Tessera

Dave Appleton

@applewildlife.bsky.social

Interested in pretty much any wildlife, especially birds, moths and a host of other insect groups. Norfolk county recorder for lacewings and allied insects. Based in North Elmham, Norfolk, UK.

1232 Posts1820 Follower 494 Folgt

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 5d ago

"Psst, hey Toady, I don't suppose you could give me a ride, could you?" "Sure Mr Newt, hop on..." OK, I didn't actually hear this conversation, but I did see a Smooth Newt walk over the top of a Common Toad in my shed this morning, while I was going through my moth trap. #Toad #Newt

A Smooth Newt next to a Common Toad. The newt has its head up to just behind the toad's eye, so it looks like it's whispering in the toad's ear.

The Smooth Newt walking over the back of the Common Toad. It climbed up the side of the toad and walked down its back. It was a very big toad and I guess it just happened to be in its way. The toad didn't move until the newt had got off.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last wk.

This Omophron limbatum (sometimes called Spangled Button-beetle) appeared in my garden moth trap last night. Despite looking like a cross between a ladybird and a diving beetle it’s actually a very unusual ground beetle (Carabidae). It’s very active and runs extremely fast! #UKbeetles

A round beetle with dull reddish-brown and black markings. Its pale legs are very long, especially the rear ones.
#UKinverts

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last wk.

This is well worth listening to…

TG42Birder🇵🇸@tg42birder.bsky.social · last wk.

Prof Hugh Montgomery explains why our personal actions are pivotal in driving govts to take climate action - aside from also being “the right thing to do”. He details seven things we can do (diet, energy, travel, voting etc) to help drive change. youtu.be/K0SxYh41n5E

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2w ago

#BirdHybrid

BirdGuides@birdguides.bsky.social · 2w ago

Dante Shepherd reports on the surprise discovery of a Black × Common Redstart in the South Wales Valleys in spring 2026:

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2w ago

We had to visit the in-laws in East Kent last week. We stayed at an AirBnB near Ash again where I caught lots of moths I don’t see in Norfolk very often (or at all), including this stunning little Promalactis procerella (Beautiful Silver-mark). #TeamMoth #KentMoths

Dorsal view of Promalactis procerella (Beautiful Silver-mark).

A stunning little bright orange moth with three black-edged shining silvery-white narrow bands across the wings. Dark marks towards the apex reflected blue-purple tones.

Side view of Promalactis procerella (Beautiful Silver-mark).

The long curved palps are orange and the antennae ringed black and white. The legs are also black and white.

The White Falcon @markgolley.bsky.social · 3w ago

Saturday giveaway time! I picked a copy of the (still brilliant) Macmillan Guide to Bird Identification at Cley village fete & like the last time, I want to give this copy to a really keen young birder (18 or under). Drop me a DM - or reply here - & Lynnette will pick a name from a hat. #ukbirding

Norfolk Moths (Jim Wheeler CMR)@norfolkmoths.bsky.social · 3w ago

Moth Species per Hectad in Norfolk map. Fun fact: Norfolk officially covers (or partially covers) 74 Hectads, however moths have only ever been recorded in 70 Hectads. There are 4 unrecorded tiny bits of land on the border! (VC27 and VC28 only, aggregates not included) #norfolkmoths

@johngolding.bsky.social · 4w ago

Hi John. Just watched almost exactly the same at Holkham yesterday with a hirsuta sand wasp riding a hummingbird hawk moth caterpillar moth caterpillar back to the nest, I guess.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 4w ago

There's Hollyhock at my village fish & chip shop so I looked for Hollyhock Weevils (Rhopalapion longirostre) while waiting for my order. I found a nice flea beetle and a different weevil. I haven't keyed them yet but I think they're my second Podagrica fuscipes and my first Aspidapion aeneum.

A tiny leaf beetle belonging to a group of beetles known as flea beetles (note the thick hind femora which are used for jumping). It is black and red, the red parts being the head and thorax and the bases of the antennae.

I haven't keyed it out yet but I'm pretty sure it's Podagrica fuscipes which is a distinctive species I've only encountered once before.

#UKbeetles

A small dark Apionid weevil. The legs are black (so not the Hollyhock Weevil I was looking for). It's mostly dull black but the elytra (wing cases) are metallic dark green. There is an elongated central groove in the top of the head.

#weevil #UKinverts

I haven't keyed it out yet but I'm pretty sure it's Aspidapion aeneum which is known to live on Mallows and Hollyhock. A new one for me if I'm right.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last mo.

This seems to be quite an unusual #BirdHybrid. Not immediately sure what it is but wondering if it could possibly be Ruddy Shelduck x Blue-winged Goose? Fascinating!

Paul Macklam@colonelbirder.bsky.social · last mo.

Ruddy Shelduck this afternoon (found by Simon Roddis) It took a long time to relocate it. I’m told it’s the second record for Shetland.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last mo.

I found several female scorpionflies in Bintree Wood yesterday. All three UK species were suspected in the field based on their wing pattern and thorax colour, and today confirmed by checking their genital plates. Panorpa cognata was only my second record and my first female. #Mecoptera #UKinverts

Panorpa cognata, sometimes known as Scarce Scorpionfly.

Clues to its identity include, in combination, the brown centre to the thorax (usually yellow on the other UK species), dark patch at the tip of the wings not fully extending right to the edge of the wing, dark bar across wing much broader in the outer half of the wing than the inner half, and only small dark spots in the base of the wing. However for certain identification it is really necessary to dissect out the genital plate.

This is by far the scarcest of our three scorpionflies - I have only found two (including this one) compared to 55 communis and 89 germanica.

Panorpa communis, sometimes known as Common Scorpionfly (common indeed but in my experience marginally less so than Panorpa germanica).

Clues to its identity include, in combination, the yellow centre to the thorax (usually brown on cognata but also yellow on germanica), dark patch at the tip of the wings fully extending right to the edge of the wing (but atypically small - it tends to be larger in this species), dark bar extending right across wing (broad at the costa but otherwise the outer half only slightly thicker than the inner half), and only small dark spots in the base of the wing. However for certain identification it is really necessary to dissect out the genital plate.

Panorpa germanica, sometimes known as German Scorpionfly (though probably our commonest scorpionfly in the UK, so not really German).

Clues to its identity include, in combination, the yellow centre to the thorax (usually brown on cognata but also yellow on communis), dark patch at the tip of the wings rather narrow (often larger on communis and more clearly separated from the margin in cognata), and larger dark spots towards the base of the wing compared to typical communis and cognata. However for certain identification it is really necessary to dissect out the genital plate.

Genital plates of all three scorpionflies:

Left: Panorpa communis - note pointed tips to the arms at the top (rounded on cognata, more acute on germanica), short arms compared to the length of the plate (relatively longer on germanica), anterior apodomes at the bottom strongly divergent and bluntly rounded (finer-tipped on cognata and germanica, usually less divergent on germanica).

Centre: Panorpa cognata - note blunt-tipped arms and long narrow-tipped anterior apodomes divergent at tip.

Right: Panorpa germanica - note acutely pointed and relatively long arms and long narrow-tipped and scarcely divergent anterior apodomes.

Although not referred to (but illustrated) in the key, and I’m not sure what the bit of anatomy is called, there seems to be a consistent difference in the fine dark lines running alongside the posterior end of the anterior apodomes - long and sinuous on communis, medium length and evenly arched on cognata and short and straight on germanica.

The genital plates of scorpionflies are subject to quite a bit of individual variation so some care is needed to ensure correct identification, but the differences are generally more reliable than wing-pattern.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last mo.

Here’s a photo of a Giant Lacewing that’s about a thousand times better than the one I posted yesterday! They really are superb insects!

David W. Williams@vc40orthops.bsky.social · last mo.

Yesterday's wildlife group outing in rural SW Shrops produced this fab Giant Lacewing (Osmylus fulvicephalus), found by @lancefly.bsky.social at the shady edge of the River Clun. 1st one I've ever seen. Posed nicely for me but then flew off before anyone else could tog it!

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last mo.

This week I’ve been poking around in streams and under bridges in the two areas that Giant Lacewing (Osmylus fulvicephalus) has been recorded in Norfolk. This morning I struck gold at East Carleton. Recorded here in 2022, which was the first in the county since 1963.

A Giant Lacewing (Osmylus fulvicephalus) resting at the top of the vertical side of a bridge over a stream and under a road.

The lacewing has slightly hooked wings with dark spots along the costa and (less obviously in this photo) along the dorsal edge in the basal half. The head is red and the body is mostly dark.

This is a big lacewing, though “Giant” is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration.

It was quite a low bridge meaning I had to stoop quite low to reach it. It was quite dark under the bridge and I couldn’t get the camera to focus on it without using the torch of my phone. It was a challenge holding the phone torch in one hand and the camera in the other while bending lower than I was comfortable with and trying to avoid falling in the water or dropping either phone or camera in.

The species was found at East Bilney twice in 1963 and looked for since with no success (though I am not convinced it might not still be present in the area and as it’s local to me I will continue searching). It was then found by sweeping at East Carleton Carrs in 2022 by a visiting dipterist who, not realising the significance of the record in Norfolk, did not take a specimen or any photos. By all accounts the finder was a reliable and experienced entomologist familiar with this species from elsewhere, so I was happy to accept the record on his say-so, but very happy to follow it up with some photographic evidence today.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last mo.

This little Cosmopterix scribaiella (Reed Beauty) was a nice surprise in my garden moth trap on Tuesday night. They’re spreading but not many record in Norfolk yet. There are no reed beds in my little garden so presumably it wandered here from somewhere else. #NorfolkMoths #TeamMoth

Cosmopterix scribaiella (Reed Beauty).

A very elongated moth with a red eye and long palps curved up and back. The wings are mostly dark brown but there’s a broad orange band crossing them at about two thirds of the way along. This orange band is bordered both sides by thin bands of shiny silvery-white scales. The orange spoils through the rear silver band (which is characteristic of this species) and continues in a line until it meets a fine white line that carries on to the apex. There are also several fine silvery-white lines through the base of the wings.

Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · last mo.

++BREAKING++ Leading climate scientists in the UK have written to senior editors in broadcast media - and OFCOM and IPSO: "To express our concern about recent media coverage of extreme weather, climate change and net-zero and to urge you…to inform public audiences of the scientific links"

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · last mo.

The warming seas are producing some very unusual seabirds in Yorkshire…

Flamborough Bird Observatory @flamboroughbird.bsky.social · last mo.

Join FBO for the Seabird Festival next weekend to celebrate the iconic breeding birds of the headland. Open Seawatch observatory and expert evening guided walks, it’s not to be missed!

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Coleophora siccifoliella (Keeled case-bearer), netted in flight beside a hedgerow in mid Norfolk early one morning recently. If I’ve done my maths right this is the 55th species of Coleophora I’ve recorded as adult. #NorfolkMoths

Coleophora siccifolia, Keeled case-bearer.

A fairly nondescript greyish-brown Coleophora with ringed antennae.

Make genitalia of Coleophora siccifolia, Keeled case-bearer.

Unfortunately with the majority of Coleophora you need to examine the genitalia to be sure which species is involved.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Doing a bird survey in farmland in the middle of Norfolk this morning the last thing I expected to see (especially in mid June) was a Diver sp. flying south at 5am. Probably Red-throated but I didn’t see it quite well enough to be 100% sure. #NorfolkBirds

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee (Megachile willughbiella) was on the side of my shed at dawn this morning. I’ve not attempted to key many leafcutters before so although this is a common species, it was the first time I’ve identified one. I should do more #bees…

Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee on my shed. A buffish bee with narrow pale bands of hairs on the abdomen and an orange pollen brush under the abdomen.

Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee, another side view.

Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee, dorsal view with wings held to the side.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This bug was in my garden moth trap on Sat night and I think it's Brachyarthrum limitatum. AI suggested Orthonotus rufifrons but seems to have been trained on a couple of photos purporting to be rufifrons which I believe are actually misidentified limitatum. #Hemiptera @arcanelove.bsky.social

A dark blackish-brown mirid bug with orange legs, orange base to the cuneus and orange base to the wings. It is 4.6mm long. The species is associated with Aspen and there's one of those growing about 50m away.

My ID process was complicated by AI getting it wrong and a couple of photos online (which I suspect the AI had used in its training) which I eventually worked out must also be Brachyarthrum limitatum but are identified and labelled as Orthonotus rufifrons. Although males of the latter are superficially similar, after examining lots of images of both species I think I found a number of differences that seem consistent. These include leg colour, cuneus colour, colour at the base of the wings and perhaps most obviously the colour of the third antennal segment (pale, strongly contrasting with the second on Orthonotus rufifrons and dark, only slightly paler than the second on Brachyarthrum limitatum).

BTO Scotland @btoscotland.bsky.social · 2mo ago

An amazing find in Perthshire- an adult Robin repeatedly feeding a recently-fledged Dipper! Interspecific feeding is recorded from time-to-time, but it's rare and a phenomenal thing to witness first-hand. Huge thanks to James Clements for reporting it. #BirdingScotland

Adult Robin feeding a fledgling Dipper. Perthshire, 3/6/26

Adult Robin feeding a fledgling Dipper. Perthshire, 3/6/26.
Check out the Dipper's nictitating membrane (over the eye)

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I found these two #sawflies at Bintree Wood in May and have now identified them as Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis (both males) which is apparently new for Norfolk. Thanks to @andymus.bsky.social for confirming.

Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis dorsal view.

Like most Aneugmenus, a predominantly black sawfly with yellow legs.

Basal tergites of the Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis showing microsculpture that is not present on other British Aneugmenus. The head was also more sculptured, the mandibles bent more right-angled and it was a male, which would be unusual for the other species.

The second Aneugmenus fuerstenbergensis dorsal view.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

How is a man meant to work with all this activity going on just outside his window. First Spotted Flycatcher and now this handsome Swallow having a sing-song (and 3 Oystercatchers noisily chasing each other over the houses as I type this). #NorfolkBirding 🪶 youtu.be/RMbooI1qZdo?...

Swallow singing outside my study window

YouTube video by Dave Appleton

youtu.be

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This hand-held video won’t win any cinematography awards but was just taken using only my phone while I’m sitting at my desk in my study: an unexpected garden tick in the form of a very vocal Spotted Flycatcher right outside my window. Nice start to the day. youtube.com/shorts/De2ah... #NorfolkBirds

A vocal Spotted Flycatcher filmed with iPhone only while sitting at my desk.

YouTube video by Dave Appleton

youtube.com

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Waiting for a train yesterday evening, sitting on the Canalside Green Steps at London's Coal Drop Yard, my wife noticed moths flitting around the ivy at the edge of the steps. I went over and found several pairs of the recent colonist Clepsis dumicolana (Banded Ivy Tortrix). #LondonMoths #TeamMoth

A mating pair of Clepsis dumincolana (Banded Ivy Tortrix) on ivy

One of the Clepsis dumicolana (Banded Ivy Tortrix), a brown moth with a broad wavy dark band across its forewings.

Another Clepsis dumicolana (Banded Ivy Tortrix)

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Last night I think the White Ermines may have been suffering from an inferiority complex. Here is one dwarfed by a Puss Moth and one being quite literally trampled on by a Poplar Hawk-moth. Or may be the hawk-moth was just trying to give it a cuddle? #TeamMoth #NorfolkMoths

Two white moths with black markings: a White Ermine with black spots and Puss Moth with an intricate pattern of black lines. The White Ermine isn’t exactly a small moth but here it’s dwarfed by the much larger Puss Moth.

A Poplar Hawk-moth resting with its wings out. Underneath the hawk-moth is a White Ermine being somewhat squashed by the hawk-moth. The hawk-moth’s legs are either side of abcs on top of the White Ermine.

I assume the hawk-moth settled there by chance, not deliberately attacking (or cuddling) the White Ermine. Either way I don’t suppose the White Ermine was very happy about it.

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

They aren’t #BirdHybrids but they’re trying…

Mark Eaton@markaeaton.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The UK’s strangest avian couple at the Long Nanny, Northumberland this morning - the female American Black Tern with the same male Arctic Tern she bred (unsuccessfully) with in 2024. A small nest scrape but no eggs as yet. #NEbirding #rarebirdsUK

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 3mo ago

#BirdHybrid Brown Booby x Masked Booby!

BirdGuides@birdguides.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Masked Booby has recently been documented breeding on Ilha Brava, Cape Verde, with adults observed in Brown Booby colonies and apparent Brown × Masked Booby hybrids photographed:

Dave Appleton @applewildlife.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Highlights from the #TeamMoth trap so far this week: Lime Hawk-moth, only my third here in 11 years, and last night an unexpected addition to the garden list, perhaps carried here from the Brecks on the SW breeze: Thisanotia chrysonuchella (Powdered Grass-moth). #NorfolkMoths

Lime Hawk-moth. This individual is form brunnea with reddish-brown cross-band and orangey-brown tones elsewhere. The more typical form has more olive-green hues with a dark khaki cross-band.

Thisanotia chrysonuchella (Powdered Grass-moth). In Norfolk these are mostly found in the Brecks but there are a handful of records from other locations.

A smallish elongate moth. In some ways similar to Chrysoteuchia culmella (Garden Grass-moth) with a thick pale line along the length of the forewing splitting into fingers near the apex, and a pair of dark-edged pale fascias crossing the outer half of the wing, but the forewing is more liberally peppered with dark brown and it has distinctive orange scales on the head.

John Walters @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social · 3mo ago

If you are interested in learning to identify the UKs ground beetles there are free guides to download on my website johnwalters.co.uk/publications...