2019 Highlights

NEW FOR SCOTLAND
Asaphomyces tubanticus - a laboulbeniomycete fungus (24/01/2019)
This was found on the elytrae of a Catops beetle and was fortunately ID-able with some reading. Just been featured in British Wildlife, though I haven't yet seen it.

Hydrotaea floccosa - a muscid fly (26/05/2019)
Hydrotaea is a cool genus with all kinds of weird and wonderful modifications to the legs. This makes them both interesting (yes, it does) and easy to identify. Only days before I found 2nd-for-Scotland Hydrotaea meteorica on the 20th.

NEW FOR COUNTY
Melangyna quadrimaculata - a hover fly (26/03/2019)
Long awaited first-for-county this Salix lover finally fell at the end of March.

Protophormia terraenovae - a blow fly (11/04/2019)
One of some nice finds at a roadkill badger corpse. Shame about the badger but nice of it to "take one for the team"

Cheilosia nebulosa - a hoverfly (27/04/2019)
Not something I was really expecting but a welcome addition to the county fauna. I've just noticed on NBN that there aren't other Scottish records for this. At this point I have no idea whether that's legit or not! I feel like it isn't, but it's a good record nonetheless

Lauxania cylindricornis - a lauxaniid fly (05/05/2019)
Tim had this before. When I looked it up I was jealous. Seen a few since though.

Hydrotaea meteorica - a muscid fly (20/05/2019)

Rhogogaster punctulata - a sawfly (22/05/2019)
I wanted to look at more sawflies this year. That was with mixed success but this was a nice one for sure

Brachicoma devia - a flesh fly (15/07/2019)

Zabrachia tenella - Pine Black (29/09/2019)
This pine specialist has only been seen in Scotland three times (highlands) - 1906, 1907 and 1938. It's listed as endangered and range is noted as limited to SE England. I guess this changes things a bit. (edit: subsequent conversations reveal that other people have seen it, but the vagiaries of fly recording mean they don't feature on NBN, or probably in the recording schemes. Verdict: "could do better")

Triplax aenea - a beetle (15/10/2019)
A second record for Scotland. Examining the standing trunk of a horse chestnut that had been culled recently after a chunk of it fell off there were plenty of these under the bark. Initially mis-ID'd as Tetratoma fungorum I twigged as soon as I got them under the microscope.

JUST HAPPY TO SEE
Boettgerilla pallens - Worm Slug (03/03/2019)

Common, I'm told, but I'd wanted to see this for ages and I hadn't.

Fungus Fantasia - reserve fungus list goes over 300

So in a busy weekend I managed to sneak out to the woods for an hour and a half - and what an hour and a half! 9 new fungus species for the reserve and 5 of them lifers.

First up, before the woods, was this pathside Volvopluteus gloiocephalus

Then into the woods the Oak Milkcap, sometimes called the Oakbug Milkcap, which is an oak mycorrhyzal species which smells of bugs. Its milk is white, only mildly turning yellow-ish on tissue.

There were Amethyst Deceivers

... and plain old Deceivers (Laccaria laccata)

There was Hydnum repandum

And Sulphur Knight, Tricholoma sulphureum, in amongst the roadside debris and litter (leaf litter and actual litter).

There was also the rather splendid Thelephora anthocephala

This already recorded Cortinarius bolaris (Dappled Webcap) was very pretty

There were the usual suspects of 1000 Russula nobilis (Beech Sickener) and Lactarius Blennius and Tricholoma sciodes (Beech Knight) and all in all it was a magnificent sight.

On Sunday I managed a lifer spider (Centromerita bicolor) from a grass pile and the little yellow springtail Dicyrtomina minuta 

All in all a productive weekend, with the reserve additions for this year now over 400, and the fungus list over 300

Latest additions to yearlist:

1098			R		diptera	Calliphora subalpina	Wood Bluebottle
1099			R		lep-moth	Epiblema costipunctata	A micro moth
1100			R	M	Fungus	Volvopluteus gloiocephalus	Stubble Rosegill
1101			R	M	Fungus	Hydnum repandum	Wood Hedgehog
1102			R	M	Fungus	Thelephora anthocephala
1103			R		Fungus	Tricholoma suplhureum	Sulphur Knight
1104			R		Fungus	Lactarius quietus	Oak Milkcap
1105			R		Fungus	Amanita submembranacea
1106			R	M	Fungus	Cortinarius torvus
1107			R	M	Fungus	Cortinarius elatior
1108			R		Fungus	Laccaria lacccata	The Decevier
1109					Fungus	Amanita rubescens
1110					Fungus	Cortinarius hinnuleus	Earth Webcap
1111					Fungus	Lactarius blennius	Beech Milkcap
1112					Fungus	Laccaria amethystina	Amethyst Deceiver
1113					Fungus	Russula atropurpurea
1114			R	M	spider	Centromerita bicolor	A linyphiid spider
1115			R		collembola	Dicyrtomina minuta	A springtail

Snowy Inkcap, Coprinopsis nivea, 02/09/19

In amongst the willows and birches, probably on deer poo to begin with

cap detail

Fungal additions

A brief round of the woods on Saturday provided four new additions to the reserve fungus list. It's surprising that at least some of these are new, but an indication of how much is still left to do on fungus recording. The fungus list currently stands just shy of 300 species.

Russula xerampelina

Mycena galopus - milking bonnet

Porcelain mushroom

Cortinarius bolaris - dappled webcap

14th July

A long morning spent on the reserve produced a good handful of new records and nice repeats

Agapeta hamana, Common Yellow Conch

Mompha locupletella

Bovista plumbea, Grey Puffball

Fairy Flax

Cinnabar caterpillars (finally!)

Agriphila straminella

Phragmidium rosae-pimpinellifoliae on Burnet Rose

Bugs

A few bugs around in all the luscious greenery at Cullaloe

These four are a set swept from grass and path verges:
Grypocorus stysi
Leptopterna dolabrata

Leptopterna ferrugata

Plagiognathus chrysanthemi

Despite the apparent hugeness in the photos the Plagiognathus is actually half the size of the others

Linyphiid Key

https://www.fscbiodiversity.uk/fullscreen/liny

Based on Big Roberts, an interactive key to narrowing down Linyphiid candidates

Green Speed Fieldwell

At the edge of the path, both in flower and (helpfully) with seed pods. Seed pod shapes fr Veronicas are featured in field guides. or at least in Rose, as an aid to identification

Hoverfly Anasimyia contracta

I've found one or two mostly around the spillway but this one was further along the path

Common Figwort and Common Wintergreen

First time I've seen it on the reserve, though someone else has since it's on the list

Also some nice Common Wintergreen beside the ditches in the woods. Terrible picture, though

Welsh Poppy

A naturalised plant of rough ground, at the edge of car parks and the like, but in this case a few showing up along the water channel that goes under the road adjacent to the reserve. This little-visited corner of the reserve is very different to the rest, with a forest of ferns, Wood Sorrell and Great Woodrush. It also has Greater Stitchwort and Gooseberry.

Welsh Poppy is the 317th species of vascular plant on the reserve list.

Pine Ladybird

Clamped onto a tree trunk in the rain the other day, this Pine Ladybird was new to the reserve list.

Carrion beetles

Mmmmm, tasty. Nothing like a bit of rotten fish to get the juices flowing - in this case about 1cm cubed of 3 week old cod hung over a pitfall trap

2 Nicrophorus vespilloides

6 Oiceoptoma thoracicum 1 Pterostichus niger

Big cranes!

One of a threesome of big crane flies, this Pedicia rivosa was found in a moth trap on the morning of the 2nd. On the evening before both Tipula maxima and Tipula fulvipennis were found so that's a serious combined wingspan for a trio of flies!

Aspen gall inducers

A great page here, and probably more on other plant species if you sniff around the site. There's also a wealth of fascinating content about other ecological relationships there

http://www.jmeg.fi/InsectsOnAspenGallinducers.htm

Salix cat

A nice caterpillar eating a hairy Salix (caprea?). Seems to be a Mottled Umber caterpillar

Moth season begins

Despite having found a fair few moths, including new ones, this year on the reserve, things are starting to look up in terms of diversity. The Nut-tree Tussock is new for the reserve.

Small Phoenix

Nut-tree Tussock

Lunar Thorn

Rustic Shoulder-knot