Last weekend was City Nature Challenge. It's hosted in iNaturalist. I am not a fan of this platform for many reasons that I won't go into here (I wish it was in iRecord) but I do like the challenge. So I have took part by sending my records in as casual observations (without photos that is - it's ludicrous to think I could take photos of even a fraction of what I record without completely wrecking the methodology). This way, they don't actually find their way back to the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre, they get there directly from me in the same way as all my other data. Here is the current leader board for 2023, at the time of writing my records are not on there but they will be soon and I will update this blog when they are and the challenge is over for the year.
Some 23 'cities' in England are taking part. For the last two years Brighton has come top for the total number of species, and I have been pleased to play a big part in this. This year, I had more time free to do some recording for fun (not just using records from work). I recorded constantly for about 3.5 of the 4 days. You do get a bit of time to do the dets too, which are just finished. So my stats come out at 2801 records of 1014 species. This includes 570 invertebrates, 303 plants and 77 birds.
Day 1. A quick walk around BHASVIC Field with Karen first thing and then I headed to Woods Mill but it was sodden, so I just wandered around doing plants, bryophytes, molluscs and birds. I managed to refind Pepper-saxifrage in the valley field and saw a Cuckoo. Then I headed to Wiggonholt Common RSPB and things got really interesting. I targeted this site as one of the only significant areas of heathland within the project boundary. I recorded something like 150 invertebrates in the field over about four hours but it was the specimens that provided the most significant find of the weekend, probably my year. I had noticed lots (maybe around 15 or more) of paired up Nephrotoma craneflies flying up out of the Heather. I took a couple of males and when keying them out, I couldn't believe that it was coming out as Nephrotoma sullingtoniensis, the Sussex Tiger.
This cranefly has only ever been recorded three times and from one site - Sullington Warren. This small heathland is just the other side of Storrington to Wiggonholt, so it was certainly not out of the question. The book lists it as flying in June though, not late April. And lots of people have looked for it then and not found it. Could it have a much earlier flight period than people thought? I quickly got on to Alice Parfitt and told her all about it and she went and checked out Sullington (no joy) but did find it a third site - Hurston Warren. How amazing is this?! Especially as I just wrote a blog the night before about the importance of going out in April. Here are the rest of the microscope shots of this Endangered species.
Other highlights included my first heathland Enoplognatha mordax (still it marches on inland into all habitats, I had one in woodland the other day - first photo), Cercidia prominens, Xerolycosa nemoralis, Sibianor aurocinctus and Hypsosinga albovittata. I had another lifer int he form of a scarce dung beetle, Euorodalus coenosus and I refound Spathocera dalmanii there (photo). I found a few Dieckmaniellus gracilis too, despite the lack of foodplant.
Day 2 I spent on the chalk with Kim Greaves. We did the morning at Malling Down and the afternoon at Seaford Head. We mopped up! Malling Down provided some really exciting records, but mainly things I had seen there before. The first sample generated an almost adult Phaeocedus braccatus (1st photo) in Bridgewick Pit. And a whole host of cool harvestmen, including Trogulus tricarinatus again and this awesome Megabunus diadema (2nd photo). I got a lifer on the way into Green Pits. This is a rather messed up looking specimen of Thimble Morel (3rd photo) which people tell me is having a good year.
Onto the Coombe and I found an adult Pancalia schwarzella at one of its few Sussex sites and Kim spotted this carabid, Lebia chlorocephala. This is only the third time I have seen this beetle in 13 years, the other two records being from Malling Down in 2010 and Southerham in 2017. The Horsehoe Vetch feeding pollen beetle, Meligethes erichsonii, was also a lifer.
To Seaford and a very casual twitch of the White-crowned Sparrow before mopping up on some Hope Gap specialities. Heath Snail, Moon Carrot, Lasaeola prona, Pyrausta ostrinalis (photo) and (possibly new to site) Astrapaeus ulmi. Oh and of course, loads of freshly emerged Anthophora retusa males. Amazingly we saw one male sitting on an Adder but I just couldn't get anywhere near it to get a photo. Picked up Whimbrel on call, when you do this you need to have one ear listening out all the time.
And I think these are my first Sussex Thick Top Shells (Phorcus lineatus) from the rockpools off Seaford Head. This seems about as far east as they come in the UK.
