Cream-bordered Green Pea	31/05/2018
1094	Cloeon dipterum	RSO	Ephemeoptera (Mayflies)	31/05/2018
1095	Spilosoma urticae	Lepidoptera:moths	Water Ermine	31/05/2018
1096	Noctua pronuba	Lepidoptera:moths	Large Yellow Underwing	31/05/2018
1097	Plusia festucae	Lepidoptera:moths	Gold Spot	31/05/2018
1098	Rusina ferruginea	Lepidoptera:moths	Brown Rustic	31/05/2018
1099 *	Empis aemula	Diptera	Empididae	30/05/2018
1100 *	Lasioglossum nitidiusculum	Hymenoptera	Lasioglossum - Tufted Furrow Bee	30/05/2018
1101	Eriocampa ovata	Hymenoptera	Symphyta: Alder Sawfly	31/05/2018