The Lyons Share

What a weekend! What a line up. It's been a long time since I invested in some training, this weekend being the British Myriapod and Isopod Group's recording event in the south east. I couldn't miss it and a big thanks to Paul Lee for organising. Now, I've already blogged about the beetle highlight for me being the second record for Sussex of Mesosa nebulosa. So here I am gonna talk about myriapods and isopods.

Myriapods predominantly include the millipedes and centipedes. Here is a huge, greenish, rapidly-tapering centipede we found in a compost heap at Wisley RHS. This is Henia vesuviana. Even though I saw more millipedes, it was the centipedes I was more into, as many of them were identifiable in the field.

Such as this one that is often found under pine bark being Geophilus carpophagus.

There are around 60 species and there is a good key by FSC. Now, I saw lot of millipedes but didn't manage a photo beyond a blurred shot of the species we came to know as 'Millipede X' (no one was sure what this was exactly - you see we have quite a few alien species). There are about 60 species of these too but new alien synathropic species are being discovered so I can't be sure on this. You can find out more about identifying myriapods and isopods here. I learnt  a great way to tell Tachypoidulus niger in the field and how easy it is to see and adult male 

in the field.

Now thanks to Steve Gregory I saw two new woodlice (Trichoniscoides albidus & Ligidium hypnorum) but photographed neither. There are around 40 species with only relatively few very common ones. This is Porcellionides cingendus. I see it now and again (including today in the suction sampler) in rush litter at Woods Mill.

I also had a few other interesting species, such as this Green Celar Slug Limacus maculatus. Although due to its camo-pattern, I refer Combat or Battle Slug. 

And good old Staphylinus dimidiaticornis put in a show too.

A massive thank you to all the people who helped but particularly Paul Lee, Steve Gregory and Keith Lugg. I've already put into practice what I learned and I'm looking forward to finding some more myriapods and isopods sometime soon! I have three fairly common woodlice on my wish list to look out for now too...

Here is the AMAZING Mesosa nebulosa that I saw today on the British Myriapod and Isopod Group recording weekend. A big, stunning and quite beautiful longhorn beetle, my 36th longhorn to be precise (new ones don't come along often these days). An RDB3 species I have been on the look out for for years to no avail. I thought I might find it at Ebernoe or in the West Weald but it was actually in Sheffield Park in East Sussex. However, I didn't find it. This fella did...

This is Nathan Clements (with his dad Kevin in the background). I tagged along with these guys from the Midlands along with Keith Lugg and Steve Gregory. I was learning an immense amount about myriapods and isopods from them all and have seen loads of species but today I'm just gonna blog about the beetles and spiders we found. Anyway, we were by the edge of a lake and hadn't seen much other than the bizarre find of a tiny (yet distinctive) immature Atypus affinis which I beat from an isolated tussock-sedge, quite not what I was expecting but I was chuffed to get Keith this species knowing he had gone a long way to look for it recently but didn't connect. Then, Nathan shouted "Urgh, what's this!"

He came over and handed me a small log with a face and a couple of legs peering out of a hole. I recognised it instantly from a photo in a book that I was captivated by as a child. Here is the photo from the Shire Natural History series on longhorns by Norman Hickin from 1987.

And here is my attempt to replicate the photo. It's kind of weird that it's in such a similar position as I hadn't looked at this book for years. Also, I took loads from the front from many different angles and this was the only one that came out. Anyway. I photographed this beetle a LOT. So here is the best...

It was such an obliging beetle too. So, even though we were really out identifying and recording millipedes, centipedes and woodlice, this was the highlight for me and goes to show how great the PSL approach to natural history is, it was a totally unexpected find. To connect with something you've wanted to see for years is great and for it be found by a twelve year old is just brilliant too. Thanks very much Nathan for a fantastic find and for making my weekend, keep up the good work! Another post on the myriapods and isopods will follow...

Ever since I got my new handy Black & Decker GWC3600 L20-GB 36V Blower Vac suction sampler that is! Now, we've got a petrol driven machine at work and it's very strong and powerful. It does have its draw backs though. One, if you don't have a shed and a fuel store, it's a pain. It's also not so easy to chuck in the back of a car. It's also quite heavy. So, I was quite pleased to see you can get a fairly strong electric one. I bought this for £140. It runs off a 36V Lithium battery. I've temporarily rigged it up with an old net before my bag arrives from B&S Nets.

