I managed 30 minutes outside at lunchtime today and found myself looking in and around several bits of dead wood in various stages of decay.
The best find was this Aphanus rolandri, overwintering in a small gap in a piece of well rotten larch. A new species of bug for me.
It's really distinctive and likes dry, sheltered and well-drained habitats which have a layer of leaf litter present. (EDIT: according to Tristan Bantock it likes plants in the family Fumariaceae to eat. It can sometimes be found in arable margins under Fumitory and there are some garden records possibly associated with Yellow Corydalis.)
(EDIT: according to Simon Knott on Twitter there a good story behind this species scientific name.)
The map on NBN shows it has a southerly distribution with a few scattered records elsewhere, especially around the Brecks. Well drained dry habitats and all that...
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