It felt almost spring like and the sun was taking the worst of the chill out the air.
The number of species of beetle was down on previous visits. I'm not sure if this is down to changes in weather and season or whether it's because I keep disturbing the piles in my search for more beetley goodness.
But, I'm still turning up new beetles.
Today's addition was Cercyon analis. At only 2.1mm long it's a pretty small hydrophilid beetle. It has strongly narrowed elytra which are obvious even to the naked eye. In the tray my first impression was that it was a massive ptilid.
The most numerous beetle (after the aforementioned ptilids) was the rather smart staph Lithocharis nigriceps. Introduced from east Asia in the mid 20th century, this species seems to be a fairly common denizen of compost heaps.
Anyway, after 10 minutes of sieving I felt the dirtiness from Diptera washing away. And everything was right with the world. At least for now...
Don't worry, you'll be back just as soon as the first hoverflies and bluebottles start showing their faces. I may have to visit your compost heap at some point...
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