White Admiral 89

White Admiral Newsletter 89

Autumn 2014

Suffolk Naturalists’ Society

Contents Editorial

1

Autumn Members Evening 2014

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Logo Challenge

Ben Heather

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Simone Bullion

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Bob Markham

4

Joan Hardingham

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Alan Thornhill

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Gen Broad

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Richard Stewart

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Trevor Goodfellow

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Neil Mahler

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Adrian Chalkley

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Peter Lack

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Colin Hawes

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Tom Langton

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Martin Cooper

30

Richard Fisk

31

Darren Tansley

31

Rob Parker

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Black rat record for Ipswich A Fault: Nacton Shore Cliff Antlions - an East-Suffolk speciality The purse web spider Species Records - Making a difference Leaf-Cutter Bees My year (2014) Voucher Specimens A New Suffolk Record for the large Pond Skater Confessions of a novice Moth-er Stag Beetles 1868 – 2014 Chemicals in our fields, water and wildlife Drosophila suzukii in Suffolk Roman Snails Mammals of Essex - A New Atlas Shieldbugs at Play ISSN 0959-8537

Published by the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH Registered Charity No. 206084 © Suffolk Naturalists’ Society Front cover: Hoopoe taken at Framsden Suffolk on 1/11/2014 by Chris Upson http://chrisupson.zenfolio.com/

Suffolk The

Naturalists’ Society

Newsletter 89 - Autumn 2014 Welcome to this packed issue of White Admiral newsletter. Thank you to all those who have sent me copy for this issue, it makes my job much easier! Please bear in mind that the next issue is Spring 2015, so please think about any ‘dates for the diary’ or 2015 events that you would like me to feature in the ‘what’s on’ section of this issue and send them to me before 1st February.

I have had a very interesting year when it comes to natural history and have been able to get out and take lots of interesting photos of wildlife in Suffolk with one of my highlights being able to find the Wasp Spiders at Alton Water for a second year in a row. These spiders are great for anyone learning macro photography and are very well behaved subjects and do not shy away from having their photo taken, quite the opposite.

Away from photography I have enjoyed my first couple of outings with the Suffolk Bat Group of which I joined earlier in the year. I was able to complete my Bat Conservation Trust ‘Waterways Survey’ training on my second attempt after a biblical thunderstorm put paid to my first attempt. I have also been able to take advantage of being a member of Suffolk Bat Group and borrow a heterodyne bat detector and have now spent many evenings trying to learn what is, to me, a different language. I have a lot to learn but it certainly is very fascinating.

This winter I will be spending time re-developing the recording section of Suffolk Biological Records Centre’s website with some of our county recorders ready for the Spring, so keep a look out for updates.

Please can I bring to your attention our Logo Challenge on page 3, we hope you will give it a go and also the notice of our Autumn members evening (page 2) which is on the 27th of November, we hope to see you there.

Editor: Ben Heather Suffolk Biological Records Centre, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, IP1 3QH ben.heather@suffolk.gov.uk White Admiral 89

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Autumn Members Evening 2014

Thursday 27th November | 7.30pm Cedars Hotel, Needham Road, Stowmarket, IP14 2AJ

Speakers and Talks: Colin Hawes | Stag beetles as fungivores

“My 10 min talk will be about my collaboration with a researcher in Japan, which has led to us discovering a stag beetle-fungal relationship that helps the larvae digest wood.”

Dennis Kell

Investigating the distribution of flowering spikes of Purple Helleborine Epipactis purpurata in a deciduous Suffolk woodland in relation to adjacent ditches and differences in height, soil moisture and pH. Caroline Markham | Underground Heritage

Suffolk’s geodiversity sites - landforms, geology and buildings.

Gen Broad | SNS Taster Days

A summary of SNS events from the last couple of years.

Plus any updates from recorders present at the evening. Members are welcome to bring along short Powerpoint presentations or pictures they would like to share with the Society.

Drinks from the bar on arrival and half-time refreshment break (tea and coffee).

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Logo Challenge Help us design a new logo for SNS Now that the nights are drawing in, and the days are becoming shorter, SNS council has decided to challenge its members, over the winter, to help design a new graphical logo for the society.

SNS council has decided that a new logo is well overdue and would like something that is both creative and simple to represent the society on publications, websites and social media etc‌ The brief is fairly simple; what is needed is a graphic design that depicts what the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society is, does or what it stands for to you. To get the creative juices flowing I have created a very quick photoshop based graphic (top right) depicting a record being made of a butterfly.

You do not need any skills at using photoshop or design programs, all we need from you is an idea. This could be a quick sketch or detailed drawing and these designs will be voted on by the council and then transformed into a computer based graphic by the society.

Designs need to be graphic based and contain no text. Designs will be digitised into a suite of logo layouts of which some will contain White Admiral 89

our letter head (below).

Please send your ideas and designs to the editor using the contact details on page 1. If sending images via email please do not send items over 10mb.

As long as we get a good response we will publish any sketches in the next White Admiral with our new logo.

It will be great to have a new eye catching logo that will take SNS forward and I hope many of you take part.

Ben Heather Editor: White Admiral 3

Black rat record for Ipswich On 30th June 2014 I was contacted

by Peter Woolley of Alpha Fumigation concerning an unusual looking young rat that had been found dead at the Ipswich Grain Terminal. His suspicions were that this was a black or ship rat, rather than a brown or common rat.

Colour is not a reliable feature in telling the two apart, rather the relatively larger ears and longer, thinner tail (up to 120% of the head and body length) should be used. As this specimen bore all the characteristics of a ‘black rat’, I double-checked this with national mammal expert Dr Pat Morris, who confirmed the record.

The black rat, Rattus rattus, is now a very scarce British Mammal and there have been no records in Suffolk for decades. This species reached Britain in early Roman times and was associated with transmission of the Plague in the Middle Ages. Since the 18th Century, it has been replaced by

another interloper, the common or ‘brown’ rat. Remaining populations in the UK are thought to be restricted to a very few dockside seed and flour mills, which is also linked to its habit of being a more indoor-living rat.

