Notes and Observations 12 Part 5

NOTES AND

OBSERVATIONS

LETHERINGHAM. There is a small rubbish tip at Letheringham from which a few house crickets fly and to which, In September, a s to other similar tips, bats go to catch crickets.

1963, noctules and pipistrelles were captured there for identification and released.

M. L . L Y N N ALLEN, Wickham Market.

BATS AT

DAUBENTON'S BAT (Myotis daabentoni).

There is always a number of small bats Aying low over the lake in the park here and I have always assumed that most were Daubenton's (Myotis daubentoni) which classically " fly low over water ". DĂźring the summer of 1963, a number of bats were caught over the pond in a mist net. The net, 45' long and 9' deep was held horizontally over the water and swept up to catch low Aying bats as they flew over it. Most of the bats caught were pipistrelles (P. pipistrellus) with, of other species, only a single Daubenton's. It is obviously dangerous to assume that small bats Aying low over water are necessarily Daubenton's.

CRANBROOK, Great Glemham.

BADGER (Meies meles). One morning in June at about 7 o'clock I saw a badger Walking across a meadow between two woods in front of my house. The nearest known sett is two miles away, in Rendham.

J . O . PATERNOSTER, M R S . , Great Glemham.

There is an occupied badgers' sett on Mr. C. Volz's Red House Farm, Sternfield.

J . LANGLEY, L T . COL., Alderton.

COMMON SEALS (Phoca vitulina) ON SCROBY. The common seals are enjoying a good breeding season this year and there are bigger herds. On 23rd July, 1963, there were at least 250 present in three separate herds and when we disturbed them they left behind 29 pups. As in previous years the peak breeding period seems to be the flrst week in July.

R. H. HARRISON, Great Yarmouth.

YOUNG SQUIRREL IN JULY. Early in July at the gates of Great Glemham House I saw a very small young red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) which can only just have left the nest. It showed so little fear that I was almost able to catch it by hand. This date is interesting to compare with that of the Nature Trail at Great Glemham on 19th May when a number of young red squirrels were seen in the woods.

M. L . L Y N N ALLEN, Wickham Market.

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W A T E R VOLES (Arvicola terrestris).

Düring the past tvvo years the ponds in the garden here have been invaded by one or more pairs of water voles. This had never happened previously in my recollection. T o reach the garden they must have travelled overland at least half a mile from the nearest stream in which water voles are regularly found. If they journeyed by way of convenient ditches they must have travelled considerably farther.

At first it was a pleasure to wateh their beaver-like vvays as they cut down reeds and rushes and towed them skilfully across the ponds, but when they came ashore and started felling Operations in the herbaceous borders they had to be suppressed.

While they were still confining their Operations to the ponds and its banks I noticed that a small field maple, hanging over the water, was being rapidly denuded of its leaves. Observation showed that one of the water voles was responsible.

It would climb up at least three feet into the bush where it sat, holding the leaves in its paws as it ate them. When alarmed it would dive straight into the water.

W . H. P A Y N , Härtest.

R E D D E E R (Cervus elaphus).

A stag and a hind were causing much damage to young plantations at Little Glemham and had to be shot in September, 1963.

CRANBROOK, Great Glemham.

JACKDAWS AS PREDATORS. At the end of September, at Blythburgh, five jackdaws made a determined attempt to fly down a common sandpiper. The latter flew low, alarming continuously and repeatedly turned sharply ; but the rearmost jackdaw saw the turn at once and flew to cut it off. After several minutes the chase led to within a few yards of where I was Standing and the jackdaws gave up.

G. B . G. BENSON, Southwold.

S O M E INTERESTING A P H I D S AND THEIR PARASITES. Düring the first week in August, 1963, our President, Lord Cranbrook, sent me a sample of some very small insects he found in some numbers on the Suffolk coast near Aldeburgh. I submitted them to the authorities in the Entomological Department of the British Museum (Natural History) who identified them as several species of Aphididae of maritime habitats together with their small Hymenopterous parasites which always accompany them and according to the late Prof. A. D. Imms lay their eggs in the adult Aphids. T h e larvae feed on the living tissues and when about to pupate inside the remaining skin of the host, they affix it to a

NOTES AND OBSERVATION^

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twig or plant stem and the imago emerges eventually through a round exit hole in the skin of the dead Aphid. Mr. R. D. Eady kindly identified the small parasite as Aphidius urticae, Hai., while Mr. V. F. Eastop separated no less than four species of Aphididae, Acyrthosiphon pisum, Harris, Metopolophium dirhodum, Walker, Phorodon humuli, Schrank., and a species near to Aphis fabae, Scopoli. It is possible that some of these minute insects may have been wind-borne from a considerable distance, perhaps even from the other side of the North Sea. CHARLES DE WORMS.