Day 3 and I spent it at work and made over 830 records to add to the set. Libby Morris accompanied me for about half of the day. Highlights included Bombus humilis and another Enoplognatha mordax. Oh and Aulacobaris lepidii which I see quite a lot on farms. But the best record was actually on what I believe to be Sussex University Campus land when I was trying to get back to my car. I saw that Martin Harvey had picked this up a few weeks earlier and I was gripped, can't believe I then went on to see this very odd yet charismatic sawfly, Sciapteryx soror. Yet another lifer.
And what must be the most Syntomus obscuroguttatus I have ever seen in one sample, this is just a fraction what was in the tray.
Day 4. I am broken after walking 27 miles in four days with 15 kg of gear. I spend most of the day entering records and identifying specimens. The weather is bad with some storms but Karen and I head out to Woods Mill to do some wetland invertebrate sampling in the afternoon and we do quite well. We find the ladybird Nephus quadrimaculatus, loads of new spiders in the meadow and finally Nightingale! Which was also Karen's first.
Here is my distribution over the four days, including some roadside botany. I am exhausted, 30% of the way through my field work for the year already and I have entered 8734 records in April alone. This challenge was immensely fun but talk about burning the candle at both ends.
Will it be enough to get us into top place for species again? I hope so. Here is the breakdown of the species recorded.
Yesterday I completed the 5th (out of 6) survey visits planned at Iping & Stedham Commons this year to monitor invertebrates. The highlights was stumbling upon a Hornet Robber-fly carrying a huge black mass. It struggled to fly more than a few metres at a time due to the weight of its food but eventually I got a look at the prey item. It was none other than Tachina grossa, our largest tachinid! This alone is a huge fly so this really was quite the sight! Go large or go home!
In the black corner, we have Tachina grossa. They spent their informative years living inside the body of an unsuspecting Fox Moth larvae devouring it from within (the most likely host at Iping). In the yellow corner, Hornet Robber-fly, who as a youth lived under a cow pat and devoured Minotaur Beetle larvae in their subterranean burrows (the most likely host at Iping). They had never met until today but now one has become the other's lunch. It's a fly eat fly world out there!
I had a couple of lifers, both were also new to the SWT reserve network. These were the ladybird Scymnus suturalis beaten off pine and the mirid Trigonotylus caelestialum. Neither particularly rare and I was surprised to see the latter was a first for West Sussex.
Just to clarify what I was talking about in my last post, "what exactly IS a heathland invertebrate?". The point of this post was to show my course attendees just how few species are often strictly tied to a single habitat. And that this description itself is therefore inherently subjective depending on how we define this. For example, you could say they are all heathland invertebrates as we found them all on a heathland. Not very helpful.
You could take the extreme approach and describe only those that are say Calluna/Erica obligates as being heathland specialists, also not very helpful as it restricts you to an extremely small number of species. Such as this Phytocorois insignis which feeds on heathers and is now the most westerly record in Sussex (we recorded it at Stedham last year).
But that doesn't take into account (for example) the species that are using structural types, or a particular colour of flower that is provided in that environment. Such as these two. Now they're not heather obligates. But they do have a strong tie to heathlands.
Thomisus onustus occurs mainly in heather flowers waiting to ambush its prey but I have found it on Dodder and Common Cotton-sedge over the years where it can clearly survive without the heather. Is that enough reason to not consider it a heathland specialist? I don't think so. Likewise,
Evarcha arcuata is common on heathlands in Sussex in both heathers and
Molinia (which I see as just another component of heathland). In Sussex I know of only one record away from heathland of this species and that's from
Butcherlands. So is that enough to not consider it a heathland specialist? I would also say no. It clearly has a strong association with dwarf ericaceous shrubs in a structural way but to ignore this just because very occasionally it doesn't is wrong in my opinion.
Equally I would also consider many of the species that occur on bare sandy ground to be heathland invertebrates. They often outnumber the heather obligates hugely and are a vitally important part of the heathland. So my whole point of asking "what exactly IS a heathland invertebrate?" was to show how few heather obligates there were but to also show how this is a subjective question in the first place! What exactly is a heathland? Is it just the heather or is it all the components together functioning as a whole? And also to give people an idea on how resource analysis works with invertebrates but when you only have space for ONE factor (you'd normally use several), you're bound to have disagreements.
Now that's cleared up I can go back to my specimens but not until I show you this weird larva which I believe is a Scalloped Hook-tip.
Oh and one last thing, if you want to see Thomisus onustus, it's having a really good year at Iping and sweeping Bell Heather would yield one within a few sweeps this year where usually you could work all day and see only one, IF you were lucky.
Back on the 16th June (how can six weeks feel like a lifetime away?!) I ran a short half-day course for the RSPB at Wiggonholt Common, part of Pulborough Brooks RSPB Reserve. The remit of the course was to teach a whole load of RSPB staff about heathland invertebrates. This recently restored heathland coming out of pines is fairly under-recorded, so we were likely to get some good records for the site. I used the picture of the Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes just to attract your attention, although a nice 'bare ground' species, they are well known from the car park at Pulborough Brooks! Those hind legs are spectacular but I am sure I have seen them somewhere before...
By far the best thing we found was this Dalman's Leatherbug Spathocera dalmanii found by one of the attendees! It's actually my first Sussex example of this species (I have only recorded twice before, once in Hampshire and once in Dorset). It's also only the third Sussex record and the most easterly in the county! Well done.
What I really wanted to do was to show just how few heather specialists occur on a heath. In the table below, I have written a very quick one or two words about the most significant habitat requirements of that species. Now please note these are quick notes and someone is bound to object to the odd detail. So unless I have made a glaring mistake, please don't bother! It's a rough guide and this sort of analysis works by weight of numbers. For those that came on my chalk-grassland invertebrate course, I am working on a similar post but with twice the species, this is taking a little longer than I had hoped.
| Taxon
group |
Recommended Common Name |
Resource |
| Beetle |
Ampedus balteatus |
Deadwood |
| Beetle |
Anoplotrupes stercorosus |
Woodland, dung |
| Beetle |
Athous haemorrhoidalis |
Roots |
| Beetle |
Cryptocephalus fulvus |
Grassland |
| Beetle |
Cryptocephalus parvulus |
Birch |
| Beetle |
Dasytes aeratus |
Deadwood |
| Beetle |
Dune Chafer |
Roots, sandy soils |
| Beetle |
Green Tiger Beetle |
Bare ground |
| Beetle |
Heather Beetle |
Heather |
| Beetle |
Hemicrepidius hirtus |
Roots |
| Beetle |
Luperus longicornis |
Generalist |
| Beetle |
Malachite Beetle |
Deadwood |
| Beetle |
Nalassus laevioctostriatus |
Deadwood |
| Beetle |
Oedemera lurida |
Flowers |
| Beetle |
Small Heather Weevil |
Heather |
| Beetle |
Stenurella melanura |
Deadwood |
| Beetle |
Striped Ladybird |
Pines |
| Beetle |
Strophosoma melanogrammum |
Trees & bushes |
| Beetle |
Vine Weevil |
Roots |
| Beetle |
Welsh Chafer |
Roots |
| Bug |
Aphrophora alni |
Trees & bushes |
| Bug |
Evacanthus interruptus |
Generalist |
| Bug |
Rhyparochromus pini (Nb) |
Bare ground |
| Bug |
Spathocera dalmanii (NS) |
Acid grassland |
| Bug |
Ulopa reticulata |
Heather |
| Bug |
Zicrona caerulea |
Leaf beetle predator |
| Butterfly |
Green Hairstreak |
Gorse/broom |
| Butterfly |
Meadow Brown |
Grasses |
| Dragonfly |
Black-tailed Skimmer |
Aquatic larvae |
| Dragonfly |
Broad-bodied Chaser |
Aquatic larvae |
| Earwig |
Common Earwig |
Generalist omnivore |
| Fly |
Dasysyrphus venustus |
Woodland margins |
| Fly |
Dioctria atricapilla |
Grassland predator |
| Fly |
Helophilus pendulus |
Wetland |
| Fly |
Neoitamus cyanurus |
Woodland predator |
| Fly |
Scathophaga stercoraria |
Dung |
| Hymenopteran |
Ammophila sabulosa |
Bare ground |
| Hymenopteran |
Bombus pascuorum |
Flowers |
| Hymenopteran |
Cerceris rybyensis |
Bare ground |
| Hymenopteran |
Dasypoda hirtipes (Nb) |
Bare ground |
| Hymenopteran |
Formica fusca |
Generalist predator |
| Hymenopteran |
Honey Bee |
Flowers |
| Moth |
Beautiful Yellow Underwing |
Heather |
| Moth |
Brindled Beauty |
Trees & bushes |
| Moth |
Brown Silver-line |
Bracken |
| Moth |
Common Footman |
Lichens |
| Moth |
Endotricha flammealis |
Generalist |
| Moth |
Silver Y |
Migrant |
| Moth |
Vapourer |
Trees & bushes |
| Orthopteran |
Common Ground-hopper |
Generalist omnivore |
| Orthopteran |
Mottled Grasshopper |
Bare ground |
| Orthopteran |
Speckled Bush-cricket |
Generalist omnivore |
| Spider |
Araneus quadratus |
Generalist predator |
| Spider |
Arctosa leopardus |
Bare ground |
| Spider |
Cercidia prominens (NS) |
Scarce generalist |
| Spider |
Evarcha arcuata (NS) |
Heather |
| Spider |
Evarcha falcata |
Generalist predator |
| Spider |
Labyrinth Spider |
Generalist predator |
| Spider |
Mangora acalypha |
Grassland predator |
| Spider |
Marpissa muscosa |
Deadwood & fence posts |
| Spider |
Neottiura bimaculatum |
Trees & bushes |
| Spider |
Xerolycosa nemoralis (NS) |
Bare ground |
| Tick |
Ixodes ricinus |
Mammal parasite |
Of the 63 species we recorded in around two hours, only five (7.9%) were thought to be directly associated with heathers. In total, six (9.5%) had conservation status which is pretty good. So generalists, bare ground species, woodland & scrub and deadwood species ALL outnumber those species that are tied to the heathers. Yet of these, it's only really the bare ground species that fall into what we would call a 'heathland invertebrate'. Not that the others are not welcome. Additionally if we count the acid grassland species and those on sandy soils, that's a total of 14 out of 63 species. So about 22.2% could perhaps be considered 'heathland invertebrates' but this is becoming more subjective as you group the species in this way.
This is a really interesting exercise in showing that a healthy heathland is not just about dense blocks of heather, far from it. A healthy heathland has a wide range of resources held in an intricate mosaic. This is not an easy thing to achieve, and requires careful management to hold these sites, often poised at the point of collapse, so that all of these resources can be present in some amounts all of the time.
A year or two ago I mentioned to the SxBRC & Adastra that I'd like to do a shieldbug atlas for Sussex. Something like what Shropshire has produced. Having no time or coding abilities, that's as far as I got. Before I knew it, volunteer Mark Robey had created (with Bob's help at the SxBRC) an online atlas. So with a few photos from myself and Derek Binns, a few lines of text from me and some minor tweaking of the look of the thing, SxBRC have launched the online atlas. (I know it was MUCH more work than that but I was impressed at how quickly the test version appeared). The site can be found here
https://www.sxbrc.org.uk/shieldbugs/mapping.html.
So many thanks to all of you have been submitting records via iRecord, they're all in there already so you can look around the map and find your records. As well as gaps in recording effort. It includes all the shield bugs, squash bugs, rhopalid bugs and the other usual suspects (such as Fire Bug).
You can start off by displaying all records across all of Sussex and see where the hot spots are and where the gaps are.
Here for example is the 1 km square I live in with eight records of six species.
And if you click on that square the species list for the square pops up.
I was looking around for the most well recorded square. It looks like this one has 145 records of 21 species!
Here they are. Including the incredible Scarlet Shieldbug
Eurydema dominulus. I would love to see that. I think this square must have something to do with Patrick Roper.
Now if you click on the species list from the drop down menu at the top left, you can focus in on individual species. Such as the Green Shieldbug here, perhaps the commonest species. Frustratingly I have just noticed that these images have squashed up a bit (that's why they're called squash bugs ha ha) but I haven't got time to change that right now. It gives you an idea anyway.
You can change the scale.
And if you click on the 'i' button some more text about the species, where you can find it in Sussex (or where it's likely to turn up if it's not yet in Sussex) and how you might find it.
Here is a scarcer species. I put this in as there is already a new dot on the map but it was great to be able to instantly know it was the third county record and the most easterly one too, a great benefit of having an atlas. An attendee on a heathland invertebrate training I ran at the RSPB found
Dalmann's Leatherbug Spathocera dalmani at it's most easterly site in Sussex at Wiggonholt Common. SxBRC will update the records at regular intervals so the records are as up to date is practical. Given that I haven't even entered this record into my copy of Recorder 6 yet, it's not going to be for a while!
And here is the individual. Only seen this three times now. Once in Hampshire and once in Dorset so this was the first Sussex one for me and only the third Sussex record. Is it slowly spreading east?
And I leave you with the map of a species I am yet to see, the Vernal Shieldbug. Tantalising stuff!
A massive thank you to Mark Robey, Bob Foreman, Clare Blencowe and Derek Binns as well as Pete Boardman from Shropshire and Tristan Bantock for being inspirations.
Now Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.B.U.G.S., get out there and fill those gaps in!!!
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