Zambian Wildlife and Bletherings therein: 1763

Showing posts with label 1763. Show all posts

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Larus argentatus, Pontoppidan, 1763.

So here's a second synanthrope for the day:

Juvenile, Brighton, East Sussex, U.K, in July 2012, using Olympus E-420 and Zuiko 70-300mm lens.

This is a member of the most frequently cited example of species ring - essentially, when a more-or-less continuous band of a specific environment exists (as in the near-arctic and arctic coasts of Europe, America and Asia) - a species that becomes adapted to that specific environment will eventually spread through and colonise the whole area but, if the ring is large enough that genetic flow between populations are incomplete, then genetic drift can cause the two ends to be genetically incompatible when they eventually close the ring.

This particular ring closes in the UK, which is probably why it's so frequently cited, with the Lesser black-backed gull, and the silver-backed, or Herring gull,

Larus argentatus

(Pontoppidan, 1763)

Which, when it grows up, should look like these little fellows from Priory Park in Chichester, West Sussex, UK:

Photographed in Priory Park, Chichester, West Sussex, UK, in January 2012, using Olympus E-420 and 40-150mm Zuiko lens.

And it belongs to:

- Laridae

-Lari

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Chloromyia formosa (Scopoli, 1763)

We've been neglecting the flies quite unfairly.

Chloromyia formosa, Bosham, West Sussex, UK

Male. Photographed in Bosham, West Sussex, UK, in June 2012, using an Olympus E-420 with 40-150mm Zuiko lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

This rather hairy little fellow is

Chloromyia formosa

(Scopoli, 1763)

Also known in the UK as the Broad Centurian. It's colourful, reasonably common and - important note - harmless. As an adult it's a pollinator, as a larva it eats decaying leaves, and doesn't intentionally land on food or sewage, so really, about as unimposing as an insect can be.

Another angle, female in this instance, to give you some idea of the overall form of the animal:

Female, same place, time and camera.

And with that, I suppose we should get on with the Taxonomy.

- Sarginae
- Stratiomyidae
- Stratiomyoidea
- Tabanomorpha
- Brachycera

See also Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Diasemopsis meigenii, Metadon inermis and Dolichotachina caudata.

- Diptera

Saturday, 14 September 2013

Oedemera nobilis (Scopoli, 1763)

To ease you back after one post where certainty is currently impossible, here's one where it's unavoidable:


Photographed in August 2012, in Bosham, West Sussex, UK, using Olympus E-420 DSLR, Zuiko 40-150 mm lens and three KOOD magnifiers.

This colourful character is a male of the common European species

Oedemera nobilis

(Scopoli, 1763).

also known as, in the UK, the swollen-thighed beetle, a pollen-feeding species seen frequently on almost all flowers from June through to August.

Where many pollinators have vastly different early diets, the larvae of these beetles are also herbivorous, feeding on Broom and Thistles, and for their overwintering, presumably require the dead stems of these plants to be left uncut. Certainly in the area where this was photographed, abundance has increased dramatically since a half-acre or so of land on the edge of the salt-marsh has been set aside from farming and mowing, and turned to rough grassland.

Here's another angle to illustrate the thigh in question, on a more evenly coloured individual:

And with that, once more into the taxonomy:

- Oedemerini

- Oedemerinae

- Oedemeridae

- Tenebrionoidea

- Cucujiformia

See also Malachius bipustulatus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus and Cheilomenes lunata.

- Polyphaga

Introductory Blether.

Welcome, and stuff.

If you're one of those strange people that don't like seeing pictures of invertebrates or small vertebrates, well done for coming here - although if it was by accident, you may wish to leave. There's lots of text, which may or may not interest you, and no consistent format. Because life's family tree is awesome, there is a nod to this in the organiser, which is a taxonomic "contents" page updated less frequently than it should be.

Also, while most of what you'll see on this blog is Zambian wildlife, occasional posts feature animals from other countries, and sometimes these are not wild. This is noted in the text.

Zambian Wildlife and Bletherings therein

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