Had an amazing two days rubbing shoulders with delegates at the IUCN's "Investing in Peatlands - Delivering Multiple Benefits" conference at Stirling University. More about the IUCN's Peatland Programme can be found here: http://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/.
I was especially pleased, along with Suzanne (Buglife), Alex & Paul (Butterfly Conservation Scotland) and Guy and Claire (Stirling Council rangers), to show some of the delegates around the bing and bog at Wester Moss SSSI (see previous post). Among the highlights of the day were speaking to Richard Lindsay of the University of East London, a bog expert, and Dr Rob Stoneman, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, who chaired the event. I hope made a good impression!
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Getting acquainted with (deceased) Crane flies
I enjoyed some interesting time away with Buglife staff in Dorset and Devon last week. We stayed in a beautiful Victorian mansion on the edge of Exmoor, and had fun collecting specimens on site (a present to the owners). I was given a few crane flies caught by colleagues and, along with specimens from my bog sites, I have been having fun identifying them using Alan Stubb's test-keys (kindly given to me by Duncan Sivell).
Image: Suzie Bairner and Chris Cathrine collecting bugs in Exmoor
Excitingly (for me), there are no crane fly records for Wester Moss SSSI, Fallin - one of the lowland raised bogs I regularly visit in Stirling. This means that every species I successfully identify is a new record for the local area.Wester Moss has recently become a Butterfly Conservation reserve for Large Heath butterflies - a UKBAP species (http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/text/5494/wester_moss.html).
I thought I'd take the opportunity to showcase some of the species I've identified*, starting with Euphylidorea meigeni. I caught six males and two females at the edge of the bog (I wasn't wearing wellies). They are black and quite hairy with legs that are orange at the base. When using the key, I arrived at Euphylidorea meigenii and a similar species, E. phaeostigma, which I ruled out due to the shape of the male genitalia, and the latter's scarce and southerly distribution.
Species: Euphylidorea meigenii
Size: 10 - 11 mm
Wing length: 7 - 12 mm
Date collected: 20/06/2011 (a summer species, on the wing June - August)
Habitats: Peatland habitats (lowland raised bog - that's where I found it!)
Distribution: http://data.nbn.org.uk/interactive/map.jsp?srchSp=NBNSYS0100003143
Taxonomy:
It has been suggested by Salmella (2009) that this species could be sensitive to peatland drainage, thus being an indicator of quality, wet bog. More to follow, including pictures!
*Needs verification from an expert!
Image: Suzie Bairner and Chris Cathrine collecting bugs in Exmoor
Excitingly (for me), there are no crane fly records for Wester Moss SSSI, Fallin - one of the lowland raised bogs I regularly visit in Stirling. This means that every species I successfully identify is a new record for the local area.Wester Moss has recently become a Butterfly Conservation reserve for Large Heath butterflies - a UKBAP species (http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/text/5494/wester_moss.html).
I thought I'd take the opportunity to showcase some of the species I've identified*, starting with Euphylidorea meigeni. I caught six males and two females at the edge of the bog (I wasn't wearing wellies). They are black and quite hairy with legs that are orange at the base. When using the key, I arrived at Euphylidorea meigenii and a similar species, E. phaeostigma, which I ruled out due to the shape of the male genitalia, and the latter's scarce and southerly distribution.
Species: Euphylidorea meigenii
Size: 10 - 11 mm
Wing length: 7 - 12 mm
Date collected: 20/06/2011 (a summer species, on the wing June - August)
Habitats: Peatland habitats (lowland raised bog - that's where I found it!)
Distribution: http://data.nbn.org.uk/interactive/map.jsp?srchSp=NBNSYS0100003143
Taxonomy:
| Order: | Diptera |
| Suborder: | Nematocera |
| Infraorder: | Tipulomorpha |
| Superfamily: | Tipuloidea |
| Family: | Limoniidae |
| Subfamily: | Limnophilinae |
| Genus: | Euphylidorea Alexander, 1972 |
It has been suggested by Salmella (2009) that this species could be sensitive to peatland drainage, thus being an indicator of quality, wet bog. More to follow, including pictures!
*Needs verification from an expert!
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