Further correspondence with Peter Woolley on 16th September 2014 indicated that a number of animals have been now recorded, including three dead juveniles and a live female with a litter of babies. The absence of a record from Ipswich for many years implies that animals may have arrived via shipping, becoming established during the last year or so. The need for rodent control at this location means that this population may be short-lived, although the more arboreal habits of black rats makes them more difficult to eliminate than common rats.

Simone Bullion Suffolk Mammal Recorder

A Fault: Nacton Shore Cliff The photograph (on the next page) shows a section in the Harwich Formation London Clay (c.53 million years old) in the river cliff

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between Nacton Shores and Levington Creek. Within the clay may be seen a tabular band of hard rock and above, two bands of thin

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A Faul t at Nac ton Shore Cliff

rusty layers. Look at the left side and right side – the same strata are at noticeably different heights.

From the central area of the hard rock follow up and to the left to see a clearly defined inclined plane (c.40o to the vertical) – a fault – which here displaces the strata downwards on the right with a vertical component of over half a metre movement. The fault plane

cuts the soft clay cleanly but the hard rock band is bent and broken into angular fragments at the fault.

The relationship of the fault to the overlying younger strata is not seen, and how deep does it go?

How far into the cliff and in which direction?

Bob Markham

For more information on the London Clay at this site see the article by Roger Dixon in the Transactions 2012.

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Antlions - an East-Suffolk speciality

Antl ion pits

Those with long memories will recall Michael Kirby and his enthusiasm for Antlions Euroleon nostras; (see the account of his studies in SNS Transactions: Kirby, E. J. M. (2001). Antlions in the Suffolk Sandlings. Trans.

Suffolk Nat. Soc., 37: 57-65.) I attended one of his field meetings on these fascinating creatures in a gravel quarry in Dunwich Forest, where a large quantity of Antlion pit traps were found and it was demonstrated how to capture the larvae with a spoon.

The cliff edge, created by gravel excavations, supplies the perfect conditions of dry sand under a h e ath e r an d brack e n ro o t overhang, with mature trees, 6

Ant Lion - Pete Ethe ridge (Eas tbridge)

including conifers above. Here the creature can create pits of the precise slope needed to prevent dinner escaping. I have returned to the quarry from time to time and last spring was disappointed to note that this edge had been eliminated. It emerged that reprofiling had been done by the Forestry Commission as a safety measure to prevent trespassing scrambling bike-riders killing themselves (to be re-instated for White Admiral 89

the benefit of the Antlions, I am assured). I noticed that where there was the smallest area that still had the right conditions there were up to 9 small and large pits cheek-by-jowl (not a healthy situation as they are exceedingly rapacious to the extent of eating other larvae and even the adult female when egg- laying). I visited Antlion sites with the RSPB warden at Minsmere where they colonise WW1 army

Good c onditions

trenches. These are very overgrown, but again I noticed that wherever conditions were ideal, even if the area was only a few square cm, there was a large concentration of pits. They have colonised a dry area under the roof of the visitors’ centre at Minsmere and I have found them under the wooden fence at the Coastguard White Admiral 89

Cottages at Dunwich Heath and in the gravel pit on Westleton Heath.

I understand they have been found in greenhouses too.

This led me to think that although the adults are reputed to be weak fliers and only live 20-24 days, they are sufficiently abundant to find widely distributed locations I n the hand

for egg-laying.

They are possibly far more widespread in the east Suffolk area than might appear and if provided with those precise conditions could be encouraged to increase.

There is a Biodiversity Action Plan for the Antlion, (http:// w w w .su ffo lk b io d iv e r s ity .o rg / ) though it is not protected and not much positive conservation seems to be undertaken for them. So I would like to encourage people to 7

look out for likely places - a southfacing sandy overhang protected from the rain by vegetation or an artificial structure, where the sand stays permanently dry and warm.

The female lays her eggs in July/ August and the larvae live for 2 winters. In spring and summer look out for the conical pits 1 - 5cm across; close observation will show the activities of the larva tossing sand up from the base. Records with a photo can be submitted at http://www.suffolkbrc.org.uk or e-mailed to : ben.heather@suffolk.gov.uk.

Suitable conditions could be created by digging out an overhang

on a south-facing bank, under a hedge or with an artificial structure - a wooden plank or paving slab. There are so many questions still to be answered and it would be a fascinating project for children: When do the pits appear and how do numbers vary?

Does one larva take over?

When does pupation occur?

Do they need trees nearby or will a building do?

Build it and they will come? perhaps in the sandy areas of East Suffolk anyway.

Joan Hardingham

A useful account of the Antlion can be found at http://www.arkive.org/ suffolk-ant-lion/euroleon-nostras. Antlions even inspired Darwin: http:// darwin-online.org.uk for the account by P.H. Armstrong in Trans. Suffolk

Nat. Soc. 38 (2002).

Note from the editor- Appeal for more records Whilst editing this piece I received an email from Judith Hart reporting up to 80 antlion pits occurring in her Aldringham garden. The pits, active till about two weeks ago, were within a sheltered, raised flowerbed next to her house. Judith also detailed that there have been pits in this flower bed for at least the last three years.

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If you have also spotted antlion pits or indeed the adult antlion we would, at the Suffolk Biological Records Centre, be very interested in receiving your sightings.

Records can be created on SBRC’s website www.suffolkbrc.org.uk or sent in via post or email to the editor (see page 1).

Ben Heather

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The purse web spider - Atypus affinis The purse web spider, Atypus affinis, is the only UK representative of the Mygalomorphae, the group of spiders which also includes tarantulas and trap-door spiders. It is not as large as most of these but it is nevertheless quite an impressive spider. Its large forward-pointing jaws are particularly striking. It has downward-pointing fangs, a feature that members of the Mygalomorphae have in common.

The spider lives underground in a silken tube-like web that extends above ground for a few centimetres. It catches prey that crawl across the web by sinking its fangs into the prey and dragging it inside. The webs are usually difficult to find because they become covered in soil and plant material.

