Alderfly and hailstones

A mixed lunchtime at Cullaloe with a good number of hovers on the flowering dandelions and a couple of Alderflies - one on the bridge and another fond on the car park ground, presumably two of many after an emergence. There was also another bee fly on the dandelions.

One of the flies was the first Rhingia campestris of the year, another Cheilosia pagana and a few Melanostoma-looking ones.

After a sunny 15 minutes the hail began to fall and it was game over.

Alderfly looking like stained glass window lead

A lot tamer than the larva!

Crepuscular creepings

As darkness fell last night an owl passed by with pretty long wings. When darkness fell a Tawny was calling but this looked more like it might be maybe a Long-eared.

Woodcocks flew over the trees with their loud trodden-on-squeaky-dog-toy squeaks and soon darkness fell.

An Early Grey moth was caught at a flowering willow, and on the road two Water Carpet moths and a Shoulder-striped. A couple of micro moths made up the picture for an interesting nocturnal  visit. Both Early Grey and Shoulder-striped are new to the reserve list.

Sunny morning fly

One of my favourite flies of the spring has been Tachina ursina. I originally thought I was catching a hoverfly when I first came across it, until I took it out of the net to find otherwise. Since then it has become a favourite easily found at other locations too. This morning one was sunning itself on one of the best morning tree trunks at Cullaloe (wind sheltered and in direct sun early to mid morning)

Stilt bug

A nice find no the window of my car in the car park - it found me I suppose - was the stilt bug Berytinus minor. According to NBN there are no records for Scotland even for the family, but normal NBN caveats apply and the recording scheme organiser didn't express any surprise at the record.

Cheilosia grossa - the teddy bear of Cheilosia

A nice large Cheilosia hoverfly with black antennal segment 3 (the big bit). I thought I might miss out on it this year since last year I photographed it in March.

Bee fly!

Dam top starting to look a bit more 3-D

An interesting week away from the keyboard. The numbers kept ticking along as the summer birds started to arrive - Swallow, Blackcap, Willow Warbler are all in. Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies put in an appearance and a couple of Bee flies were found (highlight of the week for sure)

I did a bit more work with flies and spiders, with the Linyphiid spider Neriene peltata being added to the reserve list - a male swept from the orchid meadow. Ticks continue to abound so I'm wearing wellies and getting checked over in the evening. Hoverflies also started to come good with a couple of Cheilosia (pagana and grossa) showing up and taking us to five species in April. A Syrphus which escaped was probably torvus but I'll never know.

Micromoth Diurnea fagella

Coprinellus micaceus

Bee fly Bombylius major

Invertebrate diary April, week 2

10/04/2015
Sunny day

(morning)

Misc
   1 fly (muscid?) from sunny tree trunk in car park
   1 early bee on car park willow, but nothing else

(lunch)
Misc
   Sallow - Scathophagia stercoraria; Buff-t B-b; Rhamphomyia sp.; Small Tortoiseshell
   Filter beds - Bombylius major on Dandelion
   Car window - bug Berytinus minor
   Flew onto hand - small variegated beetle

08/04/2015
Sunny day,

(morning)

Pitfalls
   2 beetles, filter bed PT
   1 ad.m.Microneta viaria, woods PT

(Lunchtime)
Sallow catkins
   1 Early Bumble-bee
   2 Buff-tailed B-B (min)
   1 Eristalis tenax f.
   1 Eristalis pertinax (other Eristalis seen at distance but not ID'd)
   1 Empid, genus Rhamphomyia

Misc
   Carabid crossing road near car
 (Evening)
Misc
   1 water beetle in bucket in paddock
   1 small beetle beaten from small pathside pine  
   1 Harmonia quadripunctata (Cream-streaked Ladybird)beaten from small pathside pine  

Dipteran dilemma

I was quite excited about this fly when I got it from willow catkins yesterday, but I quickly ran into bother and never got out of it again. Hopefully someone from Dipterists Forum can help me get untangled.

