The Lyons Share

I have been falling behind with my blogging because I have been so busy. We had a great day recording at Parham Park yesterday. Best for me was this Cassida nebulosa that Peter Hodge swept, it being a first for Sussex and the only tortoise beetle that was not recorded in the county. The atlas states that the conservation status for this tortoise beetle is indeterminate, I'm not sure what this means but it's obviously not all that common looking at the distribution maps. I didn't see much more until later at night when we started moth trapping and I started searching oak trunks by torch light.

I was amazed at how Helops caeruleus appeared on nearly every tree, one had at least five on! I also found several beetles that I do not recognise that are still to be identified including an Aphodius that came to light that is not Aphodius rufipes (there were many of those though), a tenebrionid I netted in flight and a water beetle from outside one of the traps. I didn't really see too many interesting moths but we did net a couple of Evergestis limbata, the moth that is the Sussex Moth Group's logo! I will have to wait to ID everything, I have had another epic day in the field at Amberley today. It's all happening too quickly to process!