Unexpected new mollusc - Cornu aspersum

This morning, while on a brief trip to pick up something that was left for me, I turned a rock and photographed the routine Cornu aspersum, that I expected to find along the walls of the reserve.

The surprise element of this is that when I came to copy the species line from the "complete list" tab of my spreadsheet to the "2021 list" tab it turned out it didn't exist! So Cornu aspersum is a new mollusc, the second new snail of the year.

Since I'm in mollusc world, here's another recent 2021 addition, and one of my favourite land molluscs - Hedgehog Slug.

Hedgehog Slug (Arion intermedius) new to Cullaloe

In the willow Carr. These are very small slugs, which when they are bunched up have a spikey appearance. They're probably about as cute as slugs get.

Ash-black Slug, Limax cinereoniger new to Cullaloe

A couple of these rather fetching slugs were under wood in the woodland compartment on New Year's day. Note the prominent semi-keel extending slightly more than half way from the tail.

Diplostyla concolor

A new spider for me, if not for the reserve, this Linyphiid was shaken from leaf litter yesterday morning along with a couple of other Linyphiids yet to be determined

Diplostyla concolor

Also found was this hairy snail which I think is Trochulus hispidus (English "Hairy snail"!)

Steven Falk's slug page on flikr

A nice resource for slugs, which I am not interested in. Not at all. Not even on the radar ...


https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/collections/72157631294214552/

Mollusc morning

Lots of Brown-lipped Snail emerging all over the place and a fair few Black Slugs (Arion ater). There are also other slugs appearing which I don't know. I havea  feeling there is quite a range of species but they aren't on the radar at the moment. Also this morning the dew picked out a lot of webs left around on the vegetation. Some Linpyhiid looking ones and a few orb-weaver webs like the one below. Metellina mengei? Not sure. I have a vague recollection that species leaves an open area with a signal wire.

New species - from 2013!

iRecord mollusc records have been examined and a mis-identified slug has turned out to be a new species for the reserve - Arion distinctus, or Brown Soil Slug. Here's a photo of said slug basking in the middle of a toadstool. Bonus points for identifiying the toadstool.

Slimy day

Wet weather saw loads of slugs and snails about today, and an amphibian. Away from the slime Barren Strawberry is in flower at the filter beds

Stripey slug surprise - Arion subfuscus

A nice surprise in amongst mosses at lunchtime, this attractive little stripey slug presumably enjoying the moist surrounds

Not sure what my expectation should be for February. January was a much bigger month than expected, and I should aim to be somewhere up around 400 by midsummer I expect. Vascular plants are starting to show through but aren't really kicking off. That is to say, they could be manageable in terms of how many I can try to identify. Mosses are harder to add to now, obviously, although weekend forays to the back of the reserve could still turn up a few I am hoping. March will not only include a ramp up of plants but also inverts, including the first moth night. I reckon by the end of March that I'll be in between 250 and 300 somewhere.
I guess in February I will hope to be somewhere between 200 and 250 then, at about 1 species per day added.