Grass Pile

One of the wonders of the reserve in January is any kind of pile of litter that's lying around as a refuge. Sometimes the crew clear away all the cuttings but on this marvellous occasion the grass pile that's left is down beside the burn on a small piece of grassland. On the list of 135 species of invertebrate so far the grass pile has contributed 25 species. 

There have also been lots of other species which were recorded first in other places (tussocks, flood refuse), but which are also in the grass pile. There are others again that have been taken from the grass pile but not determined, and a good many springtails which I haven't even lifted. Add to that all the immatures that are "un-doable" - many spiders, soldier beetle larvae, other larvae of various kinds. There is probably over 100 species just in this pile. I've barely looked at 30% of it and never got to the damp bottom. Maybe an interesting project for another year would be to catalogue just a grass pile.

One thing I've done to see if I can extend its value is to acquire a 20cm bucket and a chip fryer basket. It's currently filled with a clump of mid-level grass and I'm eagerly anticipating what may be in the bottom by now. 

There's usually an inspiration for such ideas and in this case it was Clive Washington's youtube video of a similar method:

And here's the list of species which were first recorded from the grass pile. Other species which were in the grass pile but recorded first elsewhere would probably double this list.

annelid	Satchellius mammalis
coleoptera	Psylliodes napi
coleoptera	Altica palustris
coleoptera	Omalium excavatum
coleoptera	Sciaphilus asperatus
coleoptera	Quedius cinctus
coleoptera	Quedius maurorufus
coleoptera	Philonthus carbonarius
coleoptera	Phratora laticollis
coleoptera	Rhinoncus leucostigma
coleoptera	Coelositona cambricus
coleoptera	Anacaena globulus
coleoptera	Sitona sulcifrons
coleoptera	Sitona suturalis
collembola	Neanura muscorum
diptera	Schwenckfeldina carbonaria
diptera	Leptocera fontinalis
millipede	Tachypodoiulus niger
mollusc	Vitrina pellucida
mollusc	Cochlicopa cf. lubrica
mollusc	Trochulus hispidus
spider	Tenuiphantes cristatus
spider	Centromerita bicolor
spider	Gnathonarium dentatum
tick	Ixodes ricinus