2021 invertebrate rampage - week 1

So the week finishes on 73 species. One species more than was my initial target for, um, January. A good week, then. Maybe I can make 100. I would have been surprised by that before I started. Furthermore the temperature hasn't been above about 3 and there's been ice and snow on the ground throughout.

There have been 29 beetles, 12 spiders, 8 flies, 6 bugs and bits and pieces of other things, including one worm (see below). A handful of species remain to be identified.

Many of the species have been pictured already, but here's one that isn't new to the reserve but is new to me - the very nice little bug Balclutha punctata.

New species to the reserve in 2021:

1			R	M	110	mollusc	Cochlicopa cf. lubrica	A snail
2			R	M	170	spider	Agroeca proxima	A spider
3			R		320	hemiptera	Chartoscirta cincta	A shore bug
4			R		320	hemiptera	Dicyphus stachydis	A mirid bug
5			R	M	320	hemiptera	Eupelix cuspidata	A leaf hopper
6			R	M	330	coleoptera	Altica palustris	A ground beetle
7			R		330	coleoptera	Bembidion mannerheimi	A ground beetle
8			R		330	coleoptera	Carabus problematicus	A ground beetle
9			R	M	330	coleoptera	Omalium excavatum	A rove beetle
10			R		330	coleoptera	Phaedon tumidulus	A leaf beetle
11			R		330	coleoptera	Psylliodes napi	A leaf beetle
12			R	M	330	coleoptera	Sciaphilus asperatus	A broad-nosed weevil
13			R		330	coleoptera	Stenus juno	A rove beetle
14			R		340	diptera	Crumomyia roserii	A lesser dung fly
15		C	R	M	340	diptera	Limnellia fallax	A shore fly
16			R	M	340	diptera	Mycetophila fungorum	A fungus gnat
17			R	M	340	diptera	Schwenckfeldina carbonaria	A sciarid fly

New 2021 species since last list:

62					110	mollusc	Vitrina pellucida	Winter semi-slug
63					130	annelid	Satchellius mammalis	An earthworm
64					170	spider	Centromerita bicolor	A money spider
65					170	spider	Gnathonarium dentatum	A money spider
66					200	millipede	Tachypodoiulus niger	White-legged Snake Millipede
67			R	M	330	coleoptera	Altica palustris	A ground beetle
68			R	M	330	coleoptera	Omalium excavatum	A rove beetle
69					330	coleoptera	Sitona lineatus	Pea-leaf Weevil
70			R	M	110	mollusc	Cochlicopa cf. lubrica	A snail
71			R	M	330	coleoptera	Sciaphilus asperatus	A broad-nosed weevil
72					340	diptera	Leptocera fontinalis	A lesser dung fly
73			R	M	340	diptera	Mycetophila fungorum	A fungus gnat

January beetle target met!

Good day for additions yesterday. At about ten to midnight I decided to have a brief poke at some sciarids that came out of a stem of Epilbium hirsutum. I expected I would discard them unidentified in the end, but miraculously they only took 5 minutes to key out to Schwenckfeldina carbonaria. If only everything was that easy.

There have been a remarkable 12 additions to the reserve list in the first five days, six of which have been new to me. On each visit I've really only been there less than an hour, so this tally is from accumulated effort of about 5 hours in the field and maybe three times that at home. I started with a beetle target of 20 for January and then revised it up to 25 when I was feeling sassy. Now I'm at 25 and I have at least two more species on sticks to do. No point in setting a new target but it looks like it will end up being 30-something. The take-home message of that is that there are plenty of inverts around, even in January when everything is freezing.

52					330	coleoptera	Tachyporus dispar	A rove beetle	05/01/2021
53					330	coleoptera	Paradromius linearis	A ground beetle	05/01/2021
54			R		330	coleoptera	Phaedon tumidulus	A leaf beetle	05/01/2021
55					330	coleoptera	Trichocellus placidus	A ground beetle	05/01/2021
56					190	tick	Ixodes ricinus	Sheep Tick	05/01/2021
57			R		330	coleoptera	Psylliodes napi	A leaf beetle	05/01/2021
58		C	R	M	340	diptera	Limnellia fallax	A shore fly	05/01/2021
59					170	spider	Tenuiphantes cristatus	A Linyphiid spider	05/01/2021
60					330	coleoptera	Stenus brunnipes	A rove beetle	05/01/2021
61			R	M	340	diptera	Schwenckfeldina carbonaria	A sciarid fly	05/01/2021

(CRM: new to C=county, R=reserve, M=me)

The shore thing ...

 Been a good day for the reserve list with some nice new things to add for the year and for the site.

First up is new-to-county Limnellia fallax, a shore fly (Ephydridae) from a Deschampsia tussock at the filter beds.

It came from this collection:

The fact that it was a mature tussock under a tree and next to water all came together for a very nice winter refuge. Many more repeats were dumped from the tray, too. I also discovered a nice grass pile, and some even older stalks of something that will all repay more scrutiny. I figured there was enough in the pots to leave them alone this time. Much of it was either repeat or difficult, but some, such as ground beetles Paradromius linearis and Trichocellus placidus were routine and known fro the site.

Also new was, I was surprised to find, Psylliodes napi, which it turned out I recorded in Dalgety Bay - hence my initial confusion.

On 24 beetles for 2021 now, which means I may try to squeeze out another before bedtime to meet the month target. I may also have to get a new target.

Wonder what my chances are of getting out this Gelis? Nice antennae.

post script ...

Stenus brunnipes, 2021 species #60, beetle #25

2021 invertebrate list - the firsty fifty (one ...)

... and counting. A good few specimens in the bullpen. I couldn't be bothered gendetting the Oulema (or trying), and I've left it in there currently. If I do ID one to species I'll replace it.

Notes:

R=new to reserve

M=new to me

xxx=three digit code to allow me to sort by taxonomic group. Means nothing to anyone else! 

This table has been created from Tableizer since blogger has screwed around with cut and pasting tables from Excel, which used to be easy and natural and now seems impossible.

1					110	mollusc	Clausilia bidentata	Toothed Door Snail
2					150	harvestman	Megabunus diadema	A harvestman
3					150	harvestman	Nemastoma bimaculatum	A harvestman
4					150	harvestman	Paroligolophus agrestis	A harvestman
5					150	harvestman	Platybunus triangularis	A harvestman
6					160	pseudoscorpion	Neobisium carcinoides	Common Neobisid
7			R	M	170	spider	Agroeca proxima	A spider
8					170	spider	Amaurobius similis	A laceweb spider
9					170	spider	Bathyphantes nigrinus	A money spider
10					170	spider	Clubiona comta	A Clubionid spider
11					170	spider	Drapetisca socialis	A money spider
12				M	170	spider	Drassodes cupreus	A ground spider
13					170	spider	Lepthyphantes tenuis	A money spider
14					170	spider	Monocephalus fuscipes	A money spider
15					170	spider	Neriene peltata	A money spider
16					200	millipede	Cylindroiulus punctatus	Blunt-tailed snake millipede
17					220	crustacean	Philoscia muscorum	Common Striped Woodlouse
18					220	crustacean	Trichoniscus pusillus	Pygmy Woodlouse
19					230	collembola	Dicyrtomina saundersi	A springtail
20					230	collembola	Orchesella cincta	A springtail
21					230	collembola	Orchesella villosa	A springtail
22					230	collembola	Tomocerus minor	A springtail
23				M	320	hemiptera	Balclutha punctata	A leafhopper
24			R		320	hemiptera	Dicyphus stachydis	A mirid bug
25			R	M	320	hemiptera	Eupelix cuspidata	A leaf hopper
26			R		320	hemiptera	Chartoscirta cincta	A shore bug
27					320	hemiptera	Stenodema holsata	A mirid bug
28					320	hemiptera	Stenodema calcarata	A mirid bug
29					330	coleoptera	Agonum fuliginosum	A ground Beetle
30					330	coleoptera	Agonum thoreyi	A ground Beetle
31					330	coleoptera	Amara plebeja	A ground Beetle
32					330	coleoptera	Anotylus rugosus	A rove Beetle
33					330	coleoptera	Anthobium unicolor	A rove Beetle
34					330	coleoptera	Bembidion aenea	A ground Beetle
35					330	coleoptera	Bembidion guttula	A ground Beetle
36			R		330	coleoptera	Carabus problematicus	A ground Beetle
37					330	coleoptera	Chrysolina polita	Knot-grass Leaf Beetle
38					330	coleoptera	Coccinella septempunctata	7-spot Ladybird
39					330	coleoptera	Exapion ulicis	A weevil
40					330	coleoptera	Lathrobium brunnipes	A rove beetle
41					330	coleoptera	Micrambe ulicis	A beetle
42					330	coleoptera	Oulema sp.	Cereal Leaf Beetle
43					330	coleoptera	Pterostichus strenuus	A ground Beetle
44					330	coleoptera	Stenus impressus	A Rove Beetle
45			R		330	coleoptera	Stenus juno	A Rove Beetle
46					330	coleoptera	Tachyporus hypnorum	A Rove Beetle
47					330	coleoptera	Tachyporus dispar	A Rove Beetle
48			R		340	diptera	Crumomyia roserii	A lesser dung fly
49					340	diptera	Lonchoptera lutea	Yellow spear-winged fly
50					340	diptera	Lotophila atra	A lesser dung fly
51					340	diptera	Sepsis cynipsea	A sepsid fly

Crumomyia roserii (Sphaeroceridae) - first addition to Cullaloe list in 2021!

 So begins a quest to record 1000 invertebrates during 2021. The fly list is now way behind Dalgety Bay (80 spp.) and the dipteran fauna have been somewhat neglected.

The yellow tarsi of C.roserii are a common sight in leaf litter, but this is the first one recorded here,

The invert total so far (IDs in progress) ...

Jan 1st

Oh yes. And also this...

Eupelix cuspidata - a leaf hopper (Cicadellidae)

Three new insects, June 2nd, 2020

Hebecnema vespertina is a common enough muscid fly, but wasn't recorded on the reserve

Ectemnius cavifrons is a species of wasp I know from Dalgety Bay but haven't seen before here. It was hovering beside the big horse chestnut near the entrance which collapsed across the road previously

And a bug swept from the flower meadow was a nice addition - this one maybe new to Fife - Orthocephalus saltator

The Ectemnius came from the Horse Chestnut at the entrance which lost most of its upper last year. Or was it 2018?

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.