LEICESTERSHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

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- v ,ssN 0957 1019 Membersof the LeicestershireEntomological Society t INTRODUCTION LaundeBig Wood SSSIis an ancientash-maple and ash-elmwoodland, largely on heavyclay soils, located east of Leicesternear Loddington (sK7g703g). Mosl oi tne woodis dominatedby ash and locallyby wychelm overa shrublayei of hawthorn, fieldmaple, blackthorn and hazel. Someareas to the northare op"n and hereoak and birchdominate with an understoreyof bracken. In this areaiher" is abundant .

Invertebraterecording has been carriedout intermittenilyover three decades, afthoughno on-goingsurvey work seemsto have been done in recentyears. Historically,the wood has beenshown to containlocal and uncommonspecies of Coleopteraseveral of which are old timber speciescharacteristic of ancient woodland' In addition,several local have been notedand there is a recordof the localhoverfly Portevinia maculafa (Kirby, l ggz).

Overall,the InvertebrateSite Register(Kirby, 1987) considers that the exisiting invertebratefaunal lists are sufficientto suggestthe possibilityof a good ancien-t woodlandfauna with more thorough surveying needed to establishthe extent of this.

Table1 listsspecies of nationaland local interest contained in the lSR.

Table 1: Nationaland locat invertebrafesaf Launde Big Wood SSS, (Kirby 19gT)

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r:$i: LESFIELD MEETING 4TH JUNE 1995

The possibilityof LaundeBig Wood SSSI,which receives some management as a countynature reserve, being available for purchaseprecipitated the needto gain some up-to-dateinvertebrate records for the site. Accordingly,members of the LeicestershireEntomological Society visited the woodon SaturdayJune 4th 1995 with the intentionto recordseveral groups of invertebrates.Due to inclement weatherno night-timemoth trapping by lightwas possiblebut, nevertheless,an interestinglist of Lepidopterawas obtainedduring the day.

The recorderson this occasionwere: Adrian Russell (AR), Maggie Frankum (MF), RoyFrankum (RF), Neil Frankum (NF) and Jon Daws(JD). RayMorris-collated this report. :a 3 The LeicestershireEntomological Society is gratefulfor permissionto visitthe site.

PLANTGALLS

Recordscollected by MF & RF. Eighteenspecies of gall-forminginsects were identified,all of whichmay be expectedto be foundin the typesof habitatat Launde BigWood. Mostof thegalls are commonin Leicestershire(Griffiths, Jones & Leach 1990)

Fieldmaple: Aceriaerobia (mite) ;-- - : Eriophye s mac ro rh y n chus (mite) Hazel: Eriophyes avel I anae(mite) Hawthorn: Eriophyesgoniothorax typicus (mite) Sloe: Eriophyessrmlrs (mite) Oak: Andricuscuruator (cynipid \rasp) Andricuslignicola (cynipid wasp) Biorhizapallida (cynipid \ /asp) Mac rodi p losisd ryob ia (midge) Macrodiplosis volvens (midge) Neuroterusnumismalis (sexual) (cynipid wasp) Ne u roteru s qu e rc u sb acca ru m (sexual) (cynipid wasp)(below) Willow: Eriophyestetanth rix (mite) Po nta n i a ves ic ator (sawfly) Pontan ia vimin al is (sawflY) Elm: Eriosomaulmi(aqhid) Honeysuckle: Macrol abis I on ice rae ( m idge) Fern(?male): Chirosiabetuleti (gall fly)

DTPTERA- SYRPHIDAE (HOVERFLIES)

Recordsby NF and MF. Previousrecords for the wood have been publishedby Kramer(1989). A totalof twentysix specieswere recorded some of whichhad been previouslyfound by Kramer. Platycheirusmanicatus I Ptatycheiruspeltatus m, f Gt Platycheirusscutafus f Platycheirusfarsals f (alsorecorded by Kramer,1989) Melanostomascalare Dasysyrphusvenustus f Leucozonalucorum Cheilosiaa/btfarsrb f Cheilosiaillustrata Cheilosiapagana f (alsorecorded by Kramer1989) Cheilosiavariabilisl Rhingiacampestris (also recorded by Kramer1989) Ferdinandeacuprea t Bra c h y o p a scute//arism Chry soga ster so/sffftafsm Neoasclatenur m Ensta/ispertinax (also recorded by Kramer1989) Helophiluspendulus m Myaihropa'florea Pipizaaustriaca m Volucettabombytans Brachypalpoideslenta t, m Criorhinaberberina Criorhinafloccosa Syrittapipiens (also recored by Kramer1989) Xylotasegnrs

OTHERDIPTERA

Recordsby NF. Littlestudied groups within the county

Stratiomvidae( Soldierfl iesl

Berischalybeata I Sargus ?cu p rariu s/i ridat u s

(Para U Tachinidae siteflies) Tachinaferu

Tiputidae(Crane fliesl

Tipulamaxima

COLEOPTERA

Recordsby JD, MF and NF. Only the easilyidentified ladybirds were recorded duringthis visit to LaundeWood.

Cocinella7-punctata (7-spot ladybird) Propylea1 4-punctata (1 4-spot ladybird) Exochomus$pustulatus (Pine ladybird) Adalialhpunctata (1O-spotladybird) : : ''

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:t$dEq Calvia1hguftata (Cream spot tadybird) Micraspis1 }-punctata (16-spot ladybird) \,

HYMENOPTERA

Recordsby MF and NF. A litfle studiedgroup in the county. I I Bombuspratorum m (on yellowarchangel) { Bombuspascuorum :d

ODONATA

Recordby MF and NF.

