An Assessment of the Invertebrates of Several Shropshire Quarries – Boardman P.J, Cheeseborough I.P
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An assessment of the invertebrates of several Shropshire quarries 2007 By P. J. Boardman, I.P. Cheeseborough & N. P. Jones CONTENTS Summary …………………………………………………………………….. ii Introduction ….. …………………………………………………………….. 3 Methodology …………………………………………………….. 3 Results ………….. …………………………………………………………….. 3 Quarry Assessments Alberbury …………………………………………………………….. 4 Clee Hill …………………………………………………………….. 5 Cound …………………………………………………………………… 5 Dhustone …………………………………………………………….. 6 Dolgoch …………………………………………………………….. 6 Eardington Plant …………………………………………………….. 7 Harton Hollow ………………………………………………………….. 8 Hilton Sandpit …………………………………………………………….. 8 Llynclys Common …………………………………………………….. 8 Llynclys Quarry …………………………………………………….. 9 Maddox Coppice …………………………………………………….. 10 Morville …………………………………………………………….. 10 Nils Hill …………………………………………………………….. 11 Poles Coppice …………………………………………………………….. 12 Roman Bank …………………………………………………………….. 12 Shadwell …………………………………………………………….. 12 Titterstone Clee ………………………………………………………….. 12 Treen Pits …………………………………………………………….. 12 Treflach …………………………………………………………….. 13 Underhill …………………………………………………………….. 13 Wern-ddu …………………………………………………………….. 14 Species Descriptions Aranae …………………………………………………………………… 14 Coleoptera …………………………………………………………….. 14 Diptera …………………………………………………………….. ……. 15 Hemiptera …………………………………………………………….. 32 Hymenoptera – aculeates …………………………………………….. 33 Hymenoptera – Sawflies …………………………………………….. 41 Isopoda ………………………………………………………………….. 41 Lepidoptera – butterflies …………………………………………….. 42 Lepidoptera – moths …………………………………………………….. 43 Mollusca …………………………………………………………….. 51 Odonata …………………………………………………………….. 52 Orthoptera …………………………………………………………….. 53 Species Assemblages …………………………………………………….. 53 Further Work …………………………… …………………………………….. 54 Management Work ……………………………………………………………………. 54 Acknowledgements ………….. …………………………………………….. 54 Appendix I – summary of important species categories ……………………………... 55 Appendix II – all species records…………………………………………………….. 57 2007: An assessment of the invertebrates of several Shropshire quarries – Boardman P.J, Cheeseborough I.P. & Jones N.P SUMMARY During the summer period of 2006 the authors surveyed 20 quarries in Shropshire for invertebrates belonging to the following orders; true flies (diptera), aculeate hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants), butterflies and moths (lepidoptera), and various smaller orders (woodlice, land molluscs, grasshoppers and crickets, and dragonflies). The quarries were a mixture of active and non-active, with a variety of geologies, and ranged throughout the county. A total of 2268 invertebrate records of 701 species were recorded. Of these, 106 species were noted as of importance in a national, regional or county basis. 6 were Red Data Book (or equivalent) species, 60 were Nationally Scarce, 10 were UK BAP priority, Species of Conservation Concern or candidate Species of Conservation Concern. Shropshire BAP species were represented with 6 species, whilst 61 further species were noted as restricted, uncommon or local in status. Red Data Book species recorded were; spider-hunting wasp Anoplius caviventris (Very Rare or RDB1 equivalent) from Morville Quarry, shore fly Scatella crassicosta (RDB2) from Dolgoch Quarry, flesh fly Macronychia polydon (RDB3) from Morville Quarry, solitary bee Nomada integra (Rare or RDB3) from Underhill Quarry, solitary bee Sphecodes niger (Very Rare of RDB2 or RDB3), and hoverfly Rhingia rostrata (RDB3) from Maddox Coppice. An important assemblage of species was discovered at Morville Quarry, with a total of 55 species of aculeate hymenoptera recorded, including 5 new species to the county. It should be noted that this assemblage only includes species from the summer and late summer period over 4 visits, and therefore further visits in the spring would show the site to be one of the more important sites in the county for aculeate hymenoptera. Using the Archer Index score of quality for aculeate hymenoptera, Morville Quarry scored 165 on only 4 visits. This compares to the score of 173 attained by The Cliffe, an area of lowland heathland in North Shropshire, recorded over 20 or so visits in recent years by the authors. Alongside of this assemblage at Morville was a variety of flies that are parasitic on various stages of aculeate hymenoptera, including the RDB3 flesh fly Macronychia polydon. The first breeding population of scarce blue-tailed damselfly Ischnura pumilio for the county was discovered at Titterstone Clee. Remarkably the colony was quite large, with around 50 adults counted when first discovered. New populations of several regionally important butterflies were identified, including a previously unknown site for grizzled skipper in the Oswestry Hills. Several species were recorded at their first Shropshire