Mossmorran - Small Heather Weevil

Swept from heather, this is Microlus ericae - about 1.5mm long!

Great Diving Beetle at Mossmorran

A brief bottle trap for ten hours during Sunday turned up 2 of the above. Very fine they were too

Lovely lichens

A duo of completely different lichens - first up is Aspicilia contorta, which is a common concrete lover and which I found on the concrete buttress of the wall in the car park area. The last two pictures is on top of the wall and I believe is the older, more settled version where the "jelly tots" have all flattened down into tilework

The second is a lovely Cladonia chlorophaea with chunky soredia. This is from Mossmorran though, amongst the heather.

The best hoverfly?

Could be. A contender anyway. Chrysotoxum bicinctum, from Mossmorran

Alongside a few more hovers was this nice soldierfly Cloromyis formosa

This hover, Pipiza bimaculata, seems to be new to Fife though widespread. I've had  a few in the last couple of days now

Guest slot - Mossmorran

So I have been poking around a bit in the heather at Mossmorran, just outside of the picturesque hamlet of  Cowdenbeath, and some nice heather specialists have popped up. Hopefully there will be at least one more in the form of a county first moth I plan to look for!

Heather Beetle (similar Willow Beetle also present in abundance)

Heather specialist Clubiona trivialis

The "biggie" so far - Emperor moth