114 site firsts: the recording gains of the 1000 species challenge

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Sunday 21 January 2018 14:06

I have literally only just managed to enter all the records from the 1000 species challenge. I have been chipping away at them for weeks. I have already reported that we had three species new to the reserve network (never recorded on any SWT reserve before). These were; the Welsh Oak Longhorn Beetle (shown above), the mite Aceria origani (a gall forming mite on Wild Marjoram) and...Walnut. Yes there is a naturalised Walnut tree that's grown up in the last few years and that's a new record for the site and any reserve. Although it turns out there is one at Ditchling too.

What about the species new to just the specific reserve they have been recorded on? Well, of the 1033 (this has dropped by two since pulling this together, I doubled counted Great Tit and deleted Oyster Mushroom), 177 (17.1%) were recorded between the reserves leaving 856 (82.9%) record on the reserves. Of these, 114 (13.3%) had never been recorded on that particular reserve before. Levin had the most new species with 24 out of 93 (24.7%). This is surprising as I surveyed the invertebrates there in 2016! 

Here is the breakdown of the species we recorded by reserve. We wanted to break the back of it at Ebernoe early on without moving too much which I think was a good tactic.

This just goes to show that was partly a bit of fun and also partly a fund-raising and promotional event turned out to have a real tangible recording element. I think part of this is down to being on sites at unusual times using methods you perhaps wouldn't normally use. The other big factor is going to parts of reserves you wouldn't usually go to. You tend to survey at the best bits of reserves but if you want to get a huge list you need to start sweeping as soon as you walk through the gate. The rank grass at the bottom of the hill at Levin that is a long way from being good quality chalk-grassland, produced a lot of site firsts!

Some of the site firsts were indeed quite surprising. That is how recording goes though. Here they all are in the order they were recorded. Just bare in mind that this is the first record that's been made, it might not be the first time it's been seen there. Also, the sites with multiple ownership (Burton and Amberley) this is just referring to SWT's portion of the site. So, Bombus pascuorum is new to SWT's portion of the site, it may well have been recorded elsewhere on Amberley Wildbrooks.

