An Alternative Natural History of Sussex.
This blog shows the highlights of my day to day findings as a naturalist and ecologist living and working in Sussex. Delivered with a pinch of nihilism, a dash of sarcasm and absolutely no tweeness, here is my attempt to show natural history as it really is: Brutal, beautiful, uncompromising and fascinating...and occasionally ridiculous.
I have been studying natural history for some thirty years, nineteen in a professional capacity. I currently work in Sussex as a freelance entomologist, ecologist and botanist and specialise in nature reserve and rewilding management advice based on the interpretation of the surveys I carry out. I also run a number of identification courses. An advocate of the pan-species listing approach. My main areas of interest are birds, plants and invertebrates and a lot of my spare time is spent in the field. I am the county recorder for spiders and bugs.
So this isn't my find, it's Derek Binns who got this smart looking beast. I was notified via Twitter of this and Tristan Bantock confirmed the ID, I've never heard of it! So, the following photos and words are all Derek's but as county record for Heteroptera, I thought I should promote this amazing find. What a smart looking beast, if you see one out there, please send in your records!
"Searching for invertebrates in the margins of the old quarry in Hastings Country Park has produced unexpected rewards. Whilst checking a reasonably large patch of spear thistle, two purple shieldbugs were found. One was the Hairy ShieldbugDolycoris baccarum, an attractive native species that can be found in good numbers on woodland margins everywhere. The second shieldbug warranted more than a second glance. It was a species that is reasonably common in France but does not occur in this country. There are no more than one or two records of it getting across the Channel to our shores, and this was the first record for Sussex.
Many photographs were taken so as to get sufficient detail to allow accurate identification as there is taxonomic debate about certain species in this difficult genus. A note was sent to the national recorder for heteroptera to ask for confirmation that this was Carpocoris purpureipennis, and after some discussion and reference to specific details on the pronotum and scutellum, the identification was confirmed, The county recorder was included in the discussion, and he confirmed it to be a first record for Sussex. If you start with a mental picture of the native Hairy Shieldbug Dolycoris baccarum, this species seems at least half as big again and the pronotum shoulders project noticeably, also the scutellum is very obviously different from the Hairy as colouration of the top of the scutellum blends into the pronotum which has longitudinal stripes that continue onto the head. The wingtips extend to a buff point beyond the body. The striped connexivum around the sides of the rear half of this bug are a very bold cream and black stripe and is a lot more convex than the black and white striped connexivum of the native Hairy Shieldbug. In the field this area appears to be a striped circle that is broken by a “tail” formed from the wingtips.
As many species of shieldbug are at the northernmost edge of their range in this country, the prospect of global warming gives potential for some european species to cross the Channel. A site such as the quarry which provides sheltered warmth close to landfall after migration might be considered to have potential for a colony to establish. Further observations will be made as the summer progresses to see if this shieldbug is a lone record or not."
OK, firstly what might seem like a dull and uninspired title, as ever has a double meaning on this blog. It is in fact the name of the track by Godspeed You! Black Emperor that featured on that scene in 28 Days Later when Cillian Murphy wakes up from hospital to find everyone has disappeared...or worse. Beautifully-rich, menacing, desolate and empowering. Everything you could ask from a piece of music! Well, me perhaps. I've included a link to it below. Indulge me and hit play whilst you read the post!
It is also where I have been today in a physical sense.
I took a day flexi and met up with Andy Phillips. Andy showed me a great spot for Ivy Bees, a bee I have been looking for this autumn but have so far failed to find. There were lots in a fairly central location in Hastings. What struck me first though, and this was very evident, was not the size or the markings but the sound. So distinctive that I later identified one in flight at a different location.
Also, look how crisp these macro shots are with the old Coolpix! No cropping, no editing, straight onto my computer an then straight onto the blog. I have missed this!
And here is where they are nesting, in the earth between the sandstone rocks.
We then went onto Hasting Country Park. I was embarrassed to admit to Andy I had not been there before. Disgraceful. We headed to an area Andy calls the 'Legendary Valley' in the hope of seeing Sickle-bearing Bush-cricket and other scarce invertebrates.
What struck me the most from the top of the hill was the view. Ten years ago I would have been down there to the east at Dungeness looking up at this hill but I have never seen the view from the other direction. You can even see the cliffs of Dover, Beachy Head and the coast of France too. Through a telescope on a clear day you can even see cars in France! Quite impressive. We didn't see the Sickle-bearers or the scarce spiders but Andy did catch this male Zygiella atrica which was a new one to me. It has huge long palps and is quite different to Zygiella x-notata which is common in the kitchen at Woods Mill.
We went closer to the sea to the location of this RDB3 beetle. It's a rare weevil called Cathormiocerus myrmecophilus and Andy found it in between rosettes of Buckshorn Plantain. The beetle is tiny and exactly the same colour as the sand but if you look carefully you can see the flattish, hair-like scales on the elytra. I end the day on 3649 species.
I was quite taken with Hastings CP. The view back to the west is incredible. It really reminds me of the Mediterranean cost and has a surprisingly wild feel for the Sussex coast line. I can't wait to see more of it next summer.
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