A MEDITERRANEAN CENTIPEDE (Scolopindra sp.) was discovered on 3rd July, 1963, at Bury St. Edmunds in carrots imported from Italy. It was 14 cms. in length and 10 cms. wide across the back.

P. J. O. TRIST, Bury St. Edmunds.

A N ORNITHOLOGICAL COINCIDENCE. On 15th January, 1960, a common gull was killed by a falling clod while following a tractordrawn plough at Hawkedon. T h e gull, which bore a Moscow ring, had been ringed as a young bird two years before. By a queer coincidence the tractor-driver was a Russian.

W . H . PAYN, Härtest.

FIGHTING STARLINGS. On 17th March, two starlings, apparently fighting for possession of a hole in a plum tree were seen to fall to the ground where they remained locked in furious combat for eleven and a half minutes on end.

W . H . PAYN, Härtest.

NEST-BOX BREEDING RESULTS AT FINBOROUGH. Düring 1 9 6 3 , 54 nest boxes which I had erected in trees in Finborough Park were occupied by four species of birds and by squirrels. 19 boxes were not occupied.

The Number of eggs laid by each species with hatching and rearing results were :— No. of Young Species hatched Reared eggs Boxes occupied by great tits 90 78 78 54 ,, „ ,, blue tits 52 42 „ starlings 89 73 71 ,, ,, ,, jackdaws 10 6 „ ,, ,, squirrels Actual clutch numbers, with young hatched therefrom were :— Great tits 10—8 ; 9—8 ; 10—10 ; 12—11 ; 4—0 ; 9—8 ; 11—9 : 5—5 : 11—10 : 9—9.

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10—10; 10—10; 10—9; 13—13; 11—10.

5—5 ; 5—4 ; 4—4 ; 5—4 ; 5—5 ; 5—4 ; 5—4 ; 5—5 ; 4—2 ; 1—0 ; 5—4 ; 5—5 ; 6—5 ; 3—2.

There were also three apparent cases of double broods, viz., 5—4 ; 3—1 ; 5—5 and 3—2 ; 6—5 and 4—3.

Subsequently twenty-six more boxes were erected in the park.

One of these, put up on 13th August, was found on 19th October, to contain a stock dove squab approximately four to five days old and an unhatched egg.

R. J. C O P P I N G , Stowmarket.

Livia juncorum, LATREILLE (Hemiptera Chermidae) IN SUFFOLK. While gathering wild flowers with my children I came across a stränge species of rush beside a small pond just over the Weston parish boundary into Willingham St. Mary. As the " flower " did not resemble the Jointed Rush, Juncus articulatus, which was also present, I sent a specimen to Miss Willis for identification. Unfortunately, the find had dried up considerably, but Mr. R. D. Meikle of the Royal Botanical Gardens was able to determine it as specimen of the Jointed Rush, Juncus articulatus, bearing a gall caused by the Plant Louse, Livia juncorum, Latr.

This determination was later confirmed by Dr. V. F. Easton of the Natural History Museum.

It was many years before naturalists associated the stränge growths on Juncus with this primitive bug (Annais and Magazine of Natural History, Series 12, vol. I, p.284). In Suffolk it is infrequent : " Rare on rushes at Foxhall and Bramford in August and September " (Claude Morley, " The Hemiptera of Suffolk Plymouth, 1905).

ALASDAIR A S T O N , Dulwich.

HARVESTMAN, Odiellus spinosus.

I found this in Livermere Thicks and taking it to be a stränge looking spider, sent it to Dr. Duffey. He teils me it is not a true spider but an Opilionid and that there are only about 17 British species, although a few are very common, Odiellus spinosus, Bose., is probably fairly widespread.

