Diplophyllum albicans

Found on the Quantocks this Liverwort is quite easy to recognise under the microscope.

Diplophyllum albicans leaves

Pleurozium schreberi

This moss I took from a wall on the Mendips. The leaves are translucent so when wet the red stems show up much more. The leaves are distinctive having a double nerve and red at the base. I noticed on some leaves there is a fold from half way to the tip that allows the leaf to hug around the stem, others looked to be naturally curved.

Pleurozium schreberi

Pleurozium schreberi

Ctenidium molluscum?

Identifying bryophytes doesn't come overnight and needs a lot of practice. This one took quite some time and needs to be confirmed. It's one of the pleurocarps and has a curved leaf with no nerve.

Ctenidium molluscum

Brean Down 30th-31st October

2 MV's and 2 actinics ran from 9pm to 3am on Brean Down recording quite a few migrants. Here is the whole list from that night:

40+ RDP

5 Feathered Thorn

10 Beaded Chestnut

1 Diamond-back Moth

1 Scarce Bordered Straw

3 Rush Veneer

10 Angle Shades

4 Red-green Carpet

1 White Point

2 Setaceous Hebrew Character

30 November Moth

2 Autumnal Moth

3 Green Brindled Crescent

2 Large Wainscot

1 Mother of Pearl

5 Lunar Underwing

1 Dark Sword-grass

1 LBAM

1 Red-line Quaker

1 Pearly Underwing

1 Shuttle-shaped Dart

3 Black Rustic

2 Turnip

1 Brick

1 Acleris rhombana

2 Blastobasis lacticolella

1 Feathered Ranunculus

Scarce Bordered Straw

White Point

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

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

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