Hidden jewels in Ashtead Common

The forecast for the weekend slowly transformed from torrential downpours into a vaguely amenable “overcast and breezy”. This was t’girl’s first weekend post-exams and she wanted to go walk somewhere outdoors and green. And so Friday’s inebriation led to Saturday’s gentle bimble around Ashtead Common. We first popped over to the small green on the other side of the railway which looked surprisingly decent for 2 acres of hemmed-in common. Under the large oaks I swept a few things out of the grasses including a jewel beetle (my first in the UK – hot on the heels of my first ever in France earlier in the month), which I think is Agrilus sinuatus – the Hawthorn Jewel Beetle and a Notable A species. There was also the attractive Rhabdomiris striatellus which I still managed to mentally confuse with Miris striatus for a little bit. Back into Ashtead Common we hastily crossed the open field due to the strong wind – stopping briefly for some Yellow Rattle and Roesel’s Bush-cricket nymphs. The wind all but died away as we entered the domain of the trees and, when the sun came out, previously invisible damselflies rose out of the long grass and Speckled Wood butterflies chased each other under the canopy. Abbie got some nice sightings of blackcap, jay and wren; and a chiffchaff that seemed to be varying its song in interesting ways. In the fenced off area amongst some recently hacked pollards we found the one orchid of the day - a quite robust Common Spotted Orchid. Abbie and I had a go at the Cantharid key with a fairly small individual swept from woodland margin. It turned out to be a Rhagonycha for once and keyed out to Rhagonycha lutea which is Notable A. Taking it home I was able to confirm the ID under a microscope.

Rhabdomiris striatellus

A particularly interesting spot consisted of several veteran oaks in an otherwise open area with an abundance of bracken mixed with grassy patches. Out of one of these grassy bits came an odd looking ground bug with a very clear corium which keyed out to Nysius senecionis (see Issue 2 of HetNews for a key) – this is a relative newcomer (first recorded in the UK in 1992) but is now widespread in the southern half of the country. Also in this open area I found a new species of plant for me – Smooth Hawk’s-beard.

Green Oak Tortrix moth

The way back to the station brought us Hedge Woundwort and a Green Oak Tortrix moth (another lifer!). A little later on our journey brought the undoubted highlight of the day (on the tube of all places!): the large violet ground beetle, Carabus problematicus. Rescued from slightly panicky stamping he was quite the sight under the microscope. A little feistier than Pterostichus madidus was, it still stopped for long periods allowing me to comfortably ID it and drink in the details. The nasty looking mandibles only get worse when you can see the sharp, bristle-like serrations on the inner jaws!

Carabus problematicus