Mr. G. L. Ransome has given me some further information about features that excited my curiosity : the curious oblong raised shield on its back is an area of chitin which is easily separated from the carapace and carries three spines projecting forwards.

It belongs to the family Phalangiidae, a southern species not found north of Leicestershire.

Indeed " a peculiar creature ".

JANET

C. N.

WILLIS,

Ipswich.

387

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ANOTHER SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST.

Apropos

of

the interesting new finds for Suffolk at Livermere it is good to hear that the Nature Conservancy has come to an arrangement with the Estate Agents that they will inform the Conservancy in good time if any possible threat to the area arises. At present it is covered by a Forestry Commission's " non-destruction o r d e r " .

Many members will wish to thank Mr. Martin and Mr. Ellis for bringing this area to the notice of the Conservancy.

Physarum cinereum (Batsch) Pers. Miss Neal observed short blades of grass in many tufts in her lawn clothed in this tiny bright purple myxomycete. It was sent to Mr. Ellis, who gave its name, saying it was not uncommon. (But not, I think often observed. J.C.N.W.).

T w o HEPATICS. Miss Schafer brought me a large portion of Brantham mud covered with a small bubbly liverwort in patches of about 10 mm. diameter. It is, says Mr. Ellis, Sphaerocarpus michelii, Bellardi, a record worth mentioning in Suffolk Transactions because we have only an imperfect knowledge of the distribution of the two British species and neither is very commonly reported. These specimens were fruiting well and a critical determination was therefore easy, for once.

These patches were interspersed with other circular patches of about the same size of another liverwort, Rieda sorocarpa, Bisch., a fairly common species on weathered clayland in autumn.

Calceolaria tripartita, R. & P. Mr. Ellis asks whether we have come upon an adventive (not thoroughly naturalised) Calceolaria occurring as an annual weed in Suffolk gardens. '' They have been Coming my way," he says, " from various Norfolk localities this year." As a result of enquiries at Kew, it has been agreed that all the alien Calceolarias, which have been identified as C. mexicana, C. scabiosifolia, C. glutinosa and C. tripartita are in fact a single species, which should be called (through priority) C. tripartita, R. & P. It is a small plant with pale yellow flowers, divided somewhat hairy and glandulär leaves, and stems which turn reddish in autumn ; but they seed successfully and reappear in the following Summer, even after a severe winter.

Abutilon theophrasti (Malvaceae). Miss Whiting reported the appearance of this alien in a garden at Walberswick in October, 1959. It was supposed to have come from bird seed thrown out.

She now says that it is on the increase in this country and has just been found this year at Avonmouth Docks, near Bristol. I see

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that McClintock has it in his Supplement to Collins' Pocket Guide as Velvet Leaf, naming authority Medicus. He describes it as " a velvety downy annual 1 to 3 ft. high with pointed heart-shaped leaves and solitary J in. flowers. An attractive hut uncommon alien."

J. C. N .

WILLIS.

A RARE FUNGUS PARASITE on rare L I C H E N . Miss Anne Beaufoy collected this for me at Torridon in Ross-shire this year.

I had no difficulty in naming the lichen as Cerania vermicularis, Gray, as it is the only one of its genus and looks like a tangle of white earthworms. Mr. Ellis gave me the name of the minute grey-green plant that grew on it as Karschia vermicularis, Lindsay.

The naming authority is the same great lichenologist of the mid 19th Century whom I referred to on page 378.

J. C. N .

WILLIS.

T H E M E R E WAINSCOT IN EAST SUFFOLK. Mr. T. Harman of Medmenham, Bucks, teils me that on closer scrutiny of his captures from Walberswick in early August, 1963, he has found that they include one specimen of the Mere Wainscot moth, (Arenostola fluxa, HĂźbn. =helltnanni, Ev.). Claude Morley (1937) only mentions it rather vaguely from the marshes of Norfolk and possibly Suffolk and so far as I am aware, the only other recent record from this part of the County was a specimen I took on the sandhills just north of Lowestoft on 24th July, 1948, in Company with Mr. P. J. Burton. This was a most unlikely locality for this species which feeds on the reed grass Calamagrostis epigeios. The insect is common in one or two restricted marshes in the extreme west of Suffolk round Mildenhall and its headquarters are some of the fens of Huntingdon and Cambridge and certain woods in Northamptonshire.

CHARLES DE WORMS.