I took it up to Ditchling Beacon, a chalk-grassland site with an area of broken sward with bare ground and carpets of mosses. Firstly, it's really easy to carry. Secondly, the battery lasted longer than I did, which was great. As it's light, it's easy to be a little more focused on where you place it and also, the angle you place it at. I was able to get in at right angles under patches of moss. Where it's not so good though is that it's not so strong. It doesn't pick up the quantity of material that a petrol driven one does. On the kind of loose soils I was working on today though, that was actually a good thing. I've struggled in the past with the petrol driven one for the amount of material it picks up which engulfs the specimens. I believe though that having it in the car/with you all the time is likely to result in far more specimens long term than the petrol driven one will provide. In the hour I was up there I managed two new beetles and one new ant (below is Stenamma debile with its tiny eyes). Plus a few nice records too.

And here is the suction sampler favourite, the Devil's-bit Scabious Jewel Beetle Trachy subglaber. 

The commonest snail was Abide secale, a snail I don't see that often. Spiders were surprisingly poorly represented but I did see the tiny Minyriolus pusillus. The commonest bug was Agramma laetum. Weevils included Orthochaetes setiger, Pseudorchestes pratensis and Ceratapion carduorum. So, it's charged up again and in my car, ready for another blast tomorrow lunch time...

I promised to summarise where we are with Pan-species Listing every year on or around the 31st December or 1st January. I've only got round to doing it, three months after I noted down the information on a plane somewhere around Tasmania. Anywhere, First up, here is the top ten as of that date. 

Only six of the nine active listers here have updated this year.  I'm on 6123 now out of interest.

Anyway, I also added the 100th lister to this, who was Rowan Alder on 903. It's now Jerry Lanfear on 961. There are only two people in the top 100 who are under a 1000 species. Our youngest lister is 12 and our oldest 63. I know we have some people older than 63 but that's just the ages people have put on the website. Actually 41 of the 162 people on the rankings have put their age down (42 if you count the 0 year old but I reckon that's a typo!) The average age therefore of the PSLer who is prepared to admit their age is 38!

So there were 154 on rankings in the new year and 300 people signed up to the website. I didn't check the Facebook group but there are 261 as of right now. Not bad going at all considering we had to start from scratch with the Facebook group this time last year.

Here are the top ten sites as of the new year

.

No changes have occurred here in the last three months. I don't think this part of the website works very well without taxa breakdowns on the location rankings. I hope this can be added but it's beyond my abilities and I have asked BRC if we can have this added but I'm still waiting for a reply. I think this could make site managers competitive and would really add to our understanding of sites.

Now for the taxa breakdowns as of the new year.

Algae		Jony Denton	288
Slime Moulds		Malcolm Storey	51
Protists		Jony Denton	24
Lichens		Simon Davey	1195
Fungi		Malcom Storey	1391
Bryophytes		Simon Davey	467
Vascular Plants		John Martin	2205
Sponges		Jonty Denton	8
Comb-jellies		Jeff Blincow, Richard Comont, Jerry Lanfear, James Harding-Morris, Lee Johnson	2
Cnidarians		Richard Comont	37
Molluscs		Jonty Denton	216
Bryozoans		Richard Comont	23
Annelids		Richard Comont	48
Platyhelminth worms		Brian Eversham	17
Sea-spiders		Richard Comont	4
Arachnids		Jonty Denton	492
Myriapods		Keith Lugg	71
Crustaceans		Brian Eversham	98
Springtails		Richard Comont	35
3-tailed Bristletails		Matt Princve, Nicola Bacciu, Jony Denton, Brian Eversham	6
Odonata		Mark Telfer, Dave Gibbs	48
Orthopteroids		Mark Telfer	41
Hemipteroids		Jonty Denton	850
Hymenoptera		Dave Gibbs	792
Coleoptera		Mark Telfer	2562
Diptera		Dave Gibbs	3123
Butterflies		Seth Gibson	62
Moths		Tony Davis	1617
Remaining small insect orders		Jonty Denton	194
Echinoderms		Richard Comont	19
Tunicates		Richard Comont	17
Fish		Richard Comont	95
Reptiles		Dave Gibbs, Seth Gibson, Paul Clack	9
Amphibians		Jonty Denton	13
Birds		Dave Gibbs	519
Mammals		Mark Telfer	64
Other animals		Jonty Denton	36

 A total of 16739 species! Every time this is updated, a new record has been broken. I was pleased to see that new records now stand for comb-jellies, cnidarians, myriapods, springtails, beetles and birds since I captured this info. The beetle record is already 70 species higher than this since Mark updated. I'd love it if that whenever anyone updates this list and makes a new record, that it shows on the front page of the website as these are significant events and will only reduce in frequency as times goes on and the records get harder and harder to beat. I've still not managed to get on this list again after briefly being joint top fish lister. I'm not even second now. I did have all sorts of plans about going out on fishing boats but I'm always too busy these days. My tactic is to outlive everyone else through extreme exercise and healthy eating. Marginal gains.

With people finding species new to Britain, new to science and a new generation of youngsters getting on board, PSL is really finding its feet. I have already started getting going with my first survey last week where I had a number of new beetles and spiders at Ebernoe Common. I have lots and lots of surveys planned for 2016 and my new battery powered suction sampler just turned up too, meaning I'll always have one in the car ALL THE TIME. Here is to a great 2016, happy listing!

Here's a mystery for you. I was shown this after being asked "will you tick a stick?". It's quite surprising but I'd be interested to hear what people think it might be...

A couple of evenings ago, ago I tagged along on the first Shore Search event of the year. The weather was grim and there were only five of us. Fortunately, Gerlad Legg and Olle Akeson were there to guide me through the weird and wonderful word of...Worthing Pipe?!

As promised by the title, sponge. I thought this looked like something from a paint-balling centre or Jackson Pollock's hangover. The blue one is Terpiosa gelatinosa and the blood red one is Microciona atrasanguinea. I think there is also Breadcrumb Sponge in there (the beige one) and maybe Amhilectus fucorum. We saw at least five sponges. I quadrupled my sponge list.

As promised, blobs. Great big massive dangly blobs. These were the biggest anemones I had ever seen and were all in one huge cluster. Turns out this is actually a common species that is rarely exposed. As you'll never get me under the water, I'm really lucky to have seen the Plumose Anemone. Think this was the star of the show!

As promised, squirts. This leathery looking thing is actually an alien species. This is the Leathery Sea Squirt and is quite possibly the most ugly looking thing I have ever seen. I doubt I would have ever recognised it as a living thing!

As promised, a pipe. Worthing Pipe was an early attempt at the Channel Tunnel. One by one, Victorian's were loaded into the pipe like bullets in a gun and propelled at high velocities across the channel using compressed air. The regular 'Fop', 'Fop' followed by jubilant screams was a frequent soundscape of this part of the Sussex coast.  In France they enjoyed day trips for as little five guineas. It was briefly successful until Queen Victoria herself became lodged in the pipe and a 30 mile chimney sweep's brush had to be deployed to rescue her. 

OK, it was just an old Victorian sewage pipe. There was something very Iain Banks about this structure though. My left ear was freezing!

On the left here is Poseidon, God of the Sea, AKA Dr Gerald Legg. Thanks Olle for the photo. On the way back I found half a Painted Topshell. I couldn't believe how big it was, can't wait to see one of these alive. I really didn't think Worthing Pipe would be that exciting but that was one of the strangest and surprising hours of natural history I've ever done. I can't wait for the next one!

Last Sunday we went to South Wales to see some slugs. Seriously. This part of the world, thanks to Christian 'Sparrow' Owen, has become a bit of PSLers pilgrimage of late, with some people going back three times to get their fix! I actually don't know how many new species I saw on Sunday, I lost count. I do know that I quadrupled my slug list. 

Until last Sunday, I hated slugs. Both physically and taxonomically but thanks to Christian, I am now rather fond of them. I can't state enough how impressive a naturalist Christian is, I don't think he has left a stone unturned in South Wales. He's found two species new to the UK (including the cracking Alsatian Semi-slug Daudebardia rufa above, who wears his shell like a flat cap and is the size of an Alsatian) within a few miles of his house by adopting this approach and his knowledge of myriapods and molluscs is impressive. He was the real star of the day and I am very grateful for the time he gave us, great company and a cracking teacher. Here he is on the left, King of the Edgelands. There I am on the right experiencing my nth new mollusc; bewildered, soaked and slug-blind but loving every minute! (thanks for the photo Tony).

Would you believe it, the photo above is of Ghost Slug habitat. And here is one in all its glory. Impressive hey?! These are actually the spirits of other species of dead slug that have unfinished business in this world. This particular individual was murdered by his best friend and has come back to seek revenge. Heartbreaking and haunting in equal measure, I'm sure you'll agree. The sense of loss is profound.

And this one that Christian found new to the UK a while ago that doesn't even have a name yet! I reckon Gavin. Or maybe Stacey. Anyways, it was an amazing day and I'm so glad that I finally have a foot in the door with slugs. Happy days!

A few weeks ago I'd never heard of Columbus Crabs Planes minutus but then Steve Trewhella started posting pictures of them he had found in goose barnacles and other flotsam on beaches in Dorset. After a walk along Brighton Beach on Sunday, I did indeed find several Common Goose Barnacles Lepas anatifera but not the kind of large fresh clumps I had seen in Steve's images. So, yesterday while looking at the wind direction and ferocity of Storm Imogen, I thought it would be worth a look this morning on Brighton Beach. So Olle Akesson, Michael Blencowe and I met in a miserable car park by the Marina. It was pouring down and very cold and I was wondering what I was doing there. As I said though, "fortune favours the bold."

