Fungus feeders

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Monday 21 March 2011 19:53

I've been having a look at some dead wood today and found a few interesting things. This saproxylic beetle was new to me, Mycetophagus atomarius. I found several on fallen Beech limbs. Later on in the day I also spotted a single specimen of the nationally scarce (Nb) Mycetophagus piceus on some red-rotten oak. I also found several elytra of the Nb Helop caeruleus, a species I have yet to see alive and/or intact.
Always good value is the Lesser Stag Beetle Dorcus parallelipiedus.
Perhaps most unusual was this recently dead Fieldfare I found underneath a hollow tree, a beautiful bird up close. A nicer surprise today though was the trilling of several Waxwings, there were at least four coming down to drink from water gathering high in an old tree. A really nice day and I'm looking forward to the summer's fieldwork!

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