P*n-species update - for sad twats only

The latest pan-species update is:

Flora 1378 (+2)
Mosses & Liverworts 36 (+9)
Lichen 23 (+12)
Fungi 32 (+2)
Birds 375
Moths 710 (+2)
Butterflies 50
Dragonflies 34
Mammals 32
Amphibians 5
Reptiles 4
Fish 17
Snails & Slugs 8
Marine 45 (+25)
Worms 1
Leeches 1
Algae 1
Thysanura (Bristletails) 1
Orthoptera (Grasshoppers) 3
Dermaptera (Earwigs) 1
Hemiptera (Shieldbugs, hoppers) 10 (+1)
Thysanoptera (Thrips, Lice) 1
Neuropterans (Lacewings) 2
Trichoptera (Caddisflies) 2
Diptera (Flies) 20 (+2)
Hymenoptera (Wasps, Bees, Ants) 20 (+1)
Coleoptera (Beetles) 31
Centipedes 4
Millipedes 2
Woodlice 4
Ticks, Mites, Harvestmen 4
Spiders 13
TOTAL: 2870
Most of the additions have come courtesy of Cornish rock pools and beaches. Will I reach 3,000 before the end of the year? It would be easy enough to do if I put my mind to it, but I'm quite happy with letting things come to me. I could target hoverflies, fungi, mosses and lichens in the next few weeks and get very close. That would still leave me a good 7,000 species behind Jonty Denton - I bet he's quaking in his boots...

Comments

Stewart said…
Worms. Thats an easy one for a few ticks. A wander around the garden compost heap and lawn with a torch at night will find Earthworm ( Lumbricus terrestris) Brandling, Red Worm, Blue Worm. Then there are the seashore Black and Harbour Lug, Harbour and King Rag...Thread Worm, Check the dogs,er, toilet...Oh dear I'm a sad twat too...
22 August 2011 at 22:00
Steve Gale said…
Thanks for the tip off Stewart - I will wander out with a torch and dedicate any ticks to your good self!
23 August 2011 at 11:56
Flora said…
Didn't you tick any seaweeds in Cornwall or did you bung them under marine rather than algae?
Slugs and snails should be easy to get a few ticks, esp. if you have a pond.
What about plant galls, do they count or do you need to see the insect?
I was also going to suggest sticking your head in a compost bin.
23 August 2011 at 22:27
Steve Gale said…
Hi Mel, all my seaweed ticks have been added to the 'Marine' category. Maybe not very scientific, but then neither am I...
Plant galls don't count, only the insects.
I spend most of my day with my head stuck at a computer screen, so a compost bin won't be that much different, will it!!
24 August 2011 at 17:14
Alastair said…
Why not try world listing Steve? According to today's Guardian there are a possible 8,700,000 species on the planet. By the way, very impressed with your plant and moth totals however, your beetle total is rather meagre - do species have to be alive? I used to do a lot of pitfall trapping, but the quarry was RIP when seen and identified.
24 August 2011 at 20:58
Steve Gale said…
Hi Alastair, my beetle total is pants, I know and they do have to be alive!
24 August 2011 at 21:09
Mark G. Telfer said…
Steve, I've updated your total on my pan-species listing rankings (http://markgtelfer.co.uk/listing/). It's nip and tuck as to whether you or Sarah Patton will get to 3,000 first but far be it from me to stir up compeition!
As for your beetle list, maybe we should meet up at Beddington and do some beetling?
7 September 2011 at 15:43
Steve Gale said…
Mark, your kind suggestion to 'do some beetling' would be a one-way street of you identifying beetles and me saying 'Oh, that's a tick'...
9 September 2011 at 13:44
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goldfinches and Lavender

Image
We have three medium-sized Lavender bushes in our back garden. Throughout the summer the flowers (which last for several months) are a magnet for insects and give off a most restful aroma. As tempting as it is to cut the dead stems in the autumn, we always leave them, as we know that during the late winter we will get visitors to feed on the seed heads... This video was taken from the kitchen window this morning. We will normally see one or two birds over a few days, but have had up to 14 at once. We never tire of watching them. Lavender is a wonderful plant to have in the garden, with year round natural history benefits. So what are you waiting for? They are readily available at a garden centre close to you right now! There is an historic association with Lavender in this part of northern Surrey and south London. Lavender fields have been harvested for many years, with one particular field close to Woodmansterne being very popular with day trippers. A significant proportion o...
Read more

Welcome back!

Image
In November 2005 I purchased a pair of Swarovski 10x42 EL binoculars from The London Camera Exchange shop in Guildford, for the then princely sum of £899. These bins have served me well, with almost daily use in all types of weather, testing their durability to the maximum - salt water spray, deluges of rain, 38C temperatures, dust, dirt, slight knocks... and apart from the armour coating that had started to bubble and come away from the body, nothing to be alarmed about. Then, in the summer of 2022, I noticed that I had a problem when close focusing - the outer focusing wheel would lose grip and it would take me an age to regain a middle-ground distance of focus - plus, over the next few weeks this outer focusing wheel became loose. I resorted to the use of tape to keep it all in place, but realised that I had to do something about it in the long run. For a while I did consider buying a new pair - after all, they were then 17-years old - but they were still optically superb. It seemed...
Read more

A special day

In birding, timing can mean the difference between an average day in the field and that of a spectacular one. Good timing can be helped by reading the weather conditions correctly, or understanding local conditions but it is more often down to pure luck. In this case, I just got lucky... I had not visited Dungeness since March 2022, quite a gap for me. It was high time that I once more trod the shingle and my timing of a visit was down to several factors, mostly a personal liking for mid-late autumn but also because I needed to be at home until September 20th and could not make the journey south until then. I also chose to stay at the bird observatory for a few days rather than make it a day trip. All this conveniently found me stepping outside the observatory's back door in the breaking dawn of Sunday 22nd September, quickly making my way to the fishing boats, an area I prefer to stand to best appreciate any visible bird migration, an aspect of birding that I find exhilarating.  A...
Read more