Happy Entomological Christmas

 Winter solstice greetings, with a look back at my entomological 2023. 

DALL·E3/Bing Image Creator

For me 2023 hasn't been a vintage recording year for a number of reasons. After the extreme heat of summer 2022, a cold snap in December and a wet winter, the year got off to a slow start. By the end of January I was desperate enough to try beating Box (Buxus sempervirens), a plant I've never investigated before. Via Anthocoris butleri, this started off a journey through the genus Anthocoris which in some ways has been the highlight of the year, and certainly good for my skills. Writing now at the end of the year we only have one Anthocoris species still missing in VC55, the appropriately seasonal Anthocoris viscii. Mistletoe is now quite plentiful here, but inaccessible high in the trees so I'm hopeful that Santa will bring me that drone with a vacuum sampler attached. 

Spring seemed to drag on and at times I despaired about the general lack of insects. In April, things started to improve, but mostly because I'd done something to help - I bought myself a dip net. Armed with this I started touring VC55 ponds and water courses recording aquatic bugs. This was hugely enjoyable, and working on live aquatic bugs is so much more enjoyable than dead moth trap specimens covered in scales! The only issue I had was one encounter with an elderly dragon who berated me for stealing tadpoles! I narrowly managed to escape being beaten with her rolled up umbrella and she remained utterly sceptical of my excuses about aquatic Homoptera. (Note: net is thoroughly disinfected between each site.)

In May I decided to repeat the trick and bought my first ever sweep net. I'd always been resistant to sweep netting, partly to avoid looking like a Victorian butterfly collector, but I now see the error of my ways. In the field the sweep net was both a blessing and a curse. At the times when I didn't want a lengthy conversation, I could easily sidestep because the usual civilian opener was "Are you looking for Butterflies?" (as in - What else to people catch in nets?), to which I could simply reply "Yes". (I wasn't.) The downside was the aggressive reaction from the off-lead dog plague at all of our nature reserves and SSSIs. Dogs really don't like sweepnets. Neither do dog owners - "You're upsetting him". 

It wasn't until June that things really picked up and on the 30th of June I have a very clear memory of standing in one of the rides at Prior's Coppice that was absolutely alive with insects. What a relief after the famine of spring! Armed with my new net I collected spiders, but mostly focused on Hemiptera, and in particular Mirids. I was looking forward to Carry On Sweep Netting into the autumn and adding to my Auchenorrhyncha records but at this point things started to go awry. In July it started raining and this carried on into August. Good for dip netting, not for sweep nettting. Personal circumstances then got in the way and I wasn't able to do much recording for several months, not even running the moth trap in the garden (bloody builders!). In September I was dragged off on holiday and deliberately didn't do any recording as I was feeling stale and in need of a break. 

Come October things improved and entomological activity started up again. I gave two talks on Mastigusa macrophthalma and while I was spouting my ecological theories about this species I had a lightbulb moment. This resulted in my second most enjoyable field visit of the year (after the relief of Prior's Coppice) - a day spent (successfully) poking around the 800 year Oaks in Bradate Park (first Oak-associated VC55 record for M. macrophthalma in 55 years). 

In November Santa came early and brought me a new camera I could slip in my pocket for macro photos in the field. This revitalized my recording, even though there wasn't much about by this stage of the year and many sites were still too wet to visit. The unexpected cold snap at the end of November and into December put paid to my recording year, apart from a late flourish from the Ivy. Overall, it's been a pretty average year, but I have done some new things and those have been the highlights. 

I don't do new year resolutions but it is good to have some specific targets for the coming year. The main one is to continue with the new collection methods I used this year - dip net, sweep net - and to avoid going to the same sites at the same time of year and collecting samples in the same way. Hopefully the ponds won't dry up in summer so I can continue dip netting into the autumn. The other objective is to run the garden moth trap on a regular basis! In addition, I have a cunning plan based on a remark that Jim Flanagan made in an online talk ... but more of that next year. 

The best thing about 2023 overall has been all the people I have worked with - face to face and online. I hope to be more sociable next year!