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.
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| Rhabdomiris striatellus |
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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.
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| 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!
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| Carabus problematicus |
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