Succession in reverse

Posted by Graeme Lyons , Tuesday, 30 April 2013 17:52

The river restoration project at Woods Mill continues to produce interesting invertebrates. Last year I started to see Bembidion illigeri, Bembidion articulatum and Elaphrus riparius running around the exposed mud. I thought that this assemblage of species would be short lived as the vegetation encroached but after the floods of the winter, even more sand and silt has been deposited. If anything there is even more habitat and this was reflected in the additional species Penny, Bob and I recorded today during a lunch time walk. I recorded three carabids new to my list including this striking Chlaenius nigricronis which is a nationally scarce species (Nb).  Bembidion tetracolum and Bembidion dentellum were both new to me. Additionally we recorded Pterostichus nigrita/rhaeticus, Paranchus albipes, Notiophilus substriatus and Agonum marginatum. So maybe this assemblage will get better and better each year as new deposits are put down each winter and new species accumulate over time?

In addition to the three beetles, I added a spider I found in the sink in the gents toilets! A male Neriene clathrata. With four new species on my list and some great records for the project, I end the day and probably the month on 4228 species.

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