Barking up the right tree

In between meetings today I managed to get outside for half an hour and stretch my legs. No sieving today, I needed some exercise and a reasonably fast walk. 

I ignored the few flies I saw, but eventually got tempted to pause when I came across this fallen log with peeling bark. Now I know what you are thinking but no, I haven't whacked the exposure setting up on this image. The sun was actually out and doing its thing. So much so that my hat came off, which for a bald man means that the season may actually be changing.

I had a rootle around and easily found a couple of the tenebrioid beetle Nalassus laevioctostriatus. One was rather quick on its feet, the other shuffled about looking vaguely embarrassed. At least it allowed me to take a pic.

There were also a couple of Anthobium unicolor hiding in small rot holes and a dead Bruchus rufipes with its hind leg at an odd angle!

Bruchus rufipes

Anthobium unicolor

As I trundled back to work I noticed this small spider sat on a fence post. I'm hoping Alan will be along shortly to tell me what it is again :)

Let's hope this spring-like weather lingers...

It's all a pile of....

... compost. Well in this case a mix of wood chip and leaf litter.

I spent 15 minutes at lunchtime at work today having a quick rummage in one of the decaying heaps of vegetation in the Lodge gardens. I got a few odd looks from folk as I squatted over a steaming mass of rot and casually sieved the larger bits out to reveal the beetle treasure beneath. It's amazing what you can find on a winter's day in a short time.

Best of the bunch was this Tachinus subterraneus. A lovely looking and distinctive staph,

This Rugilus erichsonii was the only one of it's kind I found. This species has an incredibly wide head (compared to the rest of it) plus a teeny-tiny neck that looks like it can't possibly support the head.

A single carabid found was this Syntomus foveatus. Not found one in winter before. I tend to pick these up in the spring on the sand paths of the heath at the Lodge.

The most numerous beetle was this Omalium species. I struggle with these and I'm still trying to get it down to a species.

There was also this Anthobium unicolor and 2 species of aleochs but they'll have to wait for a rainier day. Not bad for 15 minutes.