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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