Driving South

I took the day off today and decided to venture a little farther afield. I got in the car and drove for an hour south(ish) and visited Panshanger Park, in between Hertford and Welwyn Garden City. Owned by the Cowper family from the late 17th century to the early 20th century, the Panshanger Estate was shaped around the Mimram Valley following input from Humphry Repton and 'Capability' Brown. Since the 1980s, the park has been owned by Tarmac and parts have been quarried for sand and gravel. It's a brilliant mix of grazed pasture, parkland, woodland and lakes and river. I'd seen some of the great beetles being found there by others on the Beetles Facebook page so thought I'd go have a look.

I arrived just after 8 and it soon got really warm, probably too hot for beetling, so numbers weren't large but there was an assortment of other stuff on offer too. Whilst rootling around at the base of a mature oak I came across a couple of these caterpillars. 

I wasn't sure what they were at first but looking in the new guide these would appear to be Gypsy Moth caterpillars. This would be a new UK species for me, I've seen them in France before but never here. I also think that this is the first time I've had a moth tick via caterpillar as opposed to adult. 

On the larval front there were also Mullein caterpillars feeding on Mullein, funnily enough!  

On the (adult) moth front I recorded a new species in the form of the Gelchid Parachronistis albiceps. This is a common species feeding on hazel but I guess I just don't trap enough in woodland to have caught up with it before.

Beetle wise the most common species was Pseudovadonia livida. There must have been 10s of 1000s of these across the site, as almost every flower had at least a pair and usually more, and all were in the act of making baby longhorns.

Once the temperature got up beetling was hard going as well  as being a sweaty business but the arrival of fellow Facebook beetler Emily in the afternoon gave fresh impetus and some oak beating eventually gave up a new Genus of longhorn for me. Leiopus, the Black-clouded Longhorn. There are 2 closely related species and dissection (or at least comparison to known specimens) is needed to get any further. It's a smart looking thing too. 

I also stumbled across my second Mesosa nebulosa which was sat underneath a Hornbeam twig. Whilst trying to pot it for photos I fumbled and dropped it. I then spent 30 minutes on my hands and knees searching in vain...

A very brief jewel beetle was the only one of the day but the views were so short that it was impossible to tell which one it was. Investigating some of the lakeside vegetation yielded plenty of Chrysolina herbacea on the Water Mint that lined the water. 

I also saw my first Agapanthia villosoviridescens of the year. This one was playing peekaboo with the camera! Another couple quickly followed.

I've still got some small stuff to sort out and identify, mainly weevils and Cryptophagus (I think) species. The next couple of days are looking even hotter so will get the moth trap out and hope for some dispersing beetle bycatch.