Sunday, 17 August 2025

Crazy Paving

Insect populations are declining. They are declining fastest in urban areas (including Leicester which is included in this study). The causes are:
  • Paving over soil
  • Reduced tree cover
  • Gardening - excessive tidiness, non-native plants, chemical use.
All of these are easily solvable (compared, say, to climate change). I see no willingness to take the actions needed to solve the problem. 


Ellis, E. E., Campbell, S. A., & Edmondson, J. L. (2025) Drivers of nocturnal and diurnal pollinating insect declines in urban landscapes. Proceedings B, 292(2052), 20250102. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2025.0102

"Insect pollinators are essential for terrestrial ecosystems, delivering key ecosystem functions in the face of anthropogenic disturbance. Urbanization may be a key threat to pollinator communities. However, the scale of the threat remains unknown due to an overwhelming research emphasis on bees and a lack of comparative studies on hyper-diverse pollinating taxa such as nocturnal moths. As a result, it remains unclear which pollinator groups are most vulnerable to urbanization, and which habitat features are most critical for supporting them. We conducted a large-scale assessment of the effects of increasing urbanization on the diversity of bees, hoverflies and nocturnal moths in urban horticultural sites (allotments) across three cities. We report up to a 43% reduction in species richness along urbanization gradients, suggesting that a wide range of pollinators are under threat in urban landscapes. We show that these declines are driven by taxon-specific landscape drivers such as the reduction of tree canopy and semi-natural habitat, suggesting that urban insect conservation depends on the preservation or expansion of habitat features specific to different threatened taxa. We found that relative to bees, moths and hoverflies are particularly sensitive to urbanization, and we highlight the importance of including these frequently overlooked pollinator groups when assessing the biodiversity impacts of environmental change."



Wednesday, 13 August 2025

One of those days

Bristly Ladybird, Rhyzobius lophanthae

Unfortunately, the day started with carpet shampooing after I had managed to tip an entire mug of coffee on a new pale carpet. 
While it was drying, I popped out to the local park to check a clump of Galingale, Cyperus longus, for the newly discovered leafhopper Flastena fumipennis. I did find a couple of potential candidates but unfortunately, they were hyper frisky in the 30C heat and pinged off before they could be pooted. 
I did pot a small ladybird, and on checking, this turned out to be a Bristly Ladybird, Rhyzobius lophanthae, a species I've been looking for for years. 
Unfortunately, I managed to lose the specimen before I could get a decent photo. 
It's been one of those days...
 




Tuesday, 12 August 2025

This is either genius ... or incredibly stupid

We have hugely underestimated the importance of sound communication in Hemiptera (bugs). Part of the reason for this is that many bug sounds consist of low frequency infrasound, e.g. vibrating the abdomen against a plant stem, or high frequency ultrasound, and the equipment needed to work with these frequencies is not widely available. I've written previously about this in Kleidocerys, and my frustration at not owning a conveniently-sized laser Doppler vibrometer. So, what if I told you that I'd figured out (by which I mean accidentally stumbled upon), a way of recording Kleidocerys calls on my mobile phone?

Listen to the soundtrack on this short video - sorry, it's a bit quiet, you'll need to turn your volume up: 


Yesterday, confronted by Alders, I had another go at finding Kleidocerys privignus (no luck, all Kleidocerys resedae, Birch Catkin Bugs). To check the ID's I was photographing them using a floating frame (see: Floating frames for macro photography), where the bug is trapped, unharmed, between two layers of transparent flexible film. Unharmed, but in the case of one of the Birch Catkin Bugs I was working with, pretty annoyed. The film appears to transform the ultrasonic calls of the bug into a lower, hearable frequency. By holding my mobile phone near the floating frame I was able to record the bug's irritation (before releasing it completely unharmed). The question is, would I be able to tell the difference in calls between K. resedae and K. ericae (should I ever find a specimen of K. ericae)?
 


Tuesday, 5 August 2025

Kybos Confusion

Kybos betulicola

For the first time ever I've managed to identify a Kybos leafhopper to species level. This is a very common but difficult genus where the male aedeagus is of limited help and needs to be supported by imaging the sternal apodemes and dorsal tergites. 

Kybos betulicola aedeagus, sternal apodemes, dorsal tergites

And the winner is ... Kybos betulicola. Except that ... there is taxonomic disagreement over the name (aka Kybos lindbergi / Kybos ludus, see: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/18234077.pdf), but the UK Checklist currently recognizes K. betulicola, so that's what it is for now.

One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for leafhoppers.
 








Friday, 1 August 2025

Entomology Update - July 2025

Much needed rain, now waiting for the Arthropods to respond. August is looking good. 



A new study of the invasive Linyphiid spider Mermessus trilobatus contradicts recent results about the spread of Mirid bugs. 


Who will get the first record for VC55?


Popping out before the rain pays off. 


Everyone loves a treehopper, but what are all those lumps, bumps and spines for?
 

I'm still on my quest to become less rubbish with bees. After a great deal of hesitation, I splashed out on Else & Edwards monumental Bee Bible, The Bees of the British Isles.


Lucerne Bug, Adelphocoris lineolatus