Coenagionpuella (Azure damselfly; a fairly commonand widespreadspecies in the countybeing founda a varietyof habitats;Grover & lkin 1994).

LEPIDOPTERA

Recordsby AR and MF. Daytime recordsonly - it is likelythat light-trappingwill producea substantiallist for the wood. Whilstbreeding of two specieswas proven by the findingof larvaeon appropriatefoodplants (purple hairstreak and nemorella)the highlightwas the findingof Lampronialuze1a sitting on a leaf. This very attractivesmall is similarin generalappearance to the much more { commonlyrecorded lncuruaria masculella but has dark purplishwings with bright yellowtriangular markings. In MBGBI(Heath, 1976) the speciesis describedLs "verylocal, usually in woodland"and is not listedfor Leicestershirein eitherMBGBI or the county'sprovisional atlas of microlepidoptera(McPhail, 1gg3). Similarly, Stigmellahybnerrella is not listedin the atlas but accordingto MedBl has been recordedfrom the county. Ypsolophanemorella also seemsto be a new additionto : the county'slist as it is not listedin the aflas.

0O16Hepialus hecta (Gold swift; frequent) ..{ .*s 0099sfrgmella hybnerella (mines on hawthorn;previous record in MBGBIonly) + 0135Lampronia luzella (first county record) :.-* 0286Caloptilia atchimiel/a (few previouscounty records) 'i 0385Anthophila fabriciana (fairly common; ,q under-recordedin county) { 0452 Ypsolophanemorella (larva on honeysuckle;new county recordl t 0986syndemis musculana (probably more common than records suggest) 1000Ftycholoma lecheana (possibly the fourthcounty record) 1o11Pseudargyrotoza conwagana (fairly common but in southernhalf of county) 1o15Eulia ministnna (possiblyunder-recorded; known from threesites in couniy; 1174Epiblema cynosbatella (fairly common and widespreadin county) 1288Alucita hexadactyla (Twenty plume; most recordscome from aroundLeicester - probablyunder- recordedin county) 1549 Pierisbrassicae (Large white; common) 1551Pieis napi(Green-veined white; common) 1557 Quercusiaquercus (Purple hairstreak; larva on Turkeyoak; usuallya rirresterndistribution in the county) 1614Pararge aegeria (Speckled wood; common) o 1727 Xanthorhoemontanafa (Silver-ground carpet; common) (- 1875Asthena albulata (Small white wave; often over-looked) 1887Lomaspilis marginata (Clouded border; fairly common) 1902Pterophora chlorosafa (Brown silver-line; frequent)

ARACHNIDA- SPIDERS

Recordsby JD. Thisgroup is activelybeing recorded by a fewworkers in the county anda countyatlas is duefor publication in 1996.

Cluboniacompta Clubonia/ufescens Cluboniareclusa Zora spinimana Anyphaenaaccentuata(gooct woodland species) i Xystrbuscn'stafus Xysticusulmi(local species, found along ditch) Philodromusaureolus Tibetlusoblongus (damp places, found along ditch) Neonreticulafas (woodland species) Pardosaamentata Pardosalugubris (woodland species) Pardosaprativaga Piratahygrophilus (damp woodland species) Anelosimusvittatus Theridionbimaculatum Theridionpallens Theridionsisyphium Tetragnathaextensa Tetragnathamontana Pachygnathadegeeri Pachygnathalisteri (good woodland species) Meta mengei Araneusdiadematus Araniellacucurbitina Araniella opistograp h a Gongylidiumrufipes Masosundevalli t, Pocadicnemispumila Porrho m m a microp hal m u m Agynetaconigera Saansfoafirma (good vrroodland species; first recordfor countyoutside Charnr,uood) Bathyphantesgraclrb Bathyphantesparvulus Kaesteriadorsa/is Diplostylaconcolor Lepth y p h a ntesobscurus Lepthyp h a ntespall idus Lepthyphanfesfenuis Lepthyphanteszim merm an n i Linyphiahoftensis Nerieneclathrata Nerienepeltata Discus rotundatus

REFERENCES

Griffiths,R, Jones,L & LeachCK (1990).An lntroductionto the Studyof PlantGalls in Leicestershire.Leicester Polytechnic. ,! t Grover,S & lkin, H (1994). LetbesfershireDragonflies. Leicestershire Museums, ,l Arts& RecordsService, Leicester. I : i Heath,J (1976). The Mothsand Bufterfliesof GreatBritain & lreland,1. j € {* Kirby, P (1987). Reviewof invertebratesites in England- Leicestershire. ,r{ ^-\ 'fl lnvertebrafeSde Register,93part 1. NatureConservancy Council. lv-

ll Kramer,J (1989). The hoverflies(Diptera, Syrphidae) of somewoodlands in $ Leicestershire. LeicesfershireEntomological Socr'efy Occasional Publications ,,ol { Senbs,1. '.t* 's McPhail,J (1993). Provisionalatlas of the Leicestershiremicrolepidoptera. Lercesfershire Entomolog ica I Socr'efyOccasio n a I Pu b I ications Series, 7. ! I * $ Y :i !i .a .{l sx ':!.ri1 ':e'* .: i' \r/' ii .E

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