Spring is well underway and I have been merrily ticking away for my PSL list. Since the beginning of April the new species have been coming with a fair regularity with a total of 18 new additions to take me on to 1096, a mere 11 species ahead of 'arch nemesis' Pete Mella. In all seriousness, its been a magnificent effort by Pete to catch up over the last six months and no doubt he will surpass my score soon, never to look back!
From the 18 species there is a single fungal pathogen, the Groundsel Rust, Puccinia lagenophorae. This I found quite widely but it was noted in Wansford whilst birding. Moving my bird table in the garden revealed two new species of woodlouse, both very common but Common Pygmy Woodlouse, Trichoniscus pusillus was a treat as it was pretty small. Common Rough Woodlouse, Porcellio scaber is definitely something I have overlooked in the past.
There was a single Hemipteran, Empoasca vitis or Smaller Green Leafhopper, is something I have certainly seen and noticed before but a recently acquired clip on macro lens for the phone allowed it to be identified. This was on my roses in the garden, a source of plenty of invertebrate frustration and observation. Two dipterans were in quite different stages of their lives with a leaf mine of Holly Leaf Miner, Phytomyzaq ilicis seen in Cumbria whilst an adult hoverfly Eupeodes luniger was in the garden. A Syrphus sp. photographed well but not perfectly wasn't torvus and didn't look like ribesii but an ID couldnt be found due to slightly fuzzy back legs.
There were three final insects this month with two Coleoptera and an Ant. The beetles, 24-spot Ladybird, Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata and Hawthorn Leaf Beetle, Lochmaea crategi were both noted at a site in Cumbria. A trip to Wharram Quarry revealed tons of Yellow Meadow Ant Lasius flavus under the various stones.
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