Top Snail (Trochoidea elegans)

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Slug mites

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Identification help

Although the FSC guide (page 8) says that the mites which run around on slugs are Riccardoella limacum, they are actually Riccardoella (Proriccardoella) oudemansi (Thor, 1932). Dave Gibbs found this paper by Zabludovskaya & Badanin which demonstrates that the mites on slugs are R. oudemansi, not R. limacum: http://mail.izan.kiev.ua/vz-pdf/2010/2/06_Zabludovska-Badanin.pdf

Snail Trail 2015

Several years ago I read Patrick Barkham’s ‘The Butterfly Isles’ and was struck by a particular thought. What he achieved was seeing fifty-nine species of the most colourful, visible and well-documented insects in the UK. A feat, I may add, that has been achieved by at least two people I met on a single day on a nature reserve this past July, i.e. a lot of people have done it.

Aren’t I critical? I haven’t even done it myself. Perhaps that’s where all my vitriol stems from – I’ve never had the time or money to try it.

How about ‘Dragonflight’ then, where Marianne Taylor...

They're all thick down in Dorset

Just testing out the new easier upload of images to blogs that John added last night. Here is a Thick Top Shell that Seth and I found in abundnance at Chesil Beach and within one specifica area of the Worm's Head. We didn't see any of the usually much commoner Purple and Grey Top Shells there. The Tick Top Shell is bigger, broader, more conical at the top, has suggestions of steps and to my eye was a neater looking creature than Purple and Grey. Having a western distribution, I'd never seen it before as it doesn't come as far east as Brighton it would seem.

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