Purse web spiders are uncommon,

Adul t male Atyp us affi nis

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being known from around a hundred sites in the UK. However, some records are old and the spider may no longer be present at those sites. Prior to 2014, it was recorded from just three sites in Suffolk. In 2013 a picture of one was placed on an internet forum with the location given as Devil’s Dyke. Most of the Dyke is in Cambridgeshire but the Cambridgeshire/Suffolk border runs along the Dyke for about two kilometres. I wanted to see whether the spider occurred on the Suffolk part (the east-facing slope of the section that runs between the A1304 and the A14). After some searching, a few webs were found and later, two male spiders.

It was also found on a bank that runs parallel to the Dyke, about 40 metres to the East.

Alan Thornhill

Atypus web

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Species Records - Making a difference

Ma rtin Sanford expla ins how to identify the mars hland pla nts

Marsh harrier, Wall butterfly, Great Silver Diving Beetle, Water Soldier and the Fen Raft Spider were amongst the more unusual plants and animals recorded on 29th July at the Surveying and Recording Suffolk Species event at SWT’s Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve.

Over 40 people signed up to learn about identifying and recording species and why this is so important. The day was packed with practical, hands-on experience identifying plants, water beetles, dragonflies, birds and other groups as well as submitting records to a national database. After spending an exciting day with Suffolk County Recorders and other experts on the floodplain grazing marshes and dykes of this beautiful north Suffolk landscape, several people 10

contacted us to say what an inspirational day it was and how much they had enjoyed it.

The aim was to demonstrate how important it is to record the nature around us and to show that it

Adrian Cha lkley tal ks to the group abou t the a nimals l iving in ditc

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really is fun! Today’s common species may well be rare in the future, so recording what we see today provides valuable data on population trends over years. This is vital biodiversity information required to make planning decisions, for example for housing developments. Collecting and submitting wildlife records to a local or national database can really make a difference by contributing to the pool of nature conservation information.

Gen Broad (Suffolk Biodiversity Officer) and Martin Sanford (Manager of Suffolk Biological Records Centre) gave demonstrations of how to use iRecord, a site for managing and

Wate r Soldier, abu nda nt in the dy kes a t Carlton Mars hes and home for the Fen Ra ft Sp ide r

sharing wildlife records. iRecord aims to make it easier for wildlife sightings to be collated, checked by experts and made available to support research and decision-making at local and national levels.

The site is available through SBRC online.

Nature conservation is dependent on having accurate and up to date records of species - the Who, What, Where and When of wildlife. With the rapid advances in technology, people are increasingly able to download ‘Apps’ to help with identification or take pin sharp photos on Smart phones to find out what they are later. All this makes ‘Citizen Science’ a very useful way of collecting wildlife records.

All of the event leaders have enormous enthusiasm and vast knowledge of their topics - it’s impossible not to be inspired by th e ir g e ne rou s sh arin g o f knowledge, often gained over many years.

ches a nd dy kes.

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Each participant was able to choose one morning workshop and 11

Adrian’s unique glass tank for aqua tic inverte brates

one afternoon workshop from a choice of six: plants, coastal plants & animals, freshwater invertebrates, dragonflies, butterflies and birds.

Martin Sanford, Flora County Recorder, Chair of Suffolk Naturalists’ Society and Manager of Suffolk Biological Records Centre enthused his group with his co m m o n - se n se ap p ro ach to identification of plants and his determination that “Recording species has to be fun first and foremost”.

Toby Abrehart took groups to nearby Pakefield Beach to look at the plants and animals on the rare habitat of vegetated shingle and along the strandline. Their discoveries included sea pea, sea holly, sea sandwort and yellow horned poppy. Adrian Chalkley led the aquatic invertebrate group,

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showing them how to identify some of the inhabitants of the freshwater ditches and dykes.

Adrian used a semi-circular glass tank just a few centimetres wide which he made himself many years ago. This showed off the star of the aquatic invertebrates day - a Great Silver Diving Beetle - to great effect. Other species found included saucerbugs and water stick insects.

S teve Piotrowski’s dragonfly w orkshop

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S OG bird w orks hop at the sc rape Peter Maddison took his butterfly group along the footpath at the edge of the marsh. He was delighted to find Clouded Yellows as well as Wall Brown - a Priority or BAP Species rapidly declining in Suffolk.

The name comes from the species’ characteristic behaviour of resting waterfowl, including Little Egrets. with wings two-thirds open on any Highlights for the group included bare surface, such as walls. We garganey and grasshopper saw them resting on the footpath, warbler. flying up when disturbed and then Steve Piotrowski led the dragonfly settling again a few metres further workshops who were delighted to on. record 12 dragonfly and

Phil Brown and Giovanni Grieco from Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group led the bird workshop, based at the new scrape for much of the time.

This has been very successful, a t t r a c t in g m an y k in d s o f

damselflies species during the day.

Several organisations worked together to make this day a huge success: Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, SWT Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve staff and the event was generously funded by Touching the Tide.

John Grant featured the event in the East Anglian Daily Times Environment Supplement 2 August.

Gen Broad Secretary Suffolk Naturalists’ Society

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Leaf-Cutter Bees

On 20th July 2014 my wife Marie and I made our first visit to the RSPB Wildlife Garden at Flatford, where there was a Butterfly Conservation event. By the time we arrived it was cloudy and the only butterflies seen were small and green-veined whites. We concentrated instead on several ‘insect homes’ and one, triangular in shape, was being visited by leafcutter bees.

The next day, seated on our back garden patio in the sun, we were bemoaning the lack of activity in our own insect box, just a few feet away. Suddenly Marie saw a bee fly into one of the bamboo cane holes and from then onwards we were absorbed by what occurred. A close examination of nearby vegetation revealed cuts, almost circular in shape, on leaves of Japanese quince, buddleia, golden rod and periwinkle. Later we actually watched one bee cutting 14

out a section from a buddleia leaf and taking it inside 4-2, i.e. four rows down on the right, second one in.

Marie made a close examination of Megachile centuncularis: black head, quite wide to accommodate the cutting jaws, greyish thorax, black abdomen with thin white stripes and yellowish underneath.

