Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Garden Biodiversity - 365 Challenge - Part 3

Those of you who have been visiting my blog for some time may recall that I've set myself a little challenge this year to try and see 365 species that visit or self-seed in the garden. So any native species planted over the years won't be counted. Finally, I've managed to get my list up to date and in some sort of order. Apologies that the post will be rather repetitive following on from the Garden Bioblitz post. I've tried to pick a few different photos but some may have been posted before.

So here's the list of species added since the end of March.



Birds

Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs
Swift - Apus apus


Plants

Daisy - Bellis perennis
Green Alkanet - Pentaglottis sempervirens


Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatarius
Red Dead Nettle - Lamium purpureum
Clover - Trifolium pratense
Rowan - Sorbus aucuparia
Oak - Quercus sp.
Common Whitebeam - Sorbus aria
Spring Beauty - Claytonia virginica

Upright Yellow Sorrel - Oxalis stricta



Lesser Trefoil - Trifolium dubium


Dock - Ramex sp.
Wood Avens - Geum urbanum
Wall Speedwell - Veronica arvensis
Yellow Corydalis - Pseudoformaria lutea

Cat's Ear - Hypochaeris rudicata


Ribwort Plantain - Plantago lanceolata


Common Mouse-ear - Cerastium fontarum


Bryophytes

Rough-stalked Feather-moss Brachtyecium rutabulum

Fungi

Brown Mottle Gill - Panaeolina foenisecii




Flies

Caddis Fly - Stenophylax permistus - must admit I am not 100% sure on id of this one - there are a lot of species that look identical :(


I caught this next species in my moth trap and was convinced it was a micro moth - I even found one that looked identical!! I put a photo on Twitter for verification only to be told it was a caddis fly!!! I didn't realise they came this small as most I trap are a similar size to the one above which is several centimetres long whereas this one is tiny. Checking out id I think it may be Cyrnus flavidus. But please feel free to leave a comment and correct me as I really am not positive on these ids.


Large Rose Sawfly - Arge panana


Another sawfly - not 100% sure on id of this one but could be Macrophya alboannulata


Sicus ferrugineus - a parastitic canopid fly


Bee Fly - Bombylius major
House Fly - Musca domestica

Lunar Hoverfly - Eupeodes luniger



Bees, Wasps and Ants

Tawny Mining Bee - Andrena fulva

White-tailed bumble bee - Bombus lucurum
Garden Bumble Bee - Bombus hortorum

Solitary Bumble Bee - Lasioglossum sp
Red Mason Bee - Osmia bicornis
Red-tailed Bumble Bee Bombus lapidarius
Common Carder Bee - Bombus pascuorum

Leaf Cutter Bee - Megachile sp (again its difficult to get these down to species level)


Black Garden Ant - Lasius niger
Red Ant - Myrmica rubica

Other Invertebrates

Silverfish - Lepisma saccharina

Common Green Grasshopper - Omocestus viridulus

Common Earthworm - Lubricus terrestris

Millipede - Cylindroilus caeruleocinctus

Centipede - Cryptid sp.

Common Froghopper - Philaenus spumarius


Bugs

Hawthorn Shield Bug - Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale
Black Bean Aphid - Aphais fabae


Beetles

Lily Beetle - Lilioceris lilii



Weevils

Clay-coloured Weevil - Otiorhynchus singularis

Molluscs

White-lipped Banded Snail - Cepaea hortensis



Garden Snail - Cornu aspersum


Arachnids

Stretch Spider - Tetragnatha extensa
Large House Spider - Tegenaria gigantea


Butterflies

Orange Tip - Anthocharis cardamines

Holly Blue - Celastrina argiolus

Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhammi

Speckled Wood - Parage aegeria


Red admiral - Vanessa atalanta


Caterpillars

Lesser Yellow Underwing - Noctua comes



Moths

Diurnea fagella
Early Thorn - Gelenia dentaria
Shuttle-shaped Dart - Agrotis puta
Knot Grass - Acronicta rumicis
Lime Hawkmoth - Mimasa tiliae
Muslin Moth - Diaphora mendica
Light Brown Apple Moth - Epiphyas postvittana
Tachystola acroxantha
Small Rivulet - Perizoma alchemillata

