Despite the cold, recent snow and frost invertebrates are emerging 5 Species of ground beetlesome in large numbers of 20ish including Anchomenus dorsalis , and Bembidion tetracolum. Another nice find was Piezodorus lituratus Gorse Shieldbug adult and Anthocoris confusus a pirate bug found on oak.
Carabus (Mesocarabus) problematicus violet ground beetle huge pretty powdery blue and black thing Devil's coach horse x 3 wild parsnip in george wood Clivina fossor ground beetle with adapated front feet for digging tunnels Calocoris (Grypocoris) stysi Ilybius fuliginosus diving beetles found in stream with american fresh water shrimp and water louse near the rest home lots of hoverflies Baccha elongata among them speckled wood small TTshell
Had another look in the pine plantation and came accross rove Beetle Sepedophilus littoreus under Birch Bark log black beetle four red spot on body. Reported Altringham
It may have been cold but things are getting ready for spring. Under three rocks near a farm wall north of Lowercroft middle lodge two hundred ground beetles; Pterostichus melanarius few of these shiny black bruisers common Badister bullatus black brown coloured electra just one common Calathus melanocephalus black electra brown pronotum beetle few quite common poecilus versicolor copper greeny coloured beetle very pretty 50 nebria brevicollis quite a few of these black beetles Anchomenus dorsalis very pretty metalic green brown beetle well over a hundred of them pretty sure Leistus rufomarginatus under a rock in pasture below barrack fold three similar to more common related L. spinibarbis but these had light brown legswith no blue sheen. foreign well established visitor feeds on collembola or springtails.
Concentrated for bugs on two sites first is a plantation of trees open to the public mixed woodland with some pine, activelly managed standing and fallen logs, located off and near the end of Knowsley road. Found Orchesella cincta Springtail 1mm size poss Dicyrtomidae genus globular springtail Rove Beetle Gyrohypnus angustatus found under bark on fallen log its prefferred habitat reported as fairly common but not reported GMC via NBN Loricera pilicornis common black ground beetle bristly atenna indented electra very common also seen Elton Common earwig.
Second is the area below the second dam of lowercroft lodges small stands of small oaks. Found Plant bugs Anthocoris nemoralis and Anthocoris confusus difficult to tell apart so tentative but based on darker and lighter femera reported as possibly defining on the specimins in the photos. Both found on bark which these two of this genus inhabit. Active all year. (The last Anthocoris nemorum prefers lower plants than trees apparently.) An unidentified Rove Beetle, tiny black weavil and tiny crab spider
3.5 mm Orchestes quercus Flea Weavil so called as it has huge back legs to jump to safety found in oak its preffered plant distinctly coloured electra not recorded in GMB before nearest record stoke via NBN. Seems mainly a south or midland species but significant records cumbria. so a nice find. Almost certainly overlooked. Orchesella cincta Springtail
