The Lyons Share

The top ten deadwood invertebrates of the West Weald in 2010

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Thursday, 4 November 2010 17:37

I was writing an interim report today on a survey carried out this year looking at deadwood invertebrates in The Mens and the West Weald Landscape Partnership project area and thought it would be good to pull together some of the best findings and photos so far. So, in what is only an arbitrary, reverse, order based upon my own opinion (mostly on how photogenic it is), here are the best of the best!

10). Volucella inflata. A nationally scarce deadwood hoverfly.

9). Red-headed Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa serraticornis. A common but beautiful deadwood beetle.

8). Anaglyptus mysticus. A nationally scarce longhorn beetle named after a type of wall paper...

7). Rhinoceros Beetle. He's one horny devil.

6). Ischnomera sanguinicollis. I thought this was  a soldier beetle at first...how wrong was I! It's quite a scarce deadwood species.

5). Hornet Beetle Leptura aurulenta. It's big, it's bright, it's scarce. Seems to be a theme with deadwood invertebrates.

4). Platystomos albinus. You've gotta love the bird-dropping mimics.

3). Ctenophora flaveolata. Red Data Book wasp mimic cranefly. Thanks to Michael Blencowe for the photo. I saw one shortly after Michael took this photo in The Mens but could not get near it to take a photo. This shot is great!

2). Lymexylon navale. It's long, it's thin, it's RDB2 and it's one of the rarest species recorded on the survey...so far.

1). Tanner Beetle Prionus coriarius. Bumping into one of these in broad day light quietly sitting on a dead branch was one of the highlights of my year and was an excellent end to the field work of the survey.

Posted in beetles, deadwood, flies, The Mens

4 Response to "The top ten deadwood invertebrates of the West Weald in 2010"

Mark Schofield Says:

What a line-up! Great to see the hidden gems of the West Weald's ancient woodland. Great work.

4 November 2010 at 22:00

Graeme Lyons Says:

Thanks Mark! They really are a fascinating and varied group of insects. I'm getting beetle withdrawal symptoms at the moment. Hence the post reminiscing.

5 November 2010 at 07:37

Ray Hamblett Says:

'Solider' beetle ? Spellcheck sir :)
or is their such a beast ?

5 November 2010 at 08:30

Graeme Lyons Says:

Thanks Ray, it is indeed soldier. I was in a rush last night and it's always good to spot the typos that the spellchecker misses early on...such as 'or is their such a beast?'.

5 November 2010 at 10:42