I usually get up to date with entering all my records in MapMate at around the New Year and then recalculate my Pan-species List. But it didn't happen last winter so today's update is the first major update since January 2016.
I've been in 3rd position on the PSL rankings from the start, miles behind Jonty and Dave, and miles ahead of everyone else. Or at least that used to be the case! I can see it is just a matter of time before I am caught up, now that my PSLing activities have slowed up. However, it was good to see that I've added 765 species in 2 years and 1 month (7th January 2016 to 7th February 2018). Remarkably, that works out almost exactly at an average of one tick a day: 765 species in 762 days!
I had 54 ticks in a week on Scilly in October 2017, largely thanks to some time rock-pooling and slum-botanising with Seth. For most of the last two years, I've really focused on groups I already know pretty well: beetles, bugs, woodlice, terrestrial molluscs. I don't get lots of ticks in these groups but they are all the more welcome when they do come. In terms of new groups, I've been making much more serious efforts with the hoppers (Auchenorrhyncha), psocids, millipedes, centipedes and pseudoscorpions. I keep on dabbling with leaf-mines, galls and rusts, which are always good for a few ticks. I've put on quite a lot of new flies and spiders but these include some fairly shabby ticks where I've collected the specimens myself but had them identified by experts. But they're both groups where my own ID skills are coming on, slowly.
What of the year ahead? I'll try to keep the PSL ethos alive and have a crack at anything and everything. But limited time means I ought to stay focused on my core groups (beetles, bugs, woodlice, terrestrial molluscs, hoppers, psocids, millipedes, centipedes and pseudoscorpions). Can't see myself twitching many birds. It's always nice to be working on a new group and I think this could be the year where I really get into spiders. Should I start running a light trap regularly in the garden and sort out my moth list? Maybe. Will I try to have a few more days of rockpooling biodiversity mayhem? Definitely!
Group (scientific name) | Group (English name) | totals @ 7.ii.2018 | Change from 7i16 to 7ii18 |
photosynthetic eukaryotes other than Plants | Algae | 12 | 1 |
Eumycetozoa | Slime Moulds | 1 | 0 |
[a polyphyletic ragbag group] | other Protists | 0 | 0 |
lichenised fungi | Lichens | 59 | 11 |
a polyphyletic group | Fungi other than Lichens, including fungoid organisms | 211 | 12 |
Marchantiomorpha, Antherocophyta and Bryophyta | Mosses, Hornworts and Liverworts | 75 | 3 |
Lycopodiopsida, Polypodiopsida and Spermatopsida | Pteridophytes (Horsetails, Clubmosses, Ferns, etc), Conifers and all Flowering Plants | 1454 | 42 |
Porifera | Sponges | 0 | 0 |
Ctenophora | Comb-jellies, Sea-gooseberries, etc. | 1 | 0 |
Cnidaria | Jellyfish, Sea-anemones, Corals, Hydra, etc. | 9 | 6 |
Mollusca | Slugs, Snails, Bivalves, Squid, Chitons, etc | 168 | 15 |
Bryozoa | Bryozoans | 2 | 2 |
Annelida | Earthworms, Leeches, Ragworms, etc. | 12 | 5 |
Platyhelminthes | Flatworms, Tapeworms, Flukes, etc. | 11 | 4 |
Pycnogonida | Sea-spiders | 0 | 0 |
Arachnida | Spiders, Harvestmen, Scorpions, Pseudoscorpions, Ticks, Mites, etc. | 212 | 40 |
Myriapoda | Millipedes, Centipedes, Pauropods and Symphylans | 87 | 21 |
Crustacea | Woodlice, Amphipods, Crabs, Lobsters, Crayfish, Barnacles, Shrimps, Copepods, etc. | 85 | 16 |
Collembola, Protura and Diplura | Springtails, Proturans and 2-tailed Bristletails | 11 | 3 |
Archaeognatha and Thysanura | 3-tailed Bristletails | 9 | 5 |
Odonata | Dragonflies and Damselflies | 48 | 0 |
Phasmida, Orthoptera, Dictyoptera, Dermaptera | Stick-insects, Grasshoppers, Bush-crickets, Crickets, Groundhoppers, Cockroaches and Earwigs, | 42 | 1 |
Psocodea, Thysanoptera and Hemiptera | Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, Whiteflies, Scale-insects, Psocids, Thrips, etc | 555 | 94 |
Hymenoptera | Bees, Ants, Wasps and Sawflies | 287 | 26 |
Coleoptera | Beetles | 2766 | 134 |
Diptera | Flies | 661 | 232 |
Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera | Butterflies | 61 | 0 |
Lepidoptera other than Rhopalocera | Moths | 746 | 64 |
Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Embiidina, Megaloptera, Raphidioptera, Neuroptera, Strepsiptera, Mecoptera, Siphonaptera and Trichoptera | Mayflies, Stoneflies, Web-spinners, Alderflies, Snakeflies, Lacewings, Strepsipterans, Scorpionflies, Fleas and Caddisflies. | 80 | 20 |
Echinodermata | Sea-urchins, Starfish, Sea-cucumbers, etc. | 1 | 1 |
Urochordata | Sea Squirts, Ascidians and Salps | 0 | 0 |
a paraphyletic group: Craniata other than Reptilia, Amphibia and Mammalia | Fish | 19 | 4 |
a paraphyletic group: Reptilia other than Aves | Reptiles | 8 | 0 |
Amphibia | Amphibians | 7 | 0 |
Aves | Birds | 475 | 3 |
Mammalia | Mammals | 64 | 0 |
[a polyphyletic ragbag group] | other Animals | 0 | 0 |
TOTALS | 8239 | 765 |
Comments
Slum Botany!
I still think that Slum Botany is one of the greatest phrases ever invented! Also - I know for a fact that you have at least two terrestrial nemerteans - ie "other animals"
Nemerteans
Thanks Seth. I couldn't remember what we decided about nemerteans so I put them on the list as Platyhelminthes, along with the flatworms. I should move them to other animals?
Other Worms
Yes Mark, you really should!
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