Blue Eyed Birder: Drawing to a close...

The last couple of weeks have seen some good inverts out on the reserve at RSPB Rainham Marshes. It started with the discovery of a curious chunky weevil at the end of August that was identified as Larinus turbinatus by the Natural History Museum after being posted on another insect FB page. This caused great excitement as it was potentially only a second record for Britain although its presence had been suspected and the first was only upriver a little way on the Kent side in 2008.

Larinus turbinatus

Mark Gurney one of our own RSPB ecologists came down for a look and found several of this distinctive species in and around the tops of Creeping Thistle around the trail. Having seen the images I thought it looked familiar but I am no beetle expert and I was aware of its similarity to the common Larinus carlinae but the id seemed very straightforward.

And so on the 6^th September we were visited by Tony Allen the editor of the national 'Coleopterist' journal and I caught up with him near the ant hill in his search for turbinatus. He was quickly successful and I was able to get some good shots of the short almost straight snout and broad shoulders.

Larinus turbinatus

That evening it was still bugging me that it looked familiar and I searched back through my images and discovered that I had taken pictures of this lurking species in both 2010 and 2011 as well as the commoner carlinae!

Amazingly I found another one the following day and was able to show it to several of my keener entomologically inclined volunteers and today Yvonne showed me a picture of one she took back in early August! So it looks like this fetching well built weevil may have been doing very well for itself for at least eight years on the reserve and given the swathes of Creeping Thistle it is unlikely to do anything except prosper.

At about the same time David Grieve found a couple of the almost as rare Mottled Shieldbugs, Rhaphigaster nebulosa which I do believe was actually first found in the UK at Rainham Marshes in 2010 (although I have only just found this out) and Phil found one in 2015. Yvonne and myself have also seen them in the last two weeks so keep your eyes open.

Mottled Shieldbugs, Rhaphigaster nebulosa - David Grieve

The Kids Birdwatching Club on the 9^th became the Kids Bugwatching Club (last month the B became Blackberry) and I was lucky enough to find and photograph the seldom seen Turtle Shieldbug - Podops inuncta with it curious little anvil-like projections either side of the head. Yvonne is still jealous of this one in her quest to discover as many Shieldbugs and cryptic Ladybirds on the reserve as possible.

Turtle Shieldbug - Podops inuncta

However, she has now found not one but two new Shieldbugs for the site this week alone with the nymphs of the African alien Southern Green Shieldbug, Nezara viridula around the Adventure Playground and the rather smart Rambur's Pied Shieldbug, Tritomegas sexmaculatus in amongst the Black Horehound in the Wildlife Garden Herb bed. It has only been in the country since 2011 when it was discovered in Kent and these may well be the first documented Essex records.

Southern Green Shieldbug, Nezara viridula - nymph - Yvonne Couch

Rambur's Pied Shieldbug, Tritomegas sexmaculatus

Slender Groundhopper Tetrix subulata - my first here for several years

Yesterday I had a short stroll out to the playground and back where there were lots of loafing flies on the hand rails trying to absorb the scant warmth in the air. Most were shiny Greenbottles of various sizes – mostly Lucilia but with one or two fat bottomed Neomyias and two delta winged Mesembrina meridiana with their golden jowls.

The Noon Day Fly - Mesembrina meridiana

Lucilia sp

A Phaonia sp - one of the Muscids

Triangle Plume Moth, Platyptilia gonodactyla

I saw a several Common and Shrill Carder Bees and German and Common Wasps were still busily harvesting wood to pulp into their still active nests and countless Garden Orbs, Araneus diadematus were strungout across any available gaps. However, it was the fine rotund and rather splendid Four Spot Orb Weaver, Araneus quadratus that won the day. She was amazing and given her gravid nature it was amazing that her spindly web could support her weight.