The invertebrate fauna of

Wheeldon Copse, Alvanley, Cheshire.

Don Stenhouse

June 2004

Contents

• Introduction 1
• Methodology 1
• Discussion 1
• Species List 3,4 & 5
• Summary 6

Introduction

The survey was carried out on the 6^th and 8^th of June 2004. A total of approximately ten hours was spent at the two sites, the majority of this on the Wheeldon Copse.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of invertebrates present, but rather a ‘snapshot’ of the typical species.

Methodology

• Sweeping – three transects were taken across Wheeldon Copse and two across the adjacent field, here known as Mr Kinsey’s field, using a standard sweeping technique.
• Ground searching – mainly along the field edges and in the more exposed areas in the fields.
• Beating – of trees along the field edges.
• Searching under bark and in fungus, on logs.

Discussion

It is fairly obvious from the species list that certain groups of insect are apparently more represented on one site than the other. In Wheeldon Copse a much larger number of beetle species is recorded and in Mr Kinsey’s field, the same is true of bees. I think to a certain extent this is a reflection of collecting technique and the ease of capture of certain species compared to others.

Sweeping for the Hymenoptera etc in Wheeldon Copse proved to be difficult because of the density of flowering plants, consequently most collecting took place along the field edges and in the barer areas of the field. Most of the ground beetles recorded are typical of open ground and are obvious, being active in the sun, or easily discovered under plant litter etc. The mixture of plants, the ‘corn mix’ is not one that attracts flower loving beetles (umbellifers for example being more attractive), so few of these are represented in the list.

The reverse was true of Mr Kinsey’s field - flying insects were easier to catch and the ground beetles hard to find, ground cover being denser. The flowering plants were shorter and less dense, making sweeping for Hymenoptera easier. Beetles taken from plants were present in large numbers, but represented few species and most insects seemed to be attracted to the Oilseed Rape rather than the Campion. Several of the plant species, e.g. Spear Thistle & Ragwort, had yet to flower.

Few butterflies were seen, however I think it was posibly still too early for these to be present in any numbers. (I understand that there is a separate Lepidoptera survey being carried out).

Several of the less habitat specific ground beetles and rove beetles recorded from Wheeldon, will also be present in Mr Kinsey’s field.

Because Wheeldon copse is an immature site, the ecosystem has not developed to any extent. The planted trees are too small to have much of an associated fauna. As the site matures, the dynamics will change and various invertebrates will move in, phytophagous weevils for instance, attracted to the developing trees. All of these will have an associated fauna. This will of course also be true of the field plantation.

Species List

Most of the species listed are common, except for those marked *, which are local.

