A few insect offerings from Sun Beck

Following yet another potential nights moth trapping thwarted by heavy rain I made use of the morning sun to have a walk around Sun Beck wood, Brafferton.  My quest for putting in the effort to see  species other than birds and moths really paid off and several new insects were noted.  

There were dozens of these bright yellow sawflies, but this one allowed close approach, enough to identify it as Turnip Sawfly. 

Athalia rosae (Turnip Sawfly)

Chrysopilus cristatus

A rather subdued wasp that was initially lying on its side in a buttercup eventually dragged itself to a more photogenic pose.  

Odynerus spinipes (Spiny Mason Wasp)

Several beetles were seen including the diminutive yellow and black 14-Spot Ladybird, and the dark form of .a click beetle Denticollis linearis.

14-Spot Ladybird

Denticollis linearis

There were at least 15 small shieldbugs which I did not recognise, assuming they were early instars of a more common species.  On checking the photos on return it was plain to see they were all adult Woundwort Shieldbugs, another new species for me and right at the northern edge of their range.

Eysarcoris venustissimus (Woundwort Shieldbug)

A very small insect with intricately patterned wings made identification rather difficult.  Having initially offered it for identification on the Diptera forums I was quickly dispatched by the resident experts to look at Hemiptera.  A peruse in that direction it was clear that it was actually a lacehopper, probably Cixius nervosus.

Cixius nervosus

It was inevitable that several moths were seen, including a Nemaphora degeerella which eventually settled, and the diminutive Micropterix aruncella, a moth I have only seen twice before.  Other moths seen were a Celypha lacunana and a Silver-ground Carpet.

Micropterix aruncella

Nemaphora degeerella

Celypha lacunana

As a footnote, while looking through photos from previous years for any unidentified species threw up a bug from 2015 that with a quick search proved to be a Tree Damsel Bug, a southern species at the northern edge of its range.

Himacerus apterus (Tree Damsel Bug)