In size they were marginally bigger than honey bees. Having cleared out any sawdust, the bees take their cut leaves into the holes, a larger one being used for initial lining. Subsequent leaf sections are rolled into a hollow cylinder with an egg being laid plus a supply of honey and pollen. This cell is sealed off and the process repeated until the cylinder is full. Marie’s close observations suggested that holes on both sides of the box were being used, rather than a longer laying all the way through. The final sealing off involved several White Admiral 89

layers of leaves with one bee dropping a section three times before getting it into the correct position. This final sealing had a ragged appearance and Marie wondered if this was to make it look more natural and discourage predators. There are also parasitic bees, Caeliozys sp., which will lay their own eggs inside when the leaf -cutter is away. This may explain why leaves were cut quickly and close to the box. I timed several operations and the cutting and detaching took a minimum of ten seconds and a maximum of fifteenalso testimony to the power of their cutting mandibles. This urgency probably explains why the bees worked late into the evening to seal their hole (the latest activity was recorded at 8.43 pm).

However, the complete filling of the holes varied from one to several days, with some not completed and uncapped.

Territorial behaviour included one bee pulling another backward out of a hole and a peacock butterfly which landed on the box was continually ‘buzzed’ by a leafcutter working on a nearby hole.

The most activity at the same time was three bees on 29th July and the last observed working day was 22nd August. According to ‘The Oxford Book of Insects’ the newly emerging bees eat their way out, White Admiral 89

starting with those nearest the final capping. These are always males, which then wait nearby for the females to emerge. So far we have not witnessed this activity. At the time of writing this article, 18th September, seven of the capped holes were now empty with four still capped.

Capped holes

While at Flatford, one of the volunteers showed us leaf-cutter activity in a natural piece of wood and we subsequently found cut holes in a buckthorn right at the bottom of our garden. This was some distance from the insect box and we speculated that the bees were flying over the nearby fence, with their cut leaves, to take advantage of the many natural holes in our neighbour’s decaying trees.

Richard Stewart

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My year (2014) by Trevor Goodfellow

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T op (left to right): Will ow emerald, Weasel & Green hairs treak I nset (lef t): m icr o-m oth O range C onch Commophila aeneana Inse t ( r ig ht): Forester Bottom (le ft to right): Grass snake, D ingy skipper & Sca rce chaser fe male

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My year (2014) continued...

I had great hopes for 2014, after last year’s failed mission to find and photograph a swallowtail butterfly; I was keen to make amends. ‘At least I found Norfolk hawkers and scarce chasers at the Ted Ellis trust’ I reassured myself.

In May I joined the Butterfly Conservation group’s dingy skipper count at Wordwell and was thrilled to see my first dingy skippers. The same day I added green hairstreak and small heath to my growing photo library.

SWT’s Grove Farm was one target in June as I endeavoured to find the Commophila aeneana moth again, after first finding it last year. I timed several visits while their food plant, ragwort was sprouting, on only one of these days. I had success in finding two or three of these lovely orange micro moths (orange conch). Their larvae feed on the roots of ragwort and in my experience the hatched adults have a very short flight period in June to mate and breed.

In July I stopped Field for lunch on from Mildenhall, back memories of 18

at Ramparts the way back this brought my childhood

with a butterfly net in the 1960s.

I was amazed to see a forester moth, then another, and another.

I had not seen one before so I felt very lucky as the bright sun illuminated their iridescent wings. I returned later to find a few, but failed to find the grayling butterfly that I also needed to tick off my list.

Pakenham woods was also on my ‘to do’ list but I was a bit late getting there as the white admirals were long gone and silver-washed fritillaries were ragged.

At home in Thurston, I recorded the first grass snakes, preceded by the finding a shed skin, and first willow emerald damsels, ten or more of them. Occasional glimpses of fox, weasel and stoat were as exciting as ever and always challenging to photograph.

Ditch water levels were good for the most part and definitely favoured the survival of crested newts.

Three sightings of red kite this year at Ixworth, Higham and here in Thurston.

Trevor Goodfellow White Admiral 89

Voucher Specimens Most fungi can be up to 90% water, so it follows they do not last very long in perfect condition in order to make an identification. Sometimes, you can be caught out and have a choice of rushing back home to fetch an ID book or you have to carefully remove the fungus and get it home somehow without damaging it.

The disadvantage here is that if it is rare and consists of only the single specimen or fruiting body, it may not grow again if you dig too deeply to be certain of obtaining all the identification features needed (such as growing from buried wood below the surface or being deeply rooted into the soil). In most cases, the fungus body itself will remain safe in the soil or rotting wood as invisible mycelium doing its job in breaking down organic matter and absorbing nutrients and when conditions are right another fruiting body will emerge.

It is important to be clear that what you see is only the fruiting body bearing the spores whilst the fungus itself remains hidden in the substrate as a network of tiny filaments breaking down (recycling) the material it is feeding on or exchanging nutrients with the roots of a nearby tree. Do not be fooled into thinking that you White Admiral 89

can keep on picking (foraging) the fruiting bodies forever on the assumption they will keep coming up again and again because once the organic matter is gone or more correctly, the cellulose is depleted, the fungus will die, unlike plants that have chlorophyll and obtain their energy from the sun and Co2.

Many fungi are hygrophanous and turn a much paler shade as the caps dry out, so for this reason I always carry a small camera with me wherever I go ‘just in case’.

Typical examples are Kuehneromyces mutabilis and Laccaria amethystina which turn almost white as they dry out. Tiny Ink Cap species are notorious in this respect, they can suddenly appear very early in the morning before sunrise and by mid-morning completely dry up.

Luckily for the mycologist, fungi have cell walls made out of chitin so are extremely resilient and can survive in their dried but unrecognisable state for decades enabling further study with the use of laboratory standard microscopes capable of 1,000X plus magnification with the resolution to match. (The extremely useful bargain priced digital microscopes from Aldi and Lidl are not suitable for fungal use unfortunately.)

