Been Buggin'

It felt like it'd been an age since I did it last, but I took advantage of the freakishly hot day on Monday and made the 5min walk to Litcham Common, armed with pots, net, sieves, trays, pooters and camera for some serious Buggin'!
Dad came with me and in no time at all we'd found our first invert of the session, oddly enough it was a Chestnut Moth running across the woodland path in front of us. A few Brown Lacewings were on the wing and flitting around the Gorse too. There were a good number of Gorse Shieldbugs (Piezodorus lituratus) as well and it always makes me laugh just how sensitive they are to your movement - get too close and they're off!

Gorse Shieldbug

Hawthorn Shieldbug was the only other one we saw on the day:

Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)

Another interesting find (if you're into that kinda thing) were these Gorse Spider Mites - Tetranychus lintearius. Their web 'lair' gets wrecked in rain so after a couple of warm days is the best time to find their rebuilds:

Gorse Spider Mites

We had a few Ladybirds as well: Pine, 10-spot, 14-spot and LOADS of 7-spots. 

14-Spot Ladybird

Pine Ladybird

Quite a nice selection of Spiders from various methods of searching, lots of tiny Linyphiids sieved from the leaf litter and beaten from Gorse. I really would love to ID more of the Linyphiids but I didn't collect anything that I don't think I'll have the time (or abilty!) to ID properly. I've not got a compound microscope yet and it's something that is essential for the real titchy's of the family. Maybe one year, I'll have a real good go at them..
I did come away with one postive Linyphiid ID though, thanks to Matt Prince, and that was Microneta viaria:

Microneta viaria

Microneta viaria

A bit bigger than viara and beaten from Gorse, were Anelosimus vittatus, a few Araniella species, what is likely to be Metellina mengei (although Metellina segmentata can't be ruled out) and one of my personal faves, Diaea dorsata.

Anelosimus vittatus

Araniella sp.

Araniella sp.

Metellina sp.

Diaea dorsata - what's not to like?! :)

Sunning itself on a Gorse flower was this Bibio species of Fly (one of the smaller brothers of the St.Marks fly). I didn't catch enough of the details in photos to ID to species but it's one of maybe 3-4 different species. Nice little thing though:

Bibio sp.

Bibio sp.

As part of my must-try-harder-with-Bees-aim this year, I was chuffed to key out these two little ones and no surprise to find, they are both new to me.

Andrena dorsata - Short-fringed Mining Bee:

Andrena dorsata

Halictus tumulorum - Bronze Furrow-bee:

Halictus tumulorum

There was a nice Beetle beaten from Gorse as well, but again, I didn't keep this one. It looks quite distinctive but I've not looked into it yet and doubt very much that photos will be enough to nail it. Smart though:

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Unfortunately, we didn't see any Orange Underwing Moths around the Birch trees like last year. Hopefully they're still there somewhere. 

A good afternoons Buggin' and will get back over there again soon!

The Virgin Bagworm

This Mothing lark is a funny ol' game isn't it?!..

I've found myself straying towards some of the more unconventional methods of searching for Moths of late, be it inspecting Pine Cones for the emergence holes of Cydia conicolana (see previous blog post), or having my hands imitate a pin cushion while looking amongst Gorse bushes for the case-bearing larvae of Coleophora albicosta - the hunt for the latter of which, is still underway!

This week however, I've probably topped the 'unconventional method chart', for now at least, finding my newest lifer - Luffia lapidella, the 'Virgin Bagworm' by staring at brick walls. Yep, putting dignity to one side while passing cars and pedestrians gawp at the bloke stood with his face inches from a wall, looking like someone who was released just a tad premature but missing that long sleeved white jacket he's been wearing for years.

BUT...it was worth it! lapidella feeds on Lichen and having checked various walls and the odd lichen-covered headstone, it was to be found somewhere closer to home. 30secs from my front door, in actual fact, on a wall which we pass almost daily. Me and Ralph (my trusty canine sidekick) were on our way back home and I slowed down as usual to check 'the' wall - using the whole my-dog's-having-a-sniff-so-I-better-wait-here-and-stare-at-this-wall routine and what do ya know! An amazing feat of camouflage by the tiny Bagworm but the shape and size finally caught my eye - found ya!

THE wall!

They're a little unusual in that the wingless, grub-like females are parthenogenetic (self-fertile).
I took her home for a closer look under the microscope and returned her shortly after, with camera, for some pics in her 'natural' brick-made habitat.

Only looking at the interior of the case gives away that it's made of a nice, soft to the touch silk, and not Lichen and Brick dust!..

Showing how they have such good grip for maneuvering around vertical walls:

Just check out that camouflage:

So there we have it. If you want to see your own - go stare at walls! :)