Sweeping Bishops

I nipped over to Huncote Embankment late on Saturday afternoon. My main plan was to deploy a baited bottle trap to see if I could attract any water beetles. I failed on that score, with the only captives in the trap being two Three-spined Sticklebacks!

Whilst there though, I had a damned good swish around long grasses, low-growing vegetation and - in paticular - Ribwort Plantain. I've recently acquired a proper sweep net after ripping my butterfly net at Croft Hill earlier in the month. It's certainly better suited for the task, though a little heavier and less use at catching flying moths. Almost every swipe ended up with plenty to look at, and unavoidably a load of grass seeds. Most notable for me was the number of Bishop's Mitre Shieldbugs that I netted. I usually feel lucky if I manage to net one or two, but on Saturday I lost count going round but ended up with at least 40, substantially more than the total I'd previously seen.

Like these six for example, amongst a plethora of Leptopterna sp. nymphs, three 16-spot Ladybirds and an Agriotes lineatus.

Bishop's Mitre Shieldbug

As for sweeping Ribwort Plantain, I was hoping for a new weevil - and scored ..

Mecinus pascorum - new for me

Mecinus pyraster - not new for me, also on Ribwort Plantain

I also swept a few Trichosirocalus troglodytes from the plantain but didn't manage to get a good photo, just this half-arsed effort with the USB microscope.

Trichosirocalus troglodytes

Other bits swept included these:

Cassida vibex

Water Ladybird

Paranchus albipes

Capsus ater

Hypera rumicis