1/2 #speciesaday no. 689 is Oxyopes heterophthalmus. Nationally Rare & Vulnerable. Found on mature heathland in Surrey where it is widespread. Not seen in the New Forest for over a 100 years. Oddly missing from the West Sussex heaths that are not that far away. A bit jumpy. Lots of leg spines.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 688 is Dipoena melanogaster. Endangered & Nationally Rare. A very rare spider with its UK stronghold at Box Hill, where it can be beaten from the low branches of shrubs. Quite unlike the other Dipoena type spiders, more like a Theridiid with that patterned abdomen.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 687 is Cynaeda dentalis. A distinctive crambid that looks like a parched grass flower head. Nationally scarce a. Feeds on Viper's-bugloss. My records are between 9th June and 9th September. This one was disturbed from rest in the day near the car park at West Beach last summer.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 686 is Oblong-leaved Sundew. Not usually as common as Round-leaved Sundew in Sussex. Find it on bare exposed black peaty mud (M16 - along with Sphagnum compactum and Marsh Clubmoss). This one appeared on a scrape at Hesworth Common last year, it also popped up again at Graffham.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 684 is Pardosa pullata. An extremely common wolf spider. The epigyne is very distinctive - think heart-shaped glasses at a jaunty angle! Can turn up pretty much anywhere that is open, most of my records are from the suction sampler. I expect this on every grassland survey.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 682 is Tomoxia bucephala. A Nationally Scarce saproxylic 'tumbling flower beetle'. Superficially like the much commoner Variimorda villosa, but a different pattern and more strongly associated with deadwood. I have recorded it between 2nd June and 10th July. Not annual for me.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 681 is Sericomyia lappona. A very smart and distinctive large, almost black and white hover with a conker for a scutellum. Restricted to boggy sites, much commoner in the north and west but also New Forest. Not common in Sussex. My records are between 30th May and 20th June.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 679 is Euophrys frontalis. A very common jumper in open habitats. Identifiable throughout much of the year. Adult males have magic wands for front legs and red-ringed eyes (think Paul Daniels with hay fever). Striking white on the top of the palps too! I just love salticids!
1/2 #speciesaday no. 677 is Walckenaeria acuminata. Periscope up! The male of this spider has its eyes spread out along the turret - 4 half way and the other 4 at the top! This genus is an utter joy, I love showing this spider to people for the first time. Even the female has a small protrusion.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 676 is Megalinus glabratus. A large, shiny, local rove beetle with red eltyra and a big head that I see in open habitats, usually on the Downs. I have two records in June but most of my records come from August and September.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 676 is Common Rock-rose (Helianthemum nummularium). Vulnerable as of the latest status review! It's certainly not in every parcel of chalk grassland but is often really common where it occurs and there are loads of inverts that use it (as well as oddly, mycorrhizal fungi).
#speciesaday no. 675 is Silky Rosegill (Volvariella bombycina). I have only seen this once at Ebernoe Common in 2016, growing out of a hole in a Beech tree. It really reminded me of some sort of coconut dessert! www.panspecieslisting.com
#speciesaday no. 674 is Montagu's Sea Snail (Liparis montagui). Not a snail, but a fish! Considering it is not meant to be that scarce, I only have one record - from 2013 at St Mary's Lighthouse in the north east. I'm sure I've seen it once more though, but not in the last decade. Cut little thing!
1/2 #speciesaday no. 673 is Marsh Clubmoss (Lycopodiella inundata) is a Nationally Scarce & Section 41 (although it has come off the Red List in the 2025 status review, this is stil a plant that's struggling in places). Found only on damp, black, peaty mud (M16), in places where you'll see sundews.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 672 is the obscene Parasitic Bolete (Pseudoboletus parasiticus) growing from its host Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum). Around 10 years ago I was seeing this all around the West Weald. I guess it will come round again.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 671 is Bembidion properans. A common and ubiquitous carabid of open spaces. I have 3.1 times as many records of the closely related B. lampros as I do this species (on the NBN there are 3.5 times as many - fairly comparable). Mostly recorded by suction sampler. Year-round.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 670 is Silometopus reussi. A small money spider associated with dung & grass heaps and old hay. Fairly frequent where it occurs but I have never seen it away from farms. I have records in Mar, Apr & Sep. This was from a farm to the east of Brighton in Sep.
#speciesaday no. 669 is Trapania tartanella. Another recent colonist and I found this at Seaview on the I of W the day after finding Aulonia. It's only the 2nd record for the island. I knew it was different straight away as the yellow patches grade into orange at the tips - like little flames!
#speciesaday no. 668 is the Orange-clubbed Sea Slug (Limacia clavigera). This fairly common nudi was one I had not connected with until Thursday. I saw 2 at Silver Steps and at least another 2 at Gylly Reef (both Falmouth). This one feeds on bryozoans. I love the white ones with yellow accessories!
1/2 #speciesaday no. 666 (weirdly also my 9,666th species in the BI) is Rainbow Sea Slug (Babakina anadoni). A pair found under a rock at Silver Steps, Falmouth yesterday! Utterly mind blowing, easily a contender for the highlight of the year. My 35th nudibranch and 258th mollusc.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 664 is Agramma laeta. A TINY (2 to 2.5 mm) rather atypical lacebug that I always thought was pretty much restricted to untouched chalk-grassland. At the weekend, I found quite a few in the species-rich chalk-grassland at High Beech gardens, along with other such inverts.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 663 is Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus). A migratory butterfly (although I have seen a freshly emerged adult at Rye Harbour). Most appear egg-yellow in flight (as opposed to sulphur of Brimstone). Fairly frequent but always exciting. This one was yesterday, my latest record.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 662 is Cryptocephalus moraei. A very smart leaf beetle that feeds on St John's-worts, as such it is commonest on the chalk but can appear where ever they grow. I have records between 3rd May and 12th August.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 661 is Plaited Door Snail (Cochlodina laminata). A large door snail, typically found in base-rich woodland on trees and under fallen logs. Saw quite a few at Lion's Bank, Wiston Estate today.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 660 is Arctosa fulvolineata. Nationally Rare, Near Threatened and Section 41. The other mega spider that Mark Telfer found (1st photo is his image) on the Aulonia day but didn't get a look in with all the publicity yesterday. New to the Isle of Wight! A real saltmarsh specialist
1/3 #speciesaday no. 659 is Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio). A large, long-lived freshwater fish introduced here centuries ago. Omnivorous and incredibly destructive to plant and invertebrate life in ponds. The lake at Woods Mill used to look like chocolate milk shake until they were removed.
1/2 #speciesaday no. 658 is Neocochylis hybridella. A smart bird dropping mimic cochylid (a type of tortrix). Some nice red markings and a whitish head and thorax make this one fairly easy to ID. This one was found at rest at West Beach earlier this year.
2/2 I have decided to 'mine' my own blog for inspiration for #speciesaday by going back to the start to select species (my rules are, I need a photo and I can't have already featured them). Here's the blog, my 1st ever post! analternativenaturalhistoryofsussex.blogspot.com/2010/04/snow...
1/3 #speciesaday is Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis). Breeds in the mountains, winters (mainly) on the coast. Love seeing the big flocks at Cley and other sites along the North Norfolk coast with their 'toffee cheeks'. This one was from the very top of Snowdon back in 2010...
#speciesaday no. 655 is Orange Grisette (Amanita crocea). I have only ever seen this at one place, Ebernoe Cricket Pitch and then not every year. It was up last week but looking a little dried out (this is a photo from 31st Oct 20015!). It is associated with birch. I think it must be 'uncommon'.