Species	Site		Substrate
	Wheeldon	Field
Coleoptera (Beetles)
Carabidae (ground beetles)
Dyschirius politus Dejean *	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Bembidion lampros Herbst	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Bembidion tetracolum Say	+		damp area under flattened plants
Pterostichus melanarius Illiger	+		damp area under flattened plants
Pterostichus strenuus Panzer	+		shady places
Calathus melanocephalus (L)	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Agonum dorsale Pontoppidan	+		grassland
Agonum muelleri (Herbst)	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Amara familiaris Duftschmid	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Amara ovata F		+	on plant
Amara plebeja Gyllenhal	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Amara similata (Gyllenhal)	+		damp area under flattened plants
Harpalus rufipes (De Geer)			damp area under flattened plants
Anisodactylus binotatus F	+		damp area under flattened plants
Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles)
Megasternum concinnum (Marsham)	+		damp area under flattened plants
Phalacridae
Olibrus aeneus (F)	+		grass
Staphylinidae (rove beetles)
Bledius gallicus (Gravenhorst) *	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Anotylus inustus Gravenhorst			damp area under flattened plants
Stenus brunnipes S	+		damp area under flattened plants
Stenus clavicornis (Scopoli)	+		damp area under flattened plants
Stenus crassus S *	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground - an interesting find.
Stenus picipes S	+		damp area under flattened plants
Quedius sp	+		damp area under flattened plants
Philonthus cognatus S	+		damp area under flattened plants
Tachyporus hypnorum F	+		sparsely vegetated dry ground
Tachinus rufipes De Geer	+		damp area under flattened plants
Aleochara bipustulata (L)	+		on rabbit carcass
Xantholinus longiventris Heer	+		damp area under flattened plants
Scarabaeidae (dung beetles & chafers)
Phyllopertha horticola (L) (June Bug)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Silphidae (carrion beetles)
Thanotophilus sinuatus F	+		on rabbit carcasses
Lucanidae (stag beetles)
Sinodendron cylindricum (L) * (Rhinoceros beetle)	+		log
Elateridae (click beetles)
Agriotes obscurus (L)	+	+	grass
Agriotes pallidulus (Illiger)	+	+	grass
Cantharidae (soldier beetles)
Cantharis lateralis L	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Cantharis livida L	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Cantharis rustica Fallén		+	on flowers and or grass
Coccinellidae (ladybirds)
Adalia bipunctata (L) (2-spot ladybird)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Adonia variegata (Herbst) (Adonis’s ladybird)*	+	+	on flowers and or grass, very local
Coccinella septempunctata L (7- spot ladybird)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Propylea 14-punctata (L) (14-spot ladybird)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Cisidae (fungus beetles)
Octotemnus glabriculus (Gyllenhal)	+		numerous in Trametes versicolor
Cis sp	+		in Trametes
Latridiidae (mould beetles)
Corticaria sp	+		damp area under flattened plants
Nitidulidae (sap beetles)
Brachypterus urticae (F) (nettle pollen beetle)		+	nettle
Meligethes aeneus (F) (common pollen beetle)	+	+	oilseed rape
Oedemeridae (flower beetles)
Oedemera lurida (Marsham)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles)
Altica lythri Aube	+		Epilobium
Gastrophysa polygoni (L)	+		Polygonum
Apionidae (weevils)
Apion rubens S	+		Rumex
Protapion fulvipes (Geoffrey)			trefoil
Curculionidae (weevils)	+
Ceutorhynchus erysimi (F)	+	+	oilseed rape
Otiorhynchus singularis (L)	+		grass
Sitona suturalis S	+		Vicia
Hymenoptera (Bees Wasps & Ants)
Andrenidae
Andrena cineraria (L) (Grey Mining Bee)		+	on flowers and or grass
Andrena haemorrhoa (F) (Early Mining Bee)		+	on flowers and or grass
Anthophoridae
Nomada panzeri Lepeletier (Cuckoo Bee)		+	on flowers and or grass
Apidae (bumblebees etc)
Apis mellifera L (Honey Bee)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Bombus lucorum (L)/ terrestris (L) (Buff/White Tailed Bumblebee) (workers-not identifiable to species)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Bombus lapidarius (L) (large red tailed bumblebee)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Bombus pascuorum (common carder bee)	+	+	on flowers and or grass
Halictidae (solitary bees)
Halictus rubicundus (Christ)
Formicidae (ants)
Lasius niger (L) (small black ant)	+	+	sparsely vegetated dry ground
Myrmica ruginodis Nylander ( red ant)	+	+	sparsely vegetated dry ground
Diptera (Flies)
Sarcophagidae (flesh flies)
Sarcophaga carnaria (L)	+	+	flowers
Scatophagidae (dung flies)
Scatophaga stercorea (L) (yellow dung fly)	+	+	flowers
Stratiomyidae (soldier flies)
Choromyia formosa (Meigen)	+		flowers
Syrphidae (hoverflies)
Eristalis intricarius L)		+	flowers
Eristalis tenax (L)	+		flowers
Helophilus pendulus (L)		+	flowers
Platycheirus manicatus (Meigen)	+		flowers
Rhingia campestris Meigen		+	flowers
Syrphus ribesii (L)	+	+	flowers
Syritta pipiens(L)	+	+	between plants stems, just above ground
Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths)
Nymphalidae
Aglais urticae L (Small Tortoiseshell )	+		on flowers
Cynthia cardui L (Painted Lady)	+		on flowers
Inachis io L (Peacock )	+		on flowers
Pieridae (whites)
Anthocharis cardamines L (Orange tip)	+		hedge
Artogeia rapae L (Small White)	+		hedge
Arctiidae (tiger moths)
Tyria jacobaeae L (Cinnabar Moth)	+	+	Ragwort
Isopoda (woodlice)
Porcellidae
Porcellio scaber			under logs
Aranaeae (spiders)
Aranaeidae (orb web spiders)
Araniella opisthographa (Kulczynski)	+		grass
Thomisidae (crab spiders)
Ozyptila praticola (C.L.Koch)	+		grass
Tetragnathidae
Tetragnatha montana Simon	+		grass

Summary

Wheeldon Copse has a diverse invertebrate fauna. The ‘Corn mix’ is a good source of nectar for Hymenoptera and this reflected in the sheer number of Bumblebees seen, literally hundreds. The bare dry ground at the edges of the field and between the plants, provides a good habitat for Ground beetles and some local Rove beetles. Many of the species found are typical of dry and or sandy habitats.

Stenus crassus S is of particular interest, being a new county record.

Adonia variegata (Gz) (‘Adonis’s’ ladybird) is also of interest, there being very few Cheshire records.

Both Wheeldon Copse and the adjacent field have a good Hoverfly fauna and I am sure that more collecting from both fields would increase the list of known species significantly.

Qualitatively, I would say that at present there is little difference between the two sites.

I think it might be interesting to carry out another survey in several years time, when the site has matured somewhat and there is a slightly different, more established flora.

Back to Wildlife Surveys page

Back to Landlife Home page