Angle Shades - Phlogophora meticulosa


Waved Umber = Menophra abruptaria


Straw Dot - Rivula sericealis
Small Dusty Wave - Idaea seriata
Brimstone Moth - Opisthograotis luteolata
Heart and Dart - Agrotis exclamationis
Common Pug - Eupithecia vulgate
Middle-barred Minor - Oligia fasciuncula

Leaf mine on lilac of Common Slender - Gracillaria syringella

Scalloped Hazel - Odontopera bidentata
Bee Moth - Aphoma sociella
Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum
Small Magpie - Eurrhypara hortulata
Uncertain - Hoplodrina alsines
Mottled Pug - Eupithecia exiguata
Garden Carpet - Xanthorhoe fluctuata
Bright-line Brown-eye Lacanobia oleracea
Flame - Axylia putris
Turnip Moth - Agrotis segetum
Crambus pascuella
Timothy Tortrix - Aphelia paleana - what a superb name !! :)
Juniper Webber - Dichomeris marginella
Large Yellow Underwing - Noctua pronuba
Riband Wave - Idaea aversata
Willow Beauty - Peribatodes rhomboidaria
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing - Noctua fimbriata
Dagger Agg - Acronicta sp
Dark Arches - Apamea monoglypha
Eudonia lacustrata



Oh dear its been a bit of a lengthy post - I'll try and do a monthly update from now on which will be more manageable and less like an endless list of species!! It must be as boring to read as it was to type!!!

Coming up to the end of June I am now on 166 species when really I would have preferred to have been on far nearer 200. I've dozens of species still to identify - mainly flies, beetles, lichens, mosses and slugs. Hopefully, the next few months will bring a lot more moths to the trap to boost the total.








13 comments:

Amanda Peters said...

Great post, we have far more going on in our gardens than we think, you just have to look...
I have a photo of the Sawfly with the white markings on its leg, still to ID.
Amanda xx

Dartford Warbler said...

Not boring at all - what a collection!

It is interesting to see your close-up photos of our commonest insects. The hover fly is particularly beautiful with those sharp black and yellow stripes.

Ragged Robin said...

Amanda Peters Thanks so much - you are so right about the amount happening in gardens. I think the whole point of the exercise for me was to get me looking at groups I don't usually bother much with like beetles and flies. Good luck with your Sawfly id - I'll keep an eye out for the results :)

Dartford Warbler - Thanks so much. The hoverfly is lovely - quite a few species around now but some so small I can't get photos to help with id.

Anonymous said...

I hadn't realised it's just new and self-sewn things. I think you're doing really well given those strict parameters. I should imagine the moths will make a significant difference to the numbers- do you get bats where you are too?
ps not boring post at all- right up my street and v interesting to compare species lists with what I get here. That little hoverfly is very pretty :-)

Em Parkinson said...

Your record keeping is exemplary - so impressive. I love that Caddisfly.

Ragged Robin said...

Countryside Tales - Many thanks. Yes I am being very strict with myself re: plants. All the wildflowers and native trees and shrubs we've planted are not being counted :(

Moths are my only chance of reaching 365!!! Yes, we get pipistrelle and I've seen another species too - not sure which but had totally different flight pattern. But not seen either yet this year.

Hoping for more hoverflies soon :)

Em Parkinson - Thanks :) Believe me it took me hours to get all the odd scraps of paper and lists into some sort of order!!!

Bovey Belle said...

An impressive list. We had a Lesser Yellow Underwing here this week too.

I don't think I have Lesser Trefoil on my plot. I will have to check. No "dry grassy habitat" to speak of here!!!

Anonymous said...

Good stuff RR and I for one find these kind of lists fascinating reading, especially as regards the similarities and differences with my own observations up here in t' north :-)

Ragged Robin said...

Bovey Belle - Huge apologies for delay in posting your comment but we've been on holiday for a week and I always have a week off the internet! Thanks so much. Well done on your Lesser Yellow Underwing :)

David Turner - Many thanks and many apologies to you to David for late publishing of your comment. As explained above we've been away for a week. So glad you enjoyed the post - yes, it is so interesting comparing what people see in different parts of the country :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for helping out, excellent information.

Ragged Robin said...

Anonymous - Thank you and glad the post was useful for you.

Anonymous said...

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wondering what all is needed to get setup? I'm assuming having a blog
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I'm not 100% positive. Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Ragged Robin said...

Hi again. Blogger is easy to use and free. If you google it and just follow the link to Blogger.com My blog is pretty basic but the website of blogger should explain how to set one up. Good Luck.