Tuesday 23 September 2014

Presumed Chrysocharis pentheus

On 30th August 2014 I found leaf mines on Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) that had several diptera mines resembling those caused by Liriomyza eupatorii. I took one home that was still vacated in an attempt to rear and photograph but instead found that the larva was parasitised by what appears to be Chrysocharis pentheus. Little is known about these insects and the distribution is also unclear although they are said to be found in the UK.

Presumed Chrysocharis pentheus

Diptera mine on Hemp Agrimony

Thursday 4 September 2014

Tipula oleracea

This is another crane fly that turned up around the moth trap this morning. Feeling confident I thought I'd have a go at ID'ing it. Again it turned out to be a tipula having 13 antennal segments, long palpi especially the last segment and vein Sc ending in R. Shown in one of the pictures below is a view of the underside of the head showing the narrowest distance between the eyes being equal to the distance of the antennae base showing it to be the species Tipula oleracea. On other tipula's this distance is much greater.

Tipula oleracea

Tipula oleracea

Wednesday 3 September 2014

Large Black Slug Arion ater

An overlooked or omitted addition to my mollusc list this species was frequently encountered on the Mendips last night.

Arion ater