Update: thanks to DF I can now say this is one of the Empididae. So that's a step forward.

Empid key (link):

1. Discal cell present -> 3
3. r4+5 not forked ->4
4. "Lower branch of vein cu longer and joining anal vein
at an angle much greater than 90°.  Proboscis long
or very long, directed downwards."

-> Genus Rhamphomyia

Let's park this one there for the moment ... at least until I find a key. Lots of species in the genus, but NBN (usual caveats apply) has only one record for Fife, from the usual place.

There is online an amazing resource, which goes far broader than only this one, but the keys to the Empididae are here: link

Rhamphomyia keying ...

1. Axillary lobe of wing well developed, the axillary angle rarely more than 90 degrees. 3rd antennal segment not particularly long and slender -> 2

2. Vein bordering upper side of discal cell always distinct, although sometimes noticeably less pigmented than other veins. Discal cell usually short and truncate at tip, rarely elongate and then the upper outer corner very little produced or the discal cell is open -> 5

5. Thorax black or grey -> 7

7. Acrostichals always present. Legs dark (except in barbata and sometimes geniculata). Stout or plump
species, male never with thorax velvety black and often with large and conspicuous genitalia -> 15

15. Labellae of proboscis long and slender, very short-haired, the hairs not so long as labellae are wide. Labrum at least one and a half times longer than head is deep. No bristle in 'comb' at tip of hind tibiae behind. Small species around 3 mm. Subgenus Aclonempis.

Ohhh, close but no cigar. 3mm?! Nope. Rewind and back to the microscope

Simple pleasures

7-spot Ladybirds starting to appear all over the place, including Cullaloe

Had to rescue this little one from a bucket (did I rescue it or did it want to be there?). Must have got in somehow so maybe it could have also got out.

Also a bit of weekend fun was to be had creeping about in the night, but more of that later.

And just because it's so pretty, though not from Cullaloe, here's an Easter bonus of Notiophilus biguttatus - a ground beetle. From Mossmorran.

Hopping mad

OK, so back to the hemipteroid of the other day. I ventured to look at it last night and lo and behold it is of the family Cicadellidae ("leafhopper") and the subfamily Typhlocybinae ("awkward leafhoppers")

Come and have a go ...

To my dismay on searching for a key online I immediately found that the EntSoc one is out of print and freely downloadable. Horribly this puts me into a position where I may actually identify it, but only with a modicum of bothersome effort. What the hell. If nothing better comes along I will. Hemiptera were firmly placed in the de-focussed area for this year, but it's hard to look a gift hopper in the mouth. No doubt it will be one of the family already on the reserve list too.

Springtail Dicyrtomina saundersi - 3rd for Scotland

Of course it's already recorded at Dumbarnie Links - a familiar square on any NBN map! The final character that sorts this one out is the little orthogonal (crossish) pattern at the rear end

Orange Ladybird

Among other interesting things encountered last night was this new-for-the-reserve ladybird. New to me too, and a delight to see. I released it this morning.

Other small beasties encountered included the first Owl midge I have looked at under the microscope, a lovely Sciarid fly fungus gnat (try Dynatosoma fuscicorne) that I am cautiously optimistic about, and a small green bug that I also ought to be able to get close on.

Invertebrate Diary, April, Week 1

06/04/2015
Sunny day, lunchtme visit
   1 Eristalis pertinax beside the path near the cottage (usual place!)
   1 Tachina ursina, same location
   1 small ground beetle, caught flying at same location

05/04/2015
Lamping, 9pm
   2 Hebrew Character on sallow
   3 Common Quaker on sallow
   1 Chestnut on sallow
   1 Common Earwig on top of post with dead frog
   (also many mating toads on the path and even the main road)