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But if somebody were to send me a dried specimen and ask me to put a name to it, I wouldn’t know where to start because first I would need to know what substrate it was growing from (soil, wood, etc…), the species of tree it was close to, was there a particular smell or taste to the fungus, what was the original colour of cap and stem and most importantly, the habitat. In this respect, think of Cross Leaved Bell Heather (Erica tetralix); if somebody said dry acid heathland, I wouldn’t believe them, but if they said a damp hollow or moisture retentive soil on the heathland then that would be feasible.

In most cases, a good set of photographs showing the cap surface, the stem, the gill or tube colour and how they are attached to the stem will be sufficient, but additional details are always going to make life easier. Now if only the late Peter Jordan could have taken these measures when he was rummaging around Captains Wood back in 2010 and found what he bravely claimed to be the very rare Pepperpot Fungus and promptly threw away the evidence on the grounds that it was “Too far gone” to identify! Having a pint with him in the Lord Nelson, Southwold one evening I managed to extract that it was only the spore sac that was remaining which had tiny holes in 20

it but he couldn’t puff out any spores, and neither could he find any sign of the multiple stalks attached which make this fungus unique.

All in all, there was no basis in making this claim of having found the Pepperpot whatsoever - in fact, what he described would better suit the common Oak Apple Gall complete with tiny exit holes made by the emerging insects.

Another case where a retained dry voucher specimen would have come in handy is someone made a claim of having found the little known and rare Psathyrella caput-medusa fungus. The person was unknown to me and had no track record on producing reliable records of fungi, so with no photographic evidence either, and no description at all, I had no choice but to reject this claim.

A similar case happened a few days ago when I received an email from a Ranger thinking they might have found the scarce Ramaria butrytis coral fungus for which there are no Suffolk records. I had my suspicions, so asked for habitat details and a good photograph luckily it was a very good photo, clearly showing the fungus to be an excellent example of the quite com mon , Cau liflowe r Coral Fungus.

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Recently, I was browsing iSpot and came across a photo showing a group of Battarrea phalloides typically growing on a roadside verge. There was no mistaking the fungus in this case as the Sandy Stiltball is very easy to recognise, but the poster (who is well known to me) is claiming it is a new location for Suffolk, but is not going to say where it is until he has an assurance the verge will be protected. The post was made in 2010 and so far this person still has not made contact with anybody about his ‘claim to fame’ so neither will I be contacting him as the site is probably known about anyway.

By the time you will have read this I would have done my bit for England by representing Suffolk

for the National UK Fungus Day held this year at the Discovery Centre RSPB Minsmere. My grateful thanks to the RSPB in having faith in me by hosting this important event whose aim is to put across the vital role fungi play in all our lives.

The following day on October 12 I had to rush up to Norwich Cathedral Square where the John Innes Centre hosted Norfolk’s version of the UK Fungus Day and I lead 2 fungal forays for them in the morning and in the afternoon went to Mousehold Heath for the main foray.

Neil Mahler County Recorder (Fungi)

A New Suffolk Record for the large Pond Skater, Aquarius paludum In White Admiral 77: Autumn 2010 I wrote about the discovery of a large colony of this species of Pond Skater which was hitherto unknown in Suffolk. A colony of skaters is known as a flotilla and this one was found on two lakes on the Mill River to the east of Ipswich. Being sure that the Purdis Heath colony could not be alone in Suffolk, I hoped for more sightings to come in but I had to wait until 2012 before Aquarius paludum was found again.

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This new sighting was again of a large colony some 32 km away on a farm lake in Thurston and sent to me by Trevor Goodfellow. If anything Trevor’s colony is even larger than the one at Purdis Heath, which continues to do well.

However, until this year those two sites remained the only known locations in the county. However, whilst surveying for Suffolk Wildlife Trust on their Oulton Marshes Reserve on September 19th, amongst large numbers of 21

Pond S kate rs

normal sized skaters, I spotted one which was much larger than all the others. It took some 15 minutes to catch it, they are superbly adept at moving out of the way of your net, but once caught it was clearly A. paludum!

So do we now have three county sites for this bug? Well this is a gregarious creature and it is unusual to find only one specimen.

I have been recording at Oulton at various times since 2012 and yet I’ve only seen this one. The most likely explanation is that this was a stray animal landing on what was quite a small pond on the re se rv e . Wh ils t th e re are innumerable dykes, ditches and ponds on the reserve the most likely area for a flotilla of skaters to inhabitat would be the large, deep, wide Soke Dyke which runs parallel to the public footpath along the main Oulton Dyke. Only common species were there when surveyed in 2013 but I shall investigate further on my next trip.

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Aq uarius palud um

Aquarius paludum

is easy to distinguish from your average skater being almost half as big again as most common species, around 15mm rather than about 10mm. Exact measurements are little help when watching the water surface from the bank but the size difference is clear to the naked eye. When viewed through binoculars the final detail to look for is at the rear end of the body.

A. paludum has two pointed processes which extend to, or just past, the end of the abdomen as can be seen from the accompanying photographs by Trevor Goodfellow. All of the pond skaters common in Suffolk have very short processes, if indeed any can be seen at all. A final detail to look for through binoculars is a short yellow line along the side of White Admiral 89

the pronotum, which can be seen just behind the head on the photos.

These photos also illustrate the way in which the six legs are able to rest on the surface film due to their hydrofuge or water repellent properties. This allows it to ‘row’ forward using the middle legs and skate across the surface on the front and rear legs whilst bringing the middle legs back into position.

All skaters are predatory bugs and the photo of A. paludum capturing a cranefly clearly shows how the front legs are used to hold prey whilst the tubular mouthparts or

rostrum pierces it’s body.

So once again, If you see any unusual skaters, anywhere in Suffolk, that are larger than normal with long tail processes I would very much appreciate an email to aquatics@sns.org.uk for the county recording scheme.

Adrian Chalkley County Recorder, Invertebrates

Freshwater

With thanks to Trevor Goodfellow for his photographic help.

A. pal udum pre dating Cranefly

Confessions of a novice Moth-er This time last year I had hardly looked at a moth aside from the odd chance encounter with a hawkmoth. That changed though when we gave ourselves a moth trap last Christmas (2013) – a Skinner trap with a mains-run 30W Actinic bulb from Anglia Lepidoptera Supplies in White Admiral 89

Fakenham. Mainly for electrical reasons (!) we have only tried it this year in the back garden which backs onto the large field just to the north of Lackford village and about 100 metres from the nearest point of Lackford Lakes SWT reserve.

