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Rue the day
Posted by Graeme Lyons , Thursday, 22 June 2017 11:53
Mike Edwards and I completed the June invertebrate survey for Waltham yesterday, starting and finishing early due to the heat. So afterwards I stayed out and went and mapped some key plants. Thanks to the SxBRC I finally tracked down the Common Meadow-rue there, about 25 plants present, last recorded in 2011.
The last time Pink Water-speedwell was recorded was 1977, before I was born some 40 years ago. I soon noticed it was galled and it didn't take long to find an adult of the weevil that caused the galls, Gymnetron villosulum (a Nb species new to the reserve network).
We also had lots of Skullcap leaf Beetle, recorded new to the reserve by Dave and I in the 1000species challenge.
Plus hundreds of Crudosilus ruficollis, a wetland soldier beetle that can look quite like the much commoner Cantharis nigra until you take a closer look. This is flatter, glossier with more feathered-antennae and a pitted pronotum.
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