04/04/2015
Beating (all gorse)
   1 Metellina mengei beaten from Gorse
   1 beetle unidentified
Lamping, 10pm
   1 Hebrew Character on sallow
   1 Common Quaker on sallow
   4 Agonopterix heracliana scattered along path

   Several Metellina mengei on various trees

Sweeping
   1 imm. Larinioides cornutus swept from paddock
   1 Tetragnatha extensa with attached larva from paddock


03/04/2015
Pitfall
   1 mature male Microneta viaria from woods
   3 mature male Dicymbium nigrum spiders

02/04/2015
Sweeping
   1 imm. Larinioides cornutus swept from top of dam.
   1 Sepsid fly swept from above daffodils beside path but not identifiable to species
   2 Scathophagia stercoraria from beside the path
   1 Crumomyia fimetaria from woods pitfall


Pitfall
   Filter beds - springtails only
   Other traps not checked

01/04/2015
A quickie tour in the evening before sundown


Pitfall traps
   1 globular springtail (Dicyrtomina saundersi ) from woods - 3rd for Scotland
   1 Sciarid fly from beneath rotten upright 'stump'


Sweeping
   Tetragnatha - many
   Sheep tick - 2
   Linyphiid spider - one female, 2-2-2-2, TmIV absent, TmI @ 0.25-0.30, not yet determined
   Owl midge from beside path

Beating unidentified conifer
   Orange Ladybird Halyzia sedecimguttata (new to reserve)
   2 small green Hemiptera
   A few immature spiders
   Many unidentified small flies

Tenuiphantes cristatus

This little spider was another picked up by shaking grass cuttings at the weekend. I feel like I'm starting to get my eye in on the Linyphiid spiders, and to get to grips with the key tables. Now I know what I need to record before I open the book.

'Formula' for this spider is:  2-2-2-2, TmIV absent, TmI @ 0.15

This means that the dorsal spines on the tibiae are 2 on tibia 1, 2 on tibia 2 etc., there is no trichobothrium on metatarsus IV, and the trichobothrium on metatarsus I is at 15% of the distance from the proximal end.

The trichobothrium is a little sensory hair which has a pit at its base. Sometimes the pit is easier to locate first, but sometimes the hair is easier to locate because it vibrates when there is movement - a subtle move of your chair, a cough - anything. It is VERY sensitive. Trichobothria can sense air movements of prey items (flies) when in close proximity (link). This makes it harder to photograph, because essentially it's always moving. The pit is located in between the lines of other hairs on the leg - see picture 3

There is another Linyphiid rule I forgot. Must be broken sometime but the rule is as follows: "Where a number of species have size ranges your spider will be the exact size that meets the requirement for all candidate species!"

A very similar rule applies to fungal spores.

Spiny chelicerae

Why don't palp drawings also have this view?

Dark trichobothrium pit slightly right of the spine

Palp

Invertebrate Diary, March

Invertebrate diary

30/03/2015
Nothing in traps except springtails and a couple of  Tachypodoiulus niger

29/03/2015
Grass cuttings -

   1 Ero sp., imm f. (first of genus on reserve)
   1 Clubiona sp. imm. m. (C.reclusa only recorded species on reserve)
   1 Pardosa sp. imm. f.
   1 Microneta viaria, f. (previously recorded)
   1 Tenuiphantes cristatus, m. (new to reserve)
   1 Linyphid sp., imm. m.

   also: Anthobium unicolor, Tachypodoiulus niger, Nebria brevicollis

   Pitfall under 2nd log in woodland re-sited due to seeing no activity

25/03/2015
Filter Beds pitfall -
   1 Phorid
Orchid meadow pitfall
   1 harvestman
   2 spiders
   1 beetle larva
Woods pitfall - unchecked
1 large, hairy fly taken from path, assumed hover, but not

24/03/2015 - frosty
Filter Beds pitfall (a.m.) -
   2 x Nanogona polydesmoides,
   springtails,
   4 x spider sp.(1 lyniphid m, 1 f),
   1 small hymenopterid
Orchid meadow pitfall (a.m.) - not checked
Woods pitfall (a.m.) - empty
Willow catkins unproductive, some smaller flies basking on south facing trunks

