Wednesday, 8 June 2011

Bad Decision!


A very bad decision yesterday actually as I took too much notice of the weather man who got it badly wrong today and having planned to go 'uplanding' I decided that the showers - that never were - would be no good to me and stayed home and behaved like a couch potato all day, add to this no birding again today....not good for me, body, mind, or soul!

And to make matters worse I'm about to post an article unrelated to birds on a bird blog about some beetles found in Spain.

Photo Credit: SINC-Ignacio Ribera.

Two new endemic beetles have been discovered in the Iberian Peninsula.

With Spanish participation a European research team has described two new beetles measuring little more than 2.2 millimetres in length. The beetles were found in streams in the Pyrenees in the Sierra de la Demanda Mountains. Some experts had previously thought they had belonged to another European species.

One of the two new beetles species  - Hydraena diazi - was found in the Montseny National Park in Barcelona, it measured no more than 2.4 mm in length, the insect also inhabits the Pyrenees. The other new beetle - Hydraena fosterorum - was discovered in the Sierra de la Demanda 

An expert explained that they most probably originated in the same geographical regions that the are now found in, meaning we can use them to reconstruct their history and biogeography. Research has also suggested that all the species in the in this particular Hydraena group - including these two new ones - result from the splitting of a common ancestor which spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula half a million years ago. Today they still remain in their original distribution areas.

Puffin. Gary Jones. 

Shag. Gary Jones.

Gary kept his promise and posted some excellent photographs of the enigmatic Puffin and Shag seen on his recent visit to the Farne Islands....You'll find them HERE

Eyed-Hawk Moth. Brian Rafferty

Brian found this brilliant moth which I'd loved to have seen for myself.

And....
Large Skipper. Linda Gilhespy  

Linda got an excellent photograph of this smart little moth. Thanks to GJ/BR/LG for the excellent images....Many Thanks. 

Hopefully tomorrow, some serious birding somewhere in the Forest of Bowland perhaps! 

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