The Munchers

I've been tracking a new site for the invading Rosemary Beetle (Chrysolina americana) in Leicester for the last year. I kept finding larvae and pupae which were difficult to identify definitely but it's taken until now to find any adults. When I checked, someone else had already recorded them at this site - not altogether surprising for a day-glo fluorescent-striped beetle! Truth be told, they don't do that much damage, and the RHS says: "Host plants often survive light infestations without any noticeable adverse affects and so control is not usually necessary ... Hand picking can help to keep beetle numbers below the level at which serious damage occurs". Put the insecticide away and stop the insect apocalypse.

Moth records continue to fall

A Toadflax Brocade (Calophasia lunula) turned up in the moth trap yesterday. It was a very worn specimen, but I suspect it's come a long way. Although they've been turning up in small numbers in VC55 for the past two years I suspect this is a migrant rather than a local. Which set me thinking (on a wet day) about the County moth records.

All VC55 moth records (>68k) (to end 2018) (all data copyright Leicestershire and Rutland Environmental Records Centre, data series to end 2018):


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I can break this down to look at VC55 moth families:


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With over 68,000 records, this is approaching big data, so - heatmap of all VC55 moth records:


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From the heatmap, the contributions of individual (groups of) moth recorders can be seen - as well as the remaining gaps in coverage. However, at least two of the islands point to the traditional VC55 honeypots of Charnwood and Rutland Water.


Acknowledgements:

• All data Copyright Leicestershire and Rutland Environmental Records Centre.
• Data visualization performed using the R platform, v. 3.6.1 (R Core Team (2014) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org).
• J. Cann for assistance with data visualization.

In Which Emperors Abound

It's not difficult to find better photos of the Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) than this one. For what it's worth, this is definitely not a White Admiral, because the occasional rapid flyby at head level confirmed that, but the ten specimens we recorded (being conservative to avoid double counting), spent almost all their time courting at the tops of the major Oaks. Also worthy of note: Purple Hairstreak 2; Marbled White 3; Silver-washed Fritillary - too many to count:

Sledgehammer to crack a nut

I find it very difficult to distinguish between The Uncertain (Hoplodrina octogenaria) and The Rustic (Hoplodrina blanda). Everyone I speak to has a difference favourite method to tell them apart, but the shinyness of The Rustic compared with the rougher appearance of The Uncertain is a consistent suggestion. Unfortunately, most people agree that this character is very difficult to capture in a photo, although I think I've just about managed to capture the shinyness on the forewing in a photo (same lighting):



I took a closer look under the microscope at the scales in the kidney mark on the forewing and it is possible to see a difference - The Uncertain has quill-like scales which point forward and presumably contribute to the rough appearance, whereas the scales on The Rustic have a flatter and more "sleek" appearance:



I'll look at some more specimens as I get them and see if this is a consistent observation.

Clubiona reclusa

With a couple of exceptions (C. comta, C. corticalis), Clubiona species are difficult to separate and it always comes down to microscopic examination, but with Clubiona reclusa there are a few key features which can point you in the right direction:

Stroppy Agelena labyrinthica

I was pleased to find a new site for Agelena labyrinthica in VC55 yesterday with no previous records for this species. There were plenty of webs and spiders and they were bigger that those I found a couple of weeks ago (possibly down to the advancing season). Most striking however was the difference in behaviour. The spiders I observed previously were very timid, disappearing down the funnel at any sign of movement. This crew were not only bigger but much bolder. This chap had recently acquired a Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius) for lunch:



Rather than fleeing as I tried to photograph him, he came out of the funnel guarding his meal:



before dragging it off to safety:



Then returning to glare at me, making it very clear what would happen if I tried to steal his lunch:

Agelena labyrinthica frustration

At the weekend I went looking for Agelena labyrinthica, with some ups and downs.

In the South East, Agelena labyrinthica is fairly commonly encountered, but that's not the case in VC55 (Leicestershire and Rutland) where it's only known from a handful of sites. I visited one at the weekend and found it, but the day was a little more complicated that it seems. We soon found an area of the site rich in the characteristic webs, but the spiders weren't playing. Detecting any sign of movement, they were off down the funnel, making photographs effectively impossible:



Eventually I found one going nuts over not one but two Roesel's Bush-crickets (Metrioptera roeselii) in its web. I think these were probably disturbed as I approached the web and jumped in. The spider was dashing back and forwards, trying to subdue first one and then the other, thinking Christmas had come early. But it was also pretty wary, retreating back down the funnel if I got too close, and because the web was in deep vegetation I couldn't get any good photos:



I spent several more hours trying to get a better photo but failed and eventually had to give up. However, when I popped the memory card in the computer I was surprised/embarrassed to see that the very first photo I had taken in the morning was the only decent shot I managed the whole day:



One odd observation, there's only ever been one record of Pisaura mirabilis from this site, and I didn't see any all day, which seems strange.

Entelecara acuminata

https://arachno.piwigo.com/index?/category/946-entelecara_acuminata

https://araneae.nmbe.ch/data/49/Entelecara_acuminata
Female:
√ Overall appearance: inconspicuous, generally dark;
√ Tibial spines: 2-2-1-1;
√ Metatarsus IV dorsally: trichobothrium present;
√ Position of TmI by range: 0.40-0.49;
√ Length of femur I: equal to prosoma;
√ Prosoma: inconspicuous;
√ Fovea clearly visible as darkened groove;
√ Opisthosoma: unicolorous, inconspicuous;
√ Dorsal spines on femur I: none;
√ Posterior eye row: straight;
√ Anterior cheliceral teeth: unremarkable in size;
√ Conspicuous structures on chelicerae: none;
√ Maxillae: unremarkable;
√ Female palp: claw not present/inconspicuous;

Cephalothroax:


TmIV present:



TmI:


Epigyne in vivo:




Epigyne:

Kaestneria pullata

Males: 2-3mm, females: 2-3.2mm. Variable in appearance but generally dark, abdomen often with paler chevrons.
Tibial spines 2-2-2-2
TmIV: absent
TmI: 0.20-0.29

Dorsal (click for larger images):



Ventral:



Characteristic epigyne:



Metatarsus I trichobothrium (TmI):