stations including a number of aculeate hymenoptera, hoverflies and parasitic flies. Several migrant species of moth were recorded during the survey. These included hummingbird hawk-moth, silver Y, scarce bordered straw, rush veneer and dark sward-grass. ii Introduction During 2006 invertebrate survey work was commissioned by Dan Wrench, Biodiversity Officer for Shropshire County Council, on a number of quarry sites in Shropshire (VC 40). Sites chosen were a mixture of working, non-working, part-restored and restored quarries on limestone, sands and gravels, dolerite and quartzite geology. A survey brief was put together drawing up existing knowledge of three particular groups of invertebrates (lepidoptera, aculeate hymenoptera and diptera) as well as making reference to a recent report by the author that focussed upon Red Data Book (RDB) invertebrates of Shropshire (Boardman 2005). A list of target species was drawn up made up of United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP), Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP), Red Data Book (RDB), Nationally Scarce and priority targets listed nationally and regionally by Butterfly Conservation (Joy xxxx and Asher et al 200x) that could potentially be found on target sites. Quarries in the county (particularly those working quarries) are known to have had few ecologically studies carried out, and yet those previously visited by entomologists are known to be of some importance. A number of the former limestone quarries within the Oswestry Hills are owned by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust have had some entomological work done, particularly studies of butterflies and moths. It was therefore anticipated that those quarries visited during 2006 would offer some interest. Methodology Survey work began in spring 2006 on a number of quarries in Shropshire. Access permissions were sought from landowners with help from Dan Wrench and other parties for the author and associated entomologists; Ian Cheeseborough and Nigel Jones to visit at appropriate times over the year. Risk assessments were carried out for each quarry and those deemed to hold specific risks were surveyed by at least two recorders. On some occasions this meant that other people helped out to ensure health and safety onsite. Some landowners required entomologists to attend a site safety briefing (examples were Llynclys Quarry and Clee Hill Quarry), whilst some landowners required the wearing of high visibility safety clothing and hard hats. Generally survey methodologies consisted of targeting suitable habitat within a site, rather than sampling in a more quantitative or repeatable way due to the different challenges that each site presented. Daytime survey visits were carried out to search for the majority of occasions however night time moth trapping was employed at a number of sites to adequately survey the moth fauna. Standard equipment such as Heath and UV moth traps were used. Extra care was taken on sites at night due to the obvious dangers quarries can pose. Orders of invertebrates focussed upon were lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), diptera (true flies), and aculeate hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants). Where possible other orders such as mollusca (land snails), hemiptera (bugs), orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets), odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), and isopoda (woodlice) were recorded. Coleoptera (beetles) were noted in part, particularly ladybirds, long-horn beetles and a few other species but certainly not in any representative manner. Results In total 20 quarries were visited during the survey period by the survey team. They were Alderbury, Clee Hill, Cound, Dhustone, Dolgoch, Eardington Plant, Harton Hollow, Hilton Sandpit, Llynclys Common, Llynclys Quarry, Maddox Coppice, Morville Quarry, Nils Hill, Poles Coppice, Roman Bank, Shadwell Quarry, Titterstone Clee, Treen Pits, Treflach, Underhill and Wern ddu. Further records of lepidoptera were received from Kate Thorne (who was carrying out botanical survey work at Blodwell, Carreg-y-big, Coneyburg Wood, Craig-llwyn, Crickheath, Cynynion and Mousecroft. In total some 2268 records were put together of 701 species of invertebrate during the survey (including Kate Thorne’s records). Table 1 illustrates the breakdown of species per quarry Quarry Species No. Recorded Llynclys Common 259 Morville Quarry 242 Nils Hill Quarry 196 Cound 186 Maddox Coppice 149 Alderbury 146 Underhill Quarry 136 Treflach Quarry 125 Dolgoch 114 Shadwell Quarry 104 Eardington Plant 97 Llynclys Quarry 70 Treen Pits 70 Titterstone Quarry 56 Wern-ddu Quarry 49 Harton Hollow 44 Hilton Sandpit 44 Clee Hill / Dhustone 43 Roman Bank 40 Poles Coppice 30 Table 1 – Number of species recorded per quarry A total of 106 species deemed to be of a Red Data Book category (or equivalent) endangered, rare,