23/03/2015
Filter Beds pitfall (a.m.) - empty
Orchid meadow pitfall (a.m.) - empty
Woods small pitfall (a.m.) - Anthobium unicolor, 1 small rove beetle, 1 globular springtail - damaged
Willow catkins car park (a.m.) - small fly netted
Willow catkins car park (lunch) - Melangyna lasiophthalma. male
(Woods small pitfall decommissioned, larger pot placed under another log)

21/03/2015
Orchid meadow, sweep netting p.m. - Two sheep ticks
Embankment sweep netting p.m. - Plant hopper Stenocranus minutus (2nd for Scotland)


20/03/2015

Released:
Spider Tetragnatha extensa (probably)
Common Flowerbug (Anthocoris nemorum)
Ground beetle Nebria brevicollis (probably)
Large broad-nosed 'weevil:': 5
Small brown beetle: 10 (Micrambe ulicis)

Retained
Large broad-nosed 'weevil:' 3 - same species
Small weevil: 1 - putative Exapion ulicis
Small beetle: 1 - ID abandoned
Small brown beetle: 2 Micrambe ulicis

Spider Metellina mengei adult female from grass cuttings beside the road

Planthopper Stenocranus minutus - 2nd for Scotland

This planthopper was swept from the grass on the flower meadow on Friday. From the redoubtable NBN there appear to be none recorded in Fife. From the less redoubtable Dumbarnie Links zoological list S.minutus has already been recorded in Fife, although noted as a 1st for Scotland at that point!

Lesser dung fly revisited

Yesterday I took delivery of the lovely Ent Soc key to the Sphaeroceridae (lesser dung flies), and it was an instant hit. Nicely illustrated with all the keys, at least the ones I used, giving very clear guidance. The first out from this new arrival is the fly Copromyza stercoraria

Median vein section 3 longer than section 4

Spurred hind tibia

"Y" shape and setae on scutellum

Flea beetle

Shook some grass out onto the back of the sweep net yesterday and caught a bevy of small beetles. Amongst them was a group of shiny blue-ish beetles which caught my eye as leaf beetles - a target area for the year. I potted them and hoped for the best.

It was relatively straightforward to confirm them as leaf beetles, and to narrow it down to a group called flea beetles - you can see the hind leg are made for jumping, and the explosive way they occasionally cannoned around inside the pot was remarkable

Here's where it gets tricky. The genus they belonged to was Altica, comprising a handful of very similar species, which really require dissection of males to finally determine.I may consider doing this later, but I'm not up for beetle dissection yet and I don't really have the tools. I had a crack at the key and atlas anyway - you never know.

Working from the total list ...

Altica longicollis (= Altica ericeti) - possible candidate
A.olaracea - lacks diagnostic elytral markings
A.lythri - too southerly in distribution
A.helianthemi - too southerly in distribution
A.brevicollis - too southerly in distribution
A.palustirs - scattered records, possible candidate
A.carinthiaca - too southerly in distribution

This gives us basically two realistic candidates, and one of them keys out at the first step - A.longicollis has straight edge elytae for 2/3 of length. Does this? Maybe! I haven't completely given up on going all the way, but for the moment it will have to go down as Altica sp.

Nebria!

Or similar.

Not only was the first beetle guest to my amateur pitfall yoghurt pots Nebria brevicollis but it seems that the larvae I have been routinely finding are also Nebria (or similar). So I no longer believe that they are making their way into the traps on purpose nor that they are aquatic.

#newthingeveryday

Lesser Dung Fly week

Apparently. A second species of lesser dung fly has been obtained, this time from a pitfall trap. The previous swept one was Leptocera, wheareas this one is a Borborus. The terminated vein 5 is characteristic of the group

From wiki: