28 June 2011

Sarn Helen walk from Banwen

Four-banded Longhorn Beetle (Leptura quadfirfasciate)
 A bit of late news from Sunday 26th, another Longhorn, this one taking shelter from the breezy conditions briefly before flying off. Once you get your eye in beetles look quite obvious when they are in flight, unfortunately this also means that you realise how many are not stopping for you to take a closer look at.
Chrysotoxum bicinctum (a Hoverfly)
 Also a very attractive hoverfly on the wing. Very distinctive and fairly common but like the Longhorn above I'd never seen this species before.
Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
The only way is Essex, unfortunately not this time! However, I am hopeful of catching up with this recent colonist of the area, some time this year. The Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) shows black tips to the underside of the antenna unlike the Small Skipper which has orange tips underneath.

If you decide to walk this route be very mindful that off road vehicles (and normal vehicles) can also use this route for a limited time running between June and August. One kid in a Ford Fiesta was travelling at well over 50mph along the forestry track while I was there, fortunately for me I wasn't near the track when he past me.

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