12 May 18

Pennsylvania Castle Wood, St Andrew's Church and Rufus Castle

Still a bit gloomy, but as luck would have it the sun came out briefly on my walk this lunchtime. I'm sure there were many birds around today, but apart from a few "chiffs" from a Chiffchaff in Penn's Wood, it was pretty quiet. With many birds nesting it will probably be like this for the next few weeks or so.

So it was more of a bug hunt today, with lots of invertebrates to seek out and some new ones for my Portland List including Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale), Marsham's Nomad Bee (Nomada marshamella), Ichneumon Wasp (Amblyteles armatorius), German Scorpionfly (Panorpa germanica) and a Small Black Ant (Lasius niger).

Flies:
Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
Root-maggot fly (Anthomyia procellaris)
Flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.)
A possible Muscidae House fly (Phaonia subventa)
A possible Muscidae House fly (Helina abdominalis)

Here are a few I came across today:

Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)

Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)

Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)

A Flesh fly, Sarcophaga sp. Its difficult to ID the exact species as they are very similar.

A possible Muscidae House fly (Phaonia subventa)

This is a Root-maggot fly (Anthomyia procellaris)

A possible Muscidae House fly (Helina abdominalis)

St Mark's Fly (Bibio marci)

This is a Large Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris) a Bumblebee mimic hoverfly.

Chequered hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)

Dead Head Fly (Myathropa florea)

If I've got this right I believe this is a Marsham's Nomad Bee (Nomada marshamella), which can be told apart from a Gooden's Nomad Bee (Nomada goodeniana), by the fact that the second yellow band has a black line through it. In a Gooden's it is unbroken.
 
There are a few very similar looking Ichneumon Wasps.......

..........but I'm pretty sure this is an Amblyteles armatorius.

Another view.

This I believe is German Scorpionfly (Panorpa germanica). There are two other British Scorpionflies with darker spots than this species.

Most likely a Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)

Birds Recorded: 1 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, 2 Swift, 2 House Martin, 2 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch.

Also recorded: Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale), Marsham's Nomad Bee (Nomada marshamella), Ichneumon Wasp (Amblyteles armatorius), German Scorpionfly (Panorpa germanica), Small Black Ant (Lasius niger), Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), Root-maggot fly (Anthomyia procellaris), Flesh fly (Sarcophaga sp.), possible Muscidae House fly (Phaonia subventa), possible Muscidae House fly (Helina abdominalis), St Mark's Fly (Bibio marci), Chequered hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare), Dead Head Fly (Myathropa florea) and a Large Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris)