Sphodrine dreams

In the last post I mentioned that I'd been to a Carabid course at the BENHS Dinton Pastures. While there I was looking at some of the drawers of the carabids that they hold in their collection. As I was looking I came across some specimens of a rather large carabid that I didn't immediately recognise. It was also sat taxonomically in a place that confused me, between Calathus and Laemostenus. 

I'm not sure how I'd missed these whilst reading the various books I have on beetles but this one had oddly slipped through. The genus Sphodrus.

I asked Mark Telfer about them, and their story, what little there is of it, is rather fascinating. Sphodrus leucopthalmus probably originates in the Near East and spread as "civilisation" did. It was found in cellars and other dark and damp places such as outdoor buildings where it apparently preyed on the Blaps spp. that also frequented this habitat. Both species were highly dependent on places created by pre-modern man.

Over the last couple of hundred of years but especially in the last 50 or 60, Blaps mucronota populations have crashed as the places they once were found have been lost. Cellars have, for the majority of houses been lost and most out buildings have gone or are just generally tidier; watertight with concrete floors.

The impressive predator that is Sphodrus leucopthalmus hasn't been seen in the UK since the late 70s/early 80s and has apparently also had a similar crash across all its former range.

Is it now extinct in the UK or does it hang on quietly in a cellar or barn-complex remnant somewhere? Presumably, where reasonably-sized populations of Blaps still exist there is a possibility that Sphodrus does too.

I have to admit to being fascinated by this story. Its has special resonance as I still have Blaps living under the house, occasionally appearing in the kitchen late at night to feed on scraps of food. I wonder if in the distant past there were Sphodrus there too?

The Predicted Sunshiner makes a late appearance.

I first started to identify beetles in 2014, but it was the following year when I started to make more of an effort to take specimens and get these double checked by someone with more experience to make sure any records I made were valid.

In the following three years I've got a bit better at identifying certain families but I still require a fair bit of help from time to time. Certain groups such as Amara and Aphodius I've found quite a struggle and so I have managed to amass several specimens where I just can't nail an ID.

But help has recently been at hand! Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to attend the BENHS Carabid workshop at Dinton Pastures run by Mark Telfer and Johan Walters.

It was a good chance to meet fellow beetle enthusiasts and put some faces to names. It was also the perfect chance to get a name to some of my mystery beetles. Luckily Mark was very generous with his time and I was able to go through several specimens and get his expert opinion.

One of the Amara in my box rather unexpectedly turned out to me Amara majuscula. This was only recently discovered in the UK at a moth trap in Norfolk and couple of subsequent records plus one earlier one have come to light. Chronologically, my record which was 1.vii.2015 and turned up in my moth trap, is the second record for the UK. Not bad for a garden in suburban Cambridgeshire!

Mark has given majuscula the English name Predicted Sunshiner, because the arrival of this species in Britain was predicted by Carl Lindroth in a 1972 paper but it took another 43 years to come true!

Anyway, if you want a good key to this genus I'd recommend Mark's very helpful key. It's certainly helping me learn to love Amara.

But what does Amara majuscula look like, I hear you ask?

A right stunner ;) 

Dangleberries

I found a few of these danglers attached to an Aphodius rufipes that had wandered into the moth trap.

They appear to have limbs, possibly 8, so wonder if they might be some kind of mite hitching a ride. But they are attached by a short filament rather than clinging on with legs or mouth parts so am slightly at a loss as to what they are exactly....

Answers on a postcard....

Update: apparently these are Uropodidae mites

We are family....

I've been sorting through a few Tenebrionidae recently. It is a varied family, with 47 species on the UK list.

I have one of the largest species, Blaps mucronota living under the kitchen floor boards. The one pictured here I found dead one morning.  Looking at it more closely, you can see that their eyes are an odd shape, rather slit like. Would love to know the adaptive significance of them.

This Crypticus quisquillus was found on a path on the Essex coast and was a new one for me. It's a rather smart little beetle at only 6mm.

The one that I find most often and usually think is an Amara before I pick it up and have a closer look  to count the tarsal segments (5-5-4) is Nalassus laevioctostriatus. I often find it turning bits of rotten wood or heather on heathland but it does occur in other habitats too.

Phaleria cadaverina is found in coastal locations around England. This one I found under driftwood on the Gower in South Wales. It's forelegs appear to be adapted for digging and burrowing.

Tenebrio molitor is a fairly common and the larva are often used to feed pet amphibians and reptiles. It's often found near human habitation - this one was in my garden - and moves rather slowly making it easy to pick up. Common they may be but they are a really subtly beautiful beetle when you see them up close.

Isomira murina are also really common and vary a bit in colour. This one is a particularly dark individual. The elytra are usually browner in colour.

The shapes vary a bit and when you take into account other species like Diaperis boleti and Pseudocistela ceramboides it really is a very varied family indeed.

A quick trip to the heath

Yesterday, I was on child care duties and so I proposed a trip out to Cavenham Heath in Suffolk. Previous trips here with the kids had been a success as they enjoyed trying to catch grasshoppers in pots.

Yesterday's trip was much less of a success with #1 son being a fun sponge and #2 suffering from a cricked neck, so our trip was cut short to avoid excess arguments!

We did come across a couple of the beetle Trycocopris vernalis which is the second time I've seen it here.

More exciting were my first Beewolfs (or is it beewolves!) Philanthus triangulum. They were provisioning burrows with bees.

I also pootered what I assumed was going to be a Bembidion beetle but when I looked at it under the hand lens I could see it was a very small hemipteran. Turns out it's Plinthisus brevipennis a relatively common ground bug.

Just need a return trip either on my own or with more amenable children.

White spot on Elm street

Have recently returned from an amazing 2 weeks in the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain. Butterflies galore and dung with concentrations of beetles like you wouldn't believe!

Anyway, a trip out last night with fellow moth-er Bill to an isolated stand of old elms near Ely. Generally a quiet night but we did get three of our target moth to the light. 

White-spotted Pinion, a species that was massively impacted by Dutch Elm disease in the 1970s. A new one for me and a rather smart moth. Thanks to Bill for the pic.

A rather big surprise

Last Sunday I got up early to check the moth trap and was greeted with a rather unexpected sight....a Bedstraw Hawkmoth.

This was my 10th hawkmoth species for the garden and one that I'd not expected to see. I also thought I'd be trapping for years more before hawkmoth number 10 fell. But therein lies the wonder of mothing.

There had apparently been a small influx to various south and east coast locations. Even more surprising was that people even wanted to twitch the moth.... #fridgetick