Latest information about wildlife recording and events from the Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre

This eNews will inform you about...
  • REMINDER: Upcoming BioBlitzes and Recording Days
  • Cumbria Wildlife Recorders' Conference - save the date
  • Earthworm Identification Workshop at Tullie House 23rd June
  • A rare, distinctive leafhopper to look out for in Cumbria

Solway and Sandscale Haws BioBlitzes 

This is just a quick reminder of 2 imminent BioBlitzes that we are supporting. No booking necessary, just turn up.

24hr Campfield Marsh BioBlitz Friday 29th - Saturday 30th May 7pm - 7pm  (Tomorrow evening and Saturday!). More information and a program available on the Solway Wetlands Landscape Partnership website.

Sandscale Haws BioBlitz Friday 5th - Saturday 6th June 9am and 10am starts respectivelyMore information available here. The main recording day will be Friday, making way for a more family orientated day on the Saturday. See
Friday programme (download) and Saturday programme (download).
 

CBDC Recording Days 2015

There's still time to book yourself onto one or all of our recording days this summer. There's more information on our website and you will be sent further details upon contacting Gary: recordingofficer@cbdc.org.uk or 01228 618717.
Sites and dates:
27th June - Hellbeck Wood, Brough
4th July - High Hall Wood, Wigton
1st August - Duddon Valley
5th September - Braithwaite Moss (Nr. Keswick)
 

Cumbria Wildlife Recorders' Conference 2015 - save the date

This years' free annual conference will be held on Saturday 7th November at Tullie House Museum. As usual, presentations on a range of Cumbrian wildlife recording related topics can be expected and relevant posters are welcomed. Booking is essential and will be available from Monday by contacting the Tullie House Box Office 01228 618700. Poster inquiries can be made to Gary: recordingofficer@cbdc.org.uk or 01228 618717.
 

Earthworm Identification Workshop 23rd June

This workshop, led by the 
Earthworm Society of Britain's Keiron Brown, will provide an introduction to British earthworm identification, including some background on earthworm biology and ecology. Participants will learn how to identify earthworms using microscopes with live specimens from a nearby site, and also the techniques for collecting specimens, utilising the Tullie House Gardens. The workshop is open to anyone interested in learning about earthworms and how to record them. No experience necessary. Suitable for adults only. For more information, please click on the poster on the right.

 

Rare Leafhopper Search - Can you help?
The following is a call-out from Auchenorrhyncha expert Alan Stewart:

Leafhoppers, planthoppers and froghoppers belong to a group of plant sap-sucking insects known as the Auchenorrhyncha. I ran the national recording scheme for this group (see our website: www.Ledra.co.uk). 

I am particularly intrigued by a recently discovered leafhopper species called Anoterostemma ivanhoffi (no English name) that was added to the British list in 2010 after it was found on the coast near Kirkcudbright in Dumfries & Galloway (see image below). It occurs there in huge numbers on Saltmarsh rush, Juncus gerardii. The odd thing about it is that elsewhere it is known only from the Ukraine (where it was first described), the Black Sea coast and northern Italy. Quite how it got to Scotland is a mystery because it has only very short wings (see picture) and so almost certainly cannot fly! So far it hasn’t yet been found anywhere else, but perhaps that’s because no-one has looked in the right places.
It’s a very distinctive species which couldn’t really be mistaken for anything else (black or brown exposed abdomen, short wings and pointed head, feeding on this rush species). If the population near Kirkcudbright is typical, it is likely to be very abundant where it occurs so it should be easy to find. Nymphs will probably appear in early June and then adults from late June through to the end of August. Any reasonably large stands of the rush towards the top end of a salt marsh could hold a population. The New Atlas of the British Flora indicates that the rush has been recorded all around the Cumbrian coast and Teresa Frost has kindly sent me a tetrad distribution map which confirms that it is most frequent on the north and south coasts of the county (but less so in between). I would be most grateful if anyone is prepared to check any suitable site for this species. It should be easy to get a decent photo if it is present, so no need to take specimens.
 
Please send any information (including records of absence – i.e. where a suitable site with the right rush has been checked but the leafhopper was not found) to:
 
Dr Alan J A Stewart
School of Life Sciences
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton
BN1 9QG
Tel: 01273 - 877476
Email: a.j.a.stewart@sussex.ac.uk
 
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