We were advised to start early in 23

the season so as not to get swamped, advice which we heeded and would definitely agree with.

However 3-4 nights in January and February were disheartening as nothing got caught.

In March though we started to catch some, and the fun (and identification problems!) started.

The popular perception is that moths are dull, brown or grey and boring. Some do indeed fit this description but many don’t. And when the second catch produced an Oak Beauty and the fourth a Pine Beauty we were hooked. The standard Field Guide (Waring) is excellent and sorts out the basic patterning of each species. But, and it is quite a big but, there are often a lot of potential species looking rather similar and you can get cross -eyed as a result and the paintings give no indication of what birdwatchers know as “jizz”. The other point we got to realise quite early on is that many species and it seems especially some of the commoner ones are extremely variable in detail.

At that point we really started to appreciate the Suffolk Moth Group’s website www.suffolkmoths.org.uk (and the similar one for Norfolk Moths).

These are both superb resources.

Firstly they have a series of photographs, many of which do show what the moths actually look like when they are at rest, i.e. do 24

show some of the jizz! And more importantly still they give you a list of what might be expected (has been recorded) in each week of the year, thus in most cases narrowing down the potential list when you are confronted by a moth which could be one of several species. Several times these web pages have corrected glaring errors.

We have also been helped considerably by 2 or 3 of my work colleagues at BTO who are real experts, and who luckily do not seem to mind my taking in many and various moths. My first encounters with the majority of species have been checked for identification by one or other of these.

To date (end of September) we have recorded about 230 species, with 1520 of these normally considered to be “micros”. However some micros are far from micro! Mother of Pearl and Small Magpie for example are obvious and “standard”-sized moths but are not in the standard book because strictly they are “micro”!

We did not worry too much about real micros although some which appeared to look obvious were picked out of the trap for identification by my colleagues (e.g. some of the brighter coloured tortrix moths).

The overall list has included some amazing looking insects. The Prominents (e.g. Iron, Swallow and Lesser Swallow, Coxcombe, Pebble), White Admiral 89

Chocolate Tip, Burnished Brass, White Ermine, Buff Ermine, along with some yellow ones, some bright green ones and to date 7 HawkMoths (Elephant, Small Elephant (the commoner of the two), Privet, Poplar (the commonest), Pine, Lime and Eyed) all vie for “best of the bunch”. A few rarer ones too, notably some Breckland specialities like the exquisite Tawny Wave and Clouded Buff, an example of a second (much rarer) generation Grey (or perhaps Dark) Dagger (they are only distinguishable by dissecting their naughty bits!) although the rarest of all has been a Dotted Chestnut. This is a recent arrival in Suffolk, first recorded in 2006, although apparently it is being recorded more often each year.

We have had our fair share of the brown and grey ones, and we have been amazed at how variable some can be. Some of these I have taken in to the experts where I have been convinced I have something new and unusual only to be told such as Clouded Drab, Nutmeg, Common Quaker, Spectacle, Shuttle-shaped Dart, or Common Rustic depending on the time of year.

A couple of autumn surprises were a Red Admiral and a week later a Hornet!

It has been a very steep learning curve and, although I certainly think we are getting better at it, I am sure that next year we shall White Admiral 89

effectively have to start again. I have certainly already forgotten most of the early season ones for example and will have to relearn them afresh. It is also clear now that an Actinic bulb lessens the load compared to what would probably have been caught in a Mercury Vapour trap – one of my work colleagues got around 1000 individuals one night with a MV light whereas my maximum this year has been 102 (plus a load of micros) of 41 species on 20 July with most catches being in the 30-60 range with up to 30 species (excluding micros).

Will we continue? Yes of course we will. It is fascinating and to date we have had at least one “new” species almost every night’s trapping. There is no question that access to experts really helps, aside from removing some silly mistakes. But the available resources to help identify the catches are fantastic and make the whole process much quicker and easier. Like most things, moths are thought to be declining but the records for many areas, often including nature reserves and similar sites, are often meagre or non-existent.

So you can really make a difference to species lists.

We will of course be sending in all our records.

Get mothing!

Peter Lack

25

Stag Beetles 1868 – 2014 It has been some time since there has been an update listing the places where stag beetles have been sighted. The table presented here shows the locality (parish/ town) plus the earliest and latest year of confirmed records. Requests for records of this species are made every year, usually in the Newsletter and/or the East Anglian Daily Times (EADT). This year it was the turn of the EADT, where a successful article (8th May) brought in many reports of stag beetle sightings. It is interesting to compare this table with that in Transactions Vol. 34 (1998).

The stag beetle 2014 ‘season’ started earlier than usual, with the first live beetle, a male observed on 8th May. Stag beetle activity continued to be reported throughout the ‘season’, which ended with a live female reported on 16th August. 2014 turned out to

S tag bee tles mating by Dav id wal ker

be the longest ‘season’ recorded for Suffolk.

Unconfirmed records have been received from: Bardwell, Barningham, Beccles, Benhall, Bradfield Combust, Bulmer, Campsea Ash, Cotton, Culpho, Dennington, Falkenham, Gt Barton, Holton (nr Halsworth), Kenton, Moulton, Orford, and Wenhaston.

Colin Hawes

Acknowledgements Thanks are due to the many observers who sent in their records, either direct to me, or via the SNS website recording form. Thanks also go to SWT and to Adrian Chalkley for creating a link between the Trust’s website and SNS’s website, thus making it easier for those using the SWT website. I gratefully acknowledge and thank the EADT for their valuable assistance.

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White Admiral 89

Parish/Town Aldham

Earliest 1994

Latest -

Parish/Town Gislingham

Earliest 1999

Latest 2006

Ashfield

1999

-

Gosbeck

1997

2014

Ashfield-cum-Thorpe

2006

-

Gt Waldingfield

1996

-

Assington

1951

2002

Gt Wenham

1997

-

Barham

1995

2013

Grundisburgh

1996

2014

Battisford

1890s

1950

Hadleigh

1991

2014

Belstead

1890s

2014

Harkstead

1994

2013

Bentley

1937

2014

Hartest

2006

-

Boxford

2000

2005

Helmingham

2006

-

Bramford

1959

2014

2007

-

Brantham

1959

2014

1996

-

Brightwell

1997

-

Heveningham Higham (nr Hadleigh) Hintlesham

2001

-

Bromeswell

2004

-

Holbrook

1960

2014

Bucklesham

1994

2014

Hollesley

1999

2006

Burstall Bury St Edmunds district* Capel St Mary

1998

-

Holton St Mary

1998

2014

1868

-

Hunston

1999

-

1979

2014

Ipswich

1890

2014

Chelmondiston

1994

2013

Kersey

1964

2010

Claydon

1999

2012

Kesgrave

1994

2014

Clare*

1897

-

Kirton

1988

2013

Creeting St Mary

2005

-

Layham

1993

2014

Coddenham

1965

2006

Leavenheath

2005

-

Copdock

1994

2014

Levington

1994

2012

Debenham

2004

-

Little Waldingfield

1996

-

Dedham

2014

-

Little Wenham

1997

-

Earl Soham

1880

-

Lowestoft*

1899

-

Earl Stonham

2005

2006

Martlesham

1995

2014

East Bergholt

1935

2014

Melton

1994

2014

Elmsett

1988

-

Monewden

1997

-

Ewarton

1992

2006

Mutford

2006

-

Felixstowe

1948

2014

Nacton

1957

2014

Flatford

1938

2014

Nayland

1934

2014

Framlingham

2006

2014

Needham Market

1938

2014

Freston

1947

1994

Newbourne

1994

2011

White Admiral 89

27

Parish/Town

Earliest

Latest

Parish/Town

Earliest

Latest

Offton Parham

2012

-

Thorington Street

1963

1996

2001

2003

2005

2014

Pettaugh

2006

-

1998

2005

Playford

1994

2011

Trimley St Martin Tuddenham St Martin Ufford

2002

-

Polstead

1995

2014

Waldringfield

1995

2014

Raydon

1994

2013

Wattisham

2006

-

Reydon

1980

2009

Westerfield

1968

2010

Rushmere St

1940

2011

Wetheringsett

2006

-

Whatfield

2006

-

Shelly

1992

2011

Shotley

1978

2014

Wherstead

1993

2005

Somersham

1994

-

Wickham Market

1999

-

Sproughton

1890

1996

Wissington

2005

-

Stoke by Nayland

1994

2012

Wiston

1994

-

Stowmarket

1995

2012

Witnesham

2006

2014

Stratford St Mary

1899

2014

Woodbridge

1925

2014

Stutton

1993

2014

Woolverstone

1962

2014

Tattingstone

1993

2014

Yoxford

1997

-

Chemicals in our fields, water and wildlife I recently received the July/August Natural England and DEFRA catchment sensitive farming (CSF) broadsheet, which relates news about farm chemical use. It set me to thinking how little information is put out to the public about farm chemicals and their use. Given the importance of the long term health of the environment to both food production and our wildlife, I decided to put together a brief note on the latest news.

28

Methiocarb has been struck off the list of permitted poisons that can be spread or sprayed from the end of next year. Methiocarb is a carbamate pesticide which has been used as a bird repellent, insecticide and molluscicide since the 1960s, when it was chosen in preference to the use of persistent organochlorines like DDT; this still causes ill-health in otters decades since its first use. Methiocarb has neurotoxic effects on molluscs, and White Admiral 89

seeds treated with methiocarb also affect birds. The European Union has voted to ban the use of methiocarb slug pellets due to the detrimental effect they have on grain-eating farm birds such as finches and sparrows. I and others have noticed lethargic birds at the side of the road in the Halesworh area in recent years during and after the drilling season and wondered about a connection.

Next in line for bans or restrictions are Metaldehyde, Propyzamide and Carbetamide. Metaldehyde is in the majority of slug pellets used in both agriculture and gardens.

Metaldehyde is detectable in extracted drinking water and has been exceeding European limits.

Propyzamide provides selective pre - and post-emergent control of annual grasses and broadleaves, and Carbetamide is also a herbicide.

The information supplied by the CSF initiative indicates that chemical application should be kept 6 metres away from ditches, and that it only takes one or two pellets to pollute a ditch. My observations are that although there are no doubt some very careful farmers, many contractors routinely apply farm chemicals in windy weather. I have often seen liquid spray applications carry a

White Admiral 89

good 50 metres on the wind, and the likelihood is that drift would be measurable even further if monitored accurately. The reality is that the six metre ‘buffer’ strips and hedges around fields must be regularly covered with spray and pellets.

I do find it very surprising that despite the obvious importance of the health of the environment, there is very little information readily available on the effects of farm chemicals on wild animals and plants. This is perhaps because there is a sense that growing food is the most important issue here, which of course does nothing to counter the basic fact that we need a balanced unpolluted environment in which to do it. Not knowing, or not accepting that we need to know what is going on, seems like a ‘head-in-the-sand’ position that is completely unsustainable, as ‘the world is going to starve’ and ‘the economy needs intensive production’ debates continue to go round in circles. We need more and better information, and with the decline in farmland wildlife continuing, farming even more in crisis due to depressed prices and bullying by the retail industries, it is surely about time that this situation changed. Will we ever get

29

a return to an administration where sensible decisions about our most precious and irreplaceable asset, our environment, are made

based on well balanced science and evidence-based management?

Tom Langton

Drosophila suzukii in Suffolk I saw a posting on Facebook about rearing maggots from rotting Honey Fungus and thought I’d have a go. Whilst collecting the fungus sample I collected about 8 of the flies visiting the fungus in a plastic bag and brought them home. I posted a photo of the first specimen I examined on Facebook and it was identified as a Drosophila (I think it is D subobscura) and it was suggested that I looked out for D suzukii as it had previously been found near Honey Fungus. I checked the specimens I had taken and to my surprise found I did indeed have D suzukii among them. There was only one of each gender in this small sample.