Taxa Species No. Reserve
Spiders Metellina merianae 88 Ebernoe
Plants Slender Rush 106 Ebernoe
Bugs Velia caprai 150 Ebernoe
Moths Psyche catsta 217 Ebernoe
Plants Hairy Bitter-cress 245 Ebernoe
Moths Hedya pruniana 283 Ebernoe
Moths Argyresthia conjugella 302 Ebernoe
Beetles Welsh Oak Longhorn Beetle 326 Ebernoe & network
Bryophytes Polytrichum juniperinum 334 Ebernoe
Spiders Robertus lividus 342 Ebernoe
Spiders Philodromus albidus 407 Ebernoe
Beetles Conopalpus testaceus 430 Ebernoe
Springtails Orchesella cincta 433 Ebernoe
Spiders Ballus chalybeius 450 Ebernoe
Lichens Ramalina fastigiata 458 Ebernoe
Plants Wilson's Honeysuckle 463 Ebernoe
Moths Depressia daucella 469 Ebernoe
Bugs Polymerus nigra 481 Ebernoe
Molluscs Planorbis carinatus 588 Amberley
Bugs Capsus ater 589 Amberley
Fish Three-spined Stickleback 590 Amberley
Aculeates Bombus pascuroum 595 Amberley
Aculeates Bombus lapidarius 598 Amberley
Beetles Kidney-spot Ladybird 599 Amberley
Spiders Lariniodes cornutus 600 Amberley
Bugs Cymus claviculus 601 Amberley
Beetles Tychius picirostris 603 Amberley
Moths Water Ermine 608 Amberley
Molluscs Derocerus reticulatum 610 Amberley
Moths Small China-mark 622 Amberley
Flies Rhagio scolopaceus 623 Amberley
Crickets Slender Groundhopper 624 Amberley
Aculeates Lasius niger 629 Amberley
Spiders Misumena vatia 637 Amberley
Crickets Meadow Grasshopper 638 Amberley
Moths Brown China-mark 640 Amberley
Plants True Fox Sedge 641 Amberley
Flies Helophilus pendulus 644 Amberley
Flies Leucozona lucorum 645 Amberley
Spiders Agelena labyrinthica 671 Waltham
Beetles Cionus tuberculosus 686 Waltham
Beetles Dorcus parallelipipidus 692 Waltham
Crustaceans Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii 693 Waltham
Plants Rosebay Willowherb 694 Waltham
Beetles Phyllobrotica quadrimaculata 698 Waltham
Bugs Teratocoris antennatus 700 Waltham
Beetles Pterostichus diligens 701 Waltham
Flies Chrysotoxum festivum 704 Waltham
Cockroach Dusky Cockroach 709 Waltham
Bugs Pithanus maerkelii 710 Waltham
Flies Tropidia scita 739 Waltham
Flies Platycheirus rosarum 740 Waltham
Plants Procumbent Pearlwort 747 Graffham
Spiders Araneus angulatus 750 Graffham
Beetles Aphodius fossor 756 Graffham
Crickets Dark Bush-cricket 757 Graffham
Moths Red Sword-grass 780 Graffham
Spiders Salticus scenicus 785 Graffham
Spiders Micaria pulicaria 786 Graffham
Moths Pempelia palumbella 796 Graffham
Plants Yellow-rattle 807 Graffham
Plants Groundsel 809 Graffham
Moths Oak Eggar 824 Graffham
Birds Mistle Thrush 828 Graffham
Flies Mesembrina meridiana 834 Graffham
Moths Pine Beauty 836 Graffham
Bugs Gorse Shieldbug 840 Graffham
Bugs Blue Shieldbug 841 Graffham
Plants Carnation Sedge 846 Graffham
Beetles Cionus alauda 853 Graffham
Moths Ancylis uncella 854 Graffham
Spiders Tibellus maritimus 856 Graffham
Spiders Dipoena tristis 857 Graffham
Beetles Ontholestes murinus 866 Graffham
Flies Jaapiella veronicae 890 Levin
Bugs Stenocranus minutus 905 Levin
Ticks & mites Aceria origani 909 Levin & network
Beetles Cordylepherus viridis 915 Levin
Molluscs Pomatias elegans 921 Levin
Beetles Cryptocephalus aureolus 924 Levin
Spiders Neoscona adianta 927 Levin
Bugs Stenodema laevigata 935 Levin
Bugs Deraeocoris lutescens 937 Levin
Flies Bacha elongata 941 Levin
Plants Walnut 944 Levin & network
Moths Cinnabar 948 Levin
Beetles Variable Longhorn Beetle 951 Levin
Beetles Vine Weevil 955 Levin
Millipedes Tachypodoiulus niger 967 Levin
Spiders Neottiura bimaculata 975 Levin
Millipedes Proteroiulus fuscus 977 Levin
Moths Brown Plume 978 Levin
Moths Helcystogramma rufescens 980 Levin
Beetles Caladromius spilotus 981 Levin
Plants Cotoneaster horizontalis 986 Levin
Scorpion fly Panorpa germanica 993 Levin
Moths Pseudargyrotoza conwagana 994 Levin
Moths Nettle-tap 998 Levin
Moths Gold Swift 1016 Burton
Moths Small Elephant Hawk-moth 1019 Burton
Moths Rustic Shoulder-knot 1021 Burton
Beetles Byrrhus pilula 1024 Burton
Beetles Silpha atrata 1025 Burton
Beetles Brown Chafer 1027 Burton
Moths Donacaula mucronella 1031 Burton
Molluscs Oxyloma elegans 1033 Burton
Beetles Cockchafer 1035 Burton
Moths Water Veneer 1038 Burton
Moths Lobster Moth 1039 Burton
Moths Pale Prominent 1041 Burton
Moths White Ermine 1042 Burton
Moths Small Seraphim 1043 Burton
Moths Eidophasia messingiella 1044 Burton
Bugs Closterotomus fulvomaculatus 1046 Graffham

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