Hi Gemma

A search of the EN Websites 'publications' section does not pull up any details of this, but is usually no indication that the document is out of print - the publications search facility seems to be poor and does not locate documents or reports I know are in there.

The report is still listed in the current EN publications catalogue at http://www.english-nature.org.uk/pubs/publication/PDF/PubsCa t05_06.pdf, there is a contact e-mail for the (non-EN) company that supply a lot of the publications.  Cheaper thean NHBS too.  Give them a try.

Regards

Matt

I think the DPI setting relates to the printing of the photos at the 'other end' as it were - 300 DPI is the standard resolution for most laser printers etc. 

I have always been advised to supply the largest electronic file size possible for a picture, there is more detail in a bigger electronic file and less loss of quality of things are blown up or enlarged.  Sorting out how many DPI will be required is a job for the printer or the typesetter, not for the photographer.  I'd snap away at max resolution for the camera and leave it at that.

Regards

Matt

Hi

Where did you find the larvae, above ground or below ground?. If they were above ground then almost certainly they are Lesser Stag larvae, if they were found at or below gound level then they are probably Stag Beetles.  Size is also a good indicator of the species - really large larvae over about 60mm long can only be Stag Beetles.

There is no easy way to separate small Lucanid larvae or tell Stag Beetle or Lesser Stag apart from a picture - the larvae our three Lucanid all have the same basic body plan and look practically identical when small.

If you keyed them out, the differences revolve round the number of setae (hairs) on the tarsal claws - Stag Beetles have 4-6 setae (can have up to 8 in some cases), Lesser Stag larvae only have 2 setae per tarsal claw.

The Stag Beetle is a BAP species and the Lead Partner  - PTES - are currently running a national stag beetle survey.  If anyone sees (or has seen) and Stag Beetles this year we would very much like to have your records - they can be entered online at http://www.ptes.org/greatstaghunt.

Regards

Matt

Photos of a 'white' frog popped up on another forum I subscribe to - thought it might be worth posting the link on here.

http://bugnation.myfreeforum.org/sutra17224.php#17224

Regards

Matt

[QUOTE=-LAF]Out of interest Matt, you mention that Britain has THREE lucanid beetles, what is the third species?
[/QUOTE]

The 'other' Lucanid species we have here is Sinodendron cylindricum, a small species up to 16 mm in size.  Males have a horn on the pronotum and are sometimes called 'Rhino Beetles', though they are nothing like as large as some of the tropial 'Rhino Beetles'

Regards

Matt

There are several UK suppliers of 'exotic' beelte larvae and other invertebrates who have websites, but the prices charged by some of them could best be described as 'silly'.  A couple of site that might help you get started are:

http://www.terraristik.com/sticklist/index.php  - lots of hobbyist breeders advertise here, some from the UK and some from Europe.  I've just bought some larvae via this site from a breeder in Austria.

http://bugnation.myfreeforum.org/index.php?sid=9e27d7c33e6e5 d5fef323bbb06bb27d9 - forums / adverts / auctions for various invets including beetle.

If you want to find more Googling someting like 'fruit beetle sale' or Pachnoda sale' will usually find you a list of other sites.

Hi Robert

Whatever bit you, it wasn't this.  This is the parasitic fly Tachina fera.  None of the Tachs are biters, they all have typical housefly type 'sponge on a stick' mothparts and none of them can pierce skin.  If you want more info on Tachinids have a look at the National Recording Scheme website we run at http://tachinidae.org.uk/site

I would suspect what actually bit you would be either a deerfly (Chrysops) or a horsefly/cleg (Heamatopota).  Deerflies are head & neck biters and you can usually hear & see these as they circle about looking for a landing spot.  Clegs tend to bite on the legs or lower body.  They fly upwing to their prey and are very quiet, its about 50/50 whether I hear them coming or spot them after they land on me.

Both deerflies & clegs can give a painful bite, though most often you only feel it after the fly has had lunch and left.  Both sorts have been on the wing for a month or so now, I was out doing a reptile survey in long grass recently and picked up several cleg bites on my hands and elbows.  All that stopping to lift mats gives them a chance to land on you.

Regards

Matt

[QUOTE=Princess_Venom]I am desperate to find adders in Berkshire?[/QUOTE]

Hi

I'm a member of BRAG (Berkshire Reptile & Amphibian Group) and also the group recorder.  We do have a few sites for adders in the county, though we actually have very few modern records for the species.  I'm not sure of the forum policy on naming sites, but it is certainly no secret around here that there are adders at California Country Park in Finchamstead.  If you want to contact me off list I could give you one or two other possible sites to visit.

If you (or anyone else for that matter) is interested in Herps in Berkshire, you might want to sign up to the BRAG Yahoo Groups system at BerksHerpGroup-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk   There is not much traffic on the list but you would get notification of meetings / training courses etc.  I'd also be very keen to get the details of your local Herp sites for the BRAG database, we have very few herp records from the eastern part of the county.

Regards

Matt

Try the Bugnation forums at http://bugnation.myfreeforum.org, lots of stick insect fanciers there.

Regards

Matt

Hi all,

Has anyone ever used carpet tiles instead of tins? Are they any good? Is it worth investing in a pack of carpet tiles for such study or is it better to stick to what?

PS. Lifted a large arc of bark today and found two large female slow worms and three very small neo slow worms. Is this very early to record neos?

Rob

[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure about carpet tiles, but I have seen sites where roofing felt refugia were places in a cattle grazed area.  The cattle basically ate all the mats and the regular disturbance by the cattle rendered the mats useless.

Re the slow worms, I have been trapping out a site in Surrey and have been seeing young of the year for the past couple of weeks.

Regards

Matt

Birds get taste for tadpoles as summer heat keeps worms under ground[/QUOTE]

Same story, but with a bit more detail

http://www.bto.org/news/news2006/sept-oct/blackbirds_newts_t adpoles.htm

Matt

Jon has explained the position regarding obligations to survey sites. This only occasionally filters down to the ground however. I would give an estimate that as little as 1-2% of development sites that support native protected species are mitigated. I would not like to give an estimate of the percentage that are mitigated adequately. [/QUOTE]

As has been noted already, the 'requirement' for a site to be surveyedmitigated is very much dependant on the expertise within a local planning authority.  Issues such as protected species legislation and biodiversity are a steep learing curve. 

It really comes down to the attitiude and expertise of perhaps one or two people within an authority, some have ecologists or biodiversity offices who can give advice to the planning department - in others there is nothing. 

I have come across both good and bad examples of  both, locally to me the planning department has a very good working relationship with the ecologist and good processes put in place so that planning applications do go across his desk for comment or decisions about surveys.  Having said that, I have also met LA officers on site who tell me that 'I'm not bloody interested in GCN or Water Voles (both of which were on site), my job is to get houses built. 

Most seem to fall in the middle, though I have noticed more 'notice' being paid to things like slow worms and lizards over the past few years - not just to the 'protected' species like GCN.

Matt

[QUOTE=snudz]

[QUOTE=reptilelover1] and there are stick insects i do not kmow how they got there but they did [/QUOTE]

The eggs from captive ones could well have been thrown out with the droppings, they are very similar.  They can also reproduce in vast numbers so I would imagine that letting any "spares" loose on a privet hedge would be common occurrence.

[/QUOTE]

The most commonly kept stick insect is the Indian Stick Insect.  Eggs of this species will hatch outside in the UK during the summer but the adults / nymphs will not survive the UK winter.  There are 3 species of Stick Insect from New Zealand  naturalised in the south west of England, for more information see http://www.erccis.co.uk/species/stickinsects.htm

Matt

Found my first female GCN laying eggs in a pond in Basingstoke on 26th Feb.

Matt

We are right in the middle of the peak survey period for GCN - so lots of early mornings and late nights for me - I suspect its the same for a lot of people on this forum.

Matt

At an undisclosed location best be on the look out for these at ponds near you.....[/QUOTE]

Hi Jon

TBH - I can't quite see why you are keeping the location confidential if you want us to look out for these monsters.  Some sort of general indication of the locality would be useful, just so we could be a little more vigilant.

Matt

I've just found signal (American) crayfish in a nice GCN pond - does anyone know whether they impact on our native newts - either by attacking adults or feeding on eggs in water plants ?   Is it too early to say - and is anyone studying this ?[/QUOTE]

Hi there

I had a similar problem earleir this year when I found a few Signals in a new GCN breeding pond on the edge of a development site.  I'm pretty sure the ones I found had been put in there by some of the local kids - apparently the signals can be found locally in nearby streams.  I think they would certainly predate newt eggs on vegetation if they could find them.

I netted them out and stamped on them.

Matt

Hi

Last year I did a survey in a garden pond in Basigstoke where the owner had been told that the photos he had taken of some dark looking newts were GCN.   The pond was a lined pond with paving slabs around the edge constructed in such a way that the slabs overhung the edge of the pond making it almost impossible for newts to get out, though frogs seemed to be able to manage it.

Netting the pond produced nothing but Smooth Newts of various sizes.  Interestingly, a large proportion of the adults in the pond still retained some or all of their gills, I presume because they were unable to leave the water at all and were forced to retain their gills in order to breath.  It is certainly unusual to see a male Smooth Newt in full breeding dress with gills, not a thing I had come across before.  Additionally, some of the "adults", particulalrly some of the males, were noticeably smaller usual.  Perhaps this could be classed a case of partial neotony ?

This is a female Smoothie from the pond with a well developed set of gills still present.

Matt

Sounds normal to me, particularly in a smallish pond where the newts don't have to go looking for the spawn.  Frog spawn is the equivalent of a buffet supper for newts.   At one site I regularly visit, which has lot of Frogs and lots of Cresties the frogs lay vey few clumps of spawn in the main pond and I very rarely see tadpoles - I think the Cresties eat them all.  The frohs do much better in some of the smaller, shallower ponds and ditches nearby where there are no Cresties.

Matt

Where abouts in the UK are you ? - there may well be a local or County ARG group nearby.

Matt