This is a new species in the UK and was first reported in 2012 by a Kent group. It was headline news!

See the Daily Mail http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ article-2209952/Strawberry-alertTh e- 2mm- lo ng- Asian- fru it-f ly decimate-Britains-fruitindustry.html.

Sometimes referred to as the Cherry Vinegar Fly, D suzukii is 30

Ma le D s uzukii

an significant agricultural pest. It damages both ripe and unripe soft fruit. It has yet to added to the NBN Gateway, although dipterists have reported a number of sightings. The male (pictured) usually has darkened wing tips which gives the species the common name of “spotted-wing drosophila”.

Martin Cooper

White Admiral 89

Roman Snails

These photos of Roman Snail, Helix pomatia, did not make it into the last issue of White Admiral but were sent into me at the Suffolk Biological Records Centre by Richard Fisk in May. These snails occur in a few locations in Suffolk and due to the sensitivity of these species the location details cannot be given out. Richard wrote in his correspondence; “a damp drizzly day and just the sort of weather when snails come out to play but I was unprepared for the sight of these on the trunk of willow trees on the bank of the river. I have

Hel ix p omati a

included one (photo) of the trunk to give an idea of the size of them. It was interesting that one had a rounder foot than the other. I also saw three more in a grassy area”…”but two of these had brown shells.”

Ben Heather (Letter and photos from Richard Fisk)

Mammals of Essex - A New Atlas In 2014 the new “Mammals of Essex” has been completely revamped and updated, once again charting the decline of once common animals such as water vole, the addition of new species such as the edible dormouse, and the return of the polecat after extinction due to persecution. From the harvest mouse to the humpback whale, exotic species and fossil mammals, with a dedicated chapter on mammal field signs, this will be one of the most comprehensive county mammal atlases available today.

Visit www.essexmammals.co.uk for more details.

White Admiral 89

Darren Tansley 31

Shieldbugs at Play Sec ret Fen 03 by Chris Brooks

Whilst visiting the “Secret Fen” on the northern edge of Cavenham Heath NNR, our ‘Watching Wildlife’ group came across a couple of shieldbugs mating. A closer look revealed a secondary activity. The female bug was busily sucking the juices out of a caterpillar [See inset photo leftopposite]. County Hemiptera Recorder Nigel Cuming identified the bugs as Picromerus bidens, otherwise known as the spiked shieldbug, and remarked: “obviously sex for shieldbugs is very boring!!!!”

Sec ret Fen 06 by Chris Brooks

Identifying the caterpillar is proving more difficult. A few moments earlier, its head capsule was just visible in photo 03, but by the time 06 was taken the head and first abdominal segment had been evacuated. It seems likely that the larva is a Common Rustic, or similar small Noctuid moth.

Rob Parker

Contributions to White Admiral Deadlines for copy are: 1st Feb (Spring issue), 1st June (Summer issue) and 1st Oct (Autumn issue) The opinions expressed in White Admiral are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society.

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White Admiral 89

Suffolk Naturalists’ Society Bursaries

The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society offers five bursaries, of up to £500 each, annually. Larger projects may be eligible for grants of over £500 – please contact SNS for further information.

Activities eligible for funding include: travel and subsistence for field work, visits to scientific institutions, scientific equipment, identification guide books or other items relevant to the study.

Morley Bursary - Studies involving insects (or other invertebrates) other than butterflies and moths.

Chipperfield Bursary - Studies involving butterflies or moths.

Cranbrook Bursary - Studies involving mammals or birds.

Rivis Bursary - Studies of the county's flora.

Simpson Bursary - In memory of Francis Simpson. The bursary will be awarded for a botanical study where possible.

Applications should be set in the context of a research question i.e. a clear statement of what the problem is and how the applicant plans to tackle it.

Criteria:

1. Projects should include a large element of original work and further knowledge of Suffolk’s flora, fauna or geology.

2. A written account of the project is required within 12 months of receipt of a bursary. This should be in a form suitable for publication in one of the Society's journals: Suffolk Natural History, Suffolk Birds or White Admiral.

3. Suffolk Naturalists' Society should be acknowledged in all publicity associated with the project and in any publications emanating from the project.

Applications may be made at any time. Please apply to SNS for an application form or visit our website for more details.

Naturalists’ Society w w w. s n s . o r g . u k Re d-heade d Cardinal Beetle by Be n Heather

The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, founded in 1929 by Claude Morley (1874 -1951), pioneered the study and recording of the County’s flora, fauna and geology. It is the seed bed from which have grown other important wildlife organisations in Suffolk, such as Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) and Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group (SOG).

Recording the natural history of Suffolk is still the Society’s primary objective. Members’ observations go to specialist recorders and then on to the Suffolk Biological Records Centre at Ipswich Museum to provide a basis for detailed distribution maps and subsequent analysis with benefits to environmental protection.

Funds held by the Society allow it to offer substantial grants for wildlife studies.

Annually, SNS publishes its transactions Suffolk Natural History, containing studies on the County’s wildlife, and the County bird report, Suffolk Birds (compiled by SOG). The newsletter White Admiral, with comment and observations, appears three times a year.

SNS organises two members’ evenings a year and a conference every two years. Field meetings are held throughout the year often in conjunction with other specialist organisations.

Subscriptions: Individual members £15.00; Family membership £17.00; Student Membership £10.00; Corporate membership £17.00.

Members receive the three publications above.

Joint membership with the Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group: Individual members £28.00; Family membership £32.00. Joint members receive, in addition to the above, the SOG newsletter The Harrier.

As defined by the Constitution of this Society its objectives shall be: 2.1 To study and record the fauna, flora and geology of the County 2.2 To publish a Transactions and Proceedings and a Bird Report. These shall be free to members except those whose annual subscriptions are in arrears contact: 2.3 To liaise with other natural history societies and conservation bodies in the County 2.4 To promote interest in natural history and the activities of the Society.

For more details about the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society contact: Hon. Secretary, Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, IPSWICH, IP1 3QH. Telephone 01473 400251 enquires@sns.org.uk