SWSEIC Recording Group at Hannahston Wood, 12th September 2024
Our final SWSEIC recording group day of the year was held at Hannahston Woodland, Drongan. Five of use turned up on the day and whilst the day was quite cool, we were most relieved to stay dry! All together we recorded 178 species.
As usual we put out a few mammal and moth traps the night before. We caught two Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus in the Longworth Traps. The moth traps yielded 15 species, of which the most interesting was probably Red-Green Carpet Chloroclysta siterata.
Notably Paul Cobb found a leaf mine on Broad-leaved Helleborine Epipactis helleborine from the fly miner Paralleloma (=Americina) vittatum. This fly does use a number of host plants including orchids, Solomons Seal and Lily of the Valley but this is the first time the species has been recorded on helleborines in the UK and the first record of this species from Ayrshire. Paul also recorded the psyllid Trioza remota on oak and a number of uncommonly recorded leaf miners including the fly Agromyza alnibetulae and the mines of micro-moths Apple Nymph Callisto denticulella, Speckled Apple Dot Bohemannia pulverosella and White-banded Dot Ectoedemia albifasciella.
Lorraine Hall and Malcolm Haddow recorded a number of notable invertebrates including the sawfly Euura bergmanni which is a first record for the species in the SWSEIC area and the bug Cymus glandicolor which was a first VC record for the species. Other poorly recorded but probably common species found include Hazel Bug Pantilius tunicatus, Silver Birch Aphid Euceraphis betulae & the leaf hopper Eurhadina pulchella.
Thank you to our volunteers for helping out on the day and to all the folks who attended our recording days this year. We hope to survey a list of further sites next year including rescheduling visits to Portencross and Craigengillan Estate which had to be cancelled this year due to adverse weather.
If you have a site in Ayrshire or Dumfries & Galloway that you think would be worth us visiting and would be accessible for a small group to visit please do get in touch.
If you are interested in joining our recording group you can do so here.
