Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Beetles...

Got a lifer today in the form of the fairly scarce chrysomelid beetle Phyllotreta diademata (male, gen.detted). Beetle number 49 for the garden so far this year. Lots more to come once the weather starts warming up, I hope. Just in case anyone's interested the current 49 are:

Amara ovata
Anchomenus dorsalis
Anotylus rugosus
Aphthona euphorbiae
Asaphidion curtum
Barypeithes pellucidus
Bembidion guttula
Bembidion lampros
Bembidion obtusum
Bisnius fimetarius
Brachygluta fossulata
Calvia quattuordecimguttata
Cartodere nodifer
Cypha longicornis
Cyphon padi
Cyphon pubescens
Demetrias atricapillus
Gyrohypnus angustatus
Harmonia axyridis
Lathrobium brunnipes
Leistus ferrugineus
Leistus fulvibarbis
Lithocharis nigriceps
Longitarsus parvulus
Loricera pilicornis
Olibrus aeneus
Omalium rivulare
Paranchus albipes
Phaedon tumidulus
Philonthus varians
Philorhizus melanocephalus
Phyllotreta diademata
Pogonocherus hispidus
Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata
Pterostichus strenuus
Quedius maurorufus
Quedius scintillans
Rhyzobius litura
Sepedophilus nigripennis
Sitona lineatus
Stilbus testaceus
Tachinus rufipes
Tachinus subterraneus
Tachyporus chrysomelinus
Tachyporus hypnorum
Tachyporus nitidulus
Tachyporus obtusus
Trechus obtusus
Xantholinus linearis

5 comments:

  1. How on earth are you finding this many beetles? Are you merely lifting stones/slabs/debris or are you pit-falling too? Or something else? You've more beetles in your garden so far this year than I've recorded up here in a year! Mind you, I'm pretty slack with my beetle ID, apart from a few families.

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    1. Haven't done any pit-fall trapping so far this year Seth, and haven't got many stones/slabs to lift up. However, my secret weapon is a fairly large pile of grass litter, which holds loads of beetles, bugs, spiders etc, especially in the winter, when it acts as a refuge. So, most of my sightings this year have been courtesy of a tray, sieve and microscope. I also suspect that there are many more insects in this neck of the woods than up your way? However, if you've got access to grass/reed/other litter piles in your square you can sieve them and I bet you'd increase your species list quite a bit.

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    2. I live/work at a hotel and mowing the lawns are part of my duties. I produce sufficient clippings for several mounds of grass (plus leaves in the autumn) - so thanks for the tip!

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  2. Nice collection of litter species. That grass must host a fair amount of spiders too

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  3. Pogonocherus hispidus. What a beauty. Not entirely out of the question but it would be a red letter day for sure

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