Ten minutes later we found a big patch of Common Goose Barnacles right by the Marina and there, sticking up for all to see, was a tiny claw! There it was, the first known record of this incredible species for Sussex!

We walked along and found several more patches of goose barnacle and then we stumbled upon a partially buried patch on a buoy that yielded another four individuals, this time showing how varied they can be. Here is Little Red, Little Blue, Christopher Columbus's Ghost and Weetabix-head. Who is your favourite?

My favourite response on facebook to this image was: "It's an itteh bitteh crustacean commiteh."

And here is their habitat!

So what is a Columbus Crab? It, like the goose barnacles, is an entirely pelagic animal (yes, they are both crustaceans). The barnacle attaches itself to flotsam (trees, boats, floating plastic bottles!) and the crab lives among the barnacles. It can also live on turtles and in bits of floating rubbish (a number turned up recently in an old rope). So these little guys may well have come all the way across the Atlantic! What a life! I thought the name would come from this very behaviour but it seems that it is actually named after Christopher Columbus who could well of been the first to see this animal! This is likely to be the first record for Sussex but is not the furthest east in the UK as they have been recorded in Kent a couple of months ago (thanks to Steve Trewhella for this fact).

Last Sunday I went to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey with the WWFRG again but this time I took Bryony in addition to meeting up with Tony and Shaun. We found a wealth of fungi that day but none were as showy as the HUGE (sorry Artist Formerly Known as Prince, the similarities stop there) the Prince or Agaricus augustus as it prefers to be known these days. Always wanted to see this beast of a mushroom.

I was amazed at how rich the site was and it wasn't long before we found the Snaketongue Trufflecub, a Cordyceps species that parasitises False Truffles! Such strange looking things.

In a matter of minutes Bryony got me a tick! Here is Lactarius subumbonatus.

And this Tricholoma batschii is found here and only two other sites in the country!

But it was the Cedarwood Waxcap that I was perhaps most excited about seeing, or should I say smelling! Waxcaps have been so fantastic this autumn that they have become my favourite fungi family of the year! It smells of Russian leather or lead pencils, both smells that I have no experience with but I can tell you the smell is quite distinct. It makes me think, what will the books state that fungi smell like in another generation or two? Smells strongly of chai latte or an iPhone perhaps.

We also found a couple of interesting Amanitas. This Jewelled Amanita was a looker...

And Bryony found this specimen that Dick Alder hasn't been able to identify as it might not have opened up enough. I was hoping it was going to be Warted Amanita but it looks like we might have to let this one go. A huge thanks again to Dick and the WWFRG, I would be very lost with fungi without their guidance so I am very grateful for these field trips. Now, I'm only 18 species away from 6000. 

If you don't like stuff dripping and covered in slime, I direct you at this point to the Ryvita website. If you do, read on. I've been on a jaunt around Ebernoe today with Martin Allison (county fungi recorder) and some of my colleagues. Part recording session, part training session and part management advice trip, today proved a valuable day in the field for all. It's vitally important to continually hone and advance your natural history skills working in the field of ecology and conservation and today provided just that. Ebernoe is known for having well over a 1000 species of fungi so where is there better to go looking for them?

Above is the Bay Bolete, a common enough species but I love how the cap glistens with rain water and slime. I took this in the Leconfield area of Ebernoe where we have worked hard recently to manage Holly for other interest features on the site whilst being sympathetic to the bat's requirements. We were pleased to see that fungi in this area were more prolific today than anywhere else on site. There are limited mycorrhizal (the subterranean parts of fungi) assemblages under Holly so a more varied woodland structure is likely to produce more fungi on the woodland floor.

Now I've been saying "I don't do slugs!" for years. I still don't but today I got a little closer. I managed to take a few photos of a slug I saw on a tree that I thought looked a little different. Turns out it's just one of the large Arion species and I'm not going to get it to species from this photo. However, I'm really pleased with this shot and I'm hoping this might finally give me a way in to this disgusting group of animals. It's kinda cute though. Aaaaghhhh, the internal conflict.

We then had time to have a quick look on the cricket pitch where even more waxcaps were found including these Slimy Waxcaps, Spangle Waxcaps and...

...what we think are the VERY slimy Heath Waxcaps. It's so slimy, one can barely maintain a purchase when holding its stype betwixt thumb and forefinger!

And finally the rather odd looking Smoky Spindles. 

So out of nowhere in the last month, I've really rekindled my interest in fungi. As has my friend, TinyBirder, whom I helped photograph Holly Parachute at Ebernoe today. Follow his adventures on Facebook here.