Roath Park 08/07/2016

Took a walk around Roath Park yesterday looking for ringed gulls (found Two) and noticed there were alot of Canada`s about, counted 190 on the first circuit and 205 on the second. There were alot around Caerphilly castle moat on Thursday although I did not count them.

There is a possibility they are moving between the Two sites. I had 47 at Parc Cwm Darran on Sunday with at least 20 of them being this years young. Are they becoming the new Harlequin?

Another Andromeda Lacebug!

Bizarrely I was just about to post about this species when I noticed Howard had beaten me to it! I found this one on 15th June in Llandaff North. It was actually on a potted cypress and I didn't see any Pieris nearby - but I'm sure there would have been some not too far away.

The scientific name, Stephanitis takeyai, hints at the Japanese origin of this lacebug. It was first recorded in the UK in 1999 but is evidently spreading rapidly. Yet another insect to arrive with the horticultural trade.

The LERC Wales Data Tool shows only one record for Wales, as Howard has mentioned, also in the 10km square ST17. I contacted Jim Flanagan, the national recorder for plantbugs & allies,  who confirmed he didn't have any Welsh records on his database, though he did have 15 records from England.

Andromeda Lacebug

Found a lot of these on a pieris plant in the garden this morning. Unmistakably an Andromeda Lacebug which, on checking on the LERC Wales Data Access Tool, would be only the second record for Wales - the other being in Cardiff.

Damp and Dingy

I spent a few hours on Sunday, poking around the upper parts of my Cwmbach. One of the sites I visited was the wooded approach to the western portal of the Merthyr/Aberdare railway tunnel (disused), where on a rotting oak log, in a damp and shaded part, I found several of these fairly large, slow moving springtails. While not 100% certain, I am nevertheless pretty sure it is Alacma fusca.

Nearby, on a moss covered sallow trunk, I noticed these Lacehoppers, which appear to be Cixius cunicularius (now confirmed as such by Alan Stewart, the national recorder for Homoptera); a local species, found in damp woodland, often near streams.

Cixius cunicularius

garden visitors

Quite a few interesting visitors to the garden recently, including hedgehogs and common frogs. I see, or hear, the hedgehogs most nights but the frogs are seldom seen, and I have seen at least two individuals.

The wasps appear to be back! I have seen a few individuals but not close enough to identify. However, this stunning Ruby-tailed Wasp appeared on the window this afternoon, the colours were gleaming in the sunshine.

Lots of Honey Bees and Buff-tailed Bumblebees around the flower beds, but recently I have seen regular visits from what I believe to be Megachile sp bees. The images are of two individuals on separate days

This pair of tipulids were seen on the side door into the garage - could they be Nephrotoma flavipalpis?

A couple of bugs seen on some failing Shasta Daisies. Plagiognathus arbustorum and Lygocoris pabulinus (with another P. arbustorum). Not sure of my 'bugs' but fairly confident on the IDs

 This week also saw the return of the leafhoppers that I noticed for the first time last year. I counted 16 Eupteryx decemnotata on the leaves of a single stem of mint yesterday.

A varied selection of species which enrich the garden with their visits.

Cold Case Fungus

Following a recent exchange of emails with Emma Williams, on the subjects of Slime Moulds and Zygomycete fungi, I was reminded of something I found back in 2012. I was photographing some caps of Panellus serotinus, which were growing on a rotten Sallow log, when alongside them, I noticed a strange looking organism. A closer look and it appeared to be a withered fruiting body of P. setotinus, with lots of fine, branching filaments radiating from it and giving it a spiny appearance.

After photographing it I carried on with the Panellus and found another shrivelled cap, with the same fungus growing on it. I sent the photos to Mervyn Howells, who concluded, as I had, that it was a microfungus of some sort and because I wasn't into microfungi then, so it was left at that, but now, I really want to know what it might be. I have searched online, using all the combinations of search terms I can think of, and found nothing remotely like it, so I am posting the images here, in the hope that someone can give me a poke in the right direction.

I seem to recall that it reappeared the following autumn, so this autumn, I will check it out and if it is still there, I will collect a specimen for microscopic examination.

An interesting beetle

Amusingly the best record from our Moth Night event in the Alun Valley last Friday night wasn't a moth, but a beetle. The small dor beetle in the photo below was nestled in the bottom of one of my 6W Heath traps, and looked instantly distinctive due to the long rhinoceros horn on the head.

It was easily identified, using Brock's general insect guide, as Odonteus armiger. The guide stated this was a rare species found mostly in southern England, so I quickly checked the distribution online. The Welsh LRC data portal showed only one record for Wales, near Chepstow, but I also found a Radnorshire record mentioned on another website. I emailed Steve Bolchover, the Glamorgan beetle recorder, who confirmed it is new for Glamorgan.


It may well be under-recorded as, unlike most other dor beetles, it is mainly nocturnal and most often encountered in light traps. It is also unusual among dor beetles in feeding on subterranean fungi, rather than dung, both as an adult and a larva.