Noticeboard
T
SAC
watch / Irish Wildlife Trust
Our last
programme included a successful day incorporating indoor and outdoor
sessions explaining aspects of the IWT SAC watch programme, monitoring
Special Areas of Conservation. The IWT is running a series of field meetings
that members might find of interest:
Dates of
Visits to different Special Areas of Conservation:
29th
March - Abbeyleix Heritage Centre, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois:
12th
April – Knocksink Education Centre, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow
19th
April – Monroe School, Knocktopher, Co. Kilkenny
3rd May
– Raven Point Nature Reserve, Co. Wexford
10th May
– National Biological Records Centre, Waterford
31st May
– National Biological Records Centre, Waterford
SAC Watch Team:
Joanne Pender, Declan Doogue, Billy Flynn, Anja Murray, Eric Dempsey, Evelyn
Moorkens, Liam Lysaght, Eugenie Regan, Karin Dubsky.
Full details: Irish Wildlife Trust, Sigmund Business Centre, 93A Lagan
Road, Dublin Industrial Estate, Glasnevin, Dublin 11. Tel: 01
8602839 E-mail: enquiries@iwt.ie
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Essex
SKIPPER IN CO wEXFORD
The
Essex Skipper butterfly which is new to Ireland has been found in Co Wexford.
The
Skippers first discovered in 2006 were found in larger numbers in 2007 in Co
Wexford.
Further
information can be found at the DNFC butterfly website =>>
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The
Insect Circus (UK)
http://www.insectcircus.co.uk/index.php
2008
Insect Circus Itinerary in UK if your there on holidays:
-
9th
- 10th February: Showzam Festival.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach,
The Pleasure Beach, Blackpool. We will be presenting four shows. 2
theatre shows per day. Hopefully the Museum will be there too.
-
18th - 20th July: Camp Bestival,
Lulworth Castle, Dorset. Our outside stage show and Museum.
-
5th - 7th September: Bestival, Robin
Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight. Outside stage show and Museum.
Booking
information: Telephone: 01359 268209
Email: ronnie@insectcircusmuseum.co.uk
Reviews:
http://www.insectcircus.co.uk/reviews.php
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Butterfly
Distribution Maps
The
distribution maps of all butterflys have been updated for 2006 and can be
seen at
www.butterflyireland.com/DistributionMaps.htm
Many
thanks to all the recorders
Butterfly
Ireland 24/04/2008
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BUTTERFLY
RECORDING FOR 2007
Records
for all sightings in 2007 (and previous seasons) will be most welcome. It would help if you could
give a grid reference for each record, obtainable from a Discovery Series
Map for your local area,(or using a GPS) and if not then details of the
location of your site.
Address: The
Dublin Naturalists' Field Club
35 Nutley Park
Dublin 4
Ireland
E-Mail:
The Dublin Naturalists' Field Club
Butterfly Record
Sheet and recording instructions: RecordSheet
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Heritage
Week 2007 & 2008
Heritage
Week 2008 will take place from Sunday, August 24th to Monday, September
1st. Check back regularly for the latest information.
Discovery
of Rare Goat Moth (Cossus cossus)
Young visitors to Windsor Bog in Coolrain, Co Laois were very excited to
find a large pink and purple caterpillar during a guided walk organised by
Coillte as part of the celebration of Heritage Week.....Heritage Officer
with Laois County Council, Catherine Casey said “We took some photos of
the caterpillar to help identify it, but never thinking it would turn out
to be so rare. I sent the photograph to Clive Mellon, who specialises in
Irish Moths and couldn’t believe it when I had an e-mail straight back
from him saying it was the larva of a Goat Moth, only ever recorded in
Ireland in County Kerry”......This moth gets its name from the strong
odour given off by the caterpillar, which has been compared to the smell
of a goat. The larvae bore in the wood of living trees of a wide range of
species and take up to five years to reach full size. In Ireland, the Goat
Moth has only been recorded in Killarney National Park before this Laois
record, which represents a considerable extension of its known range in
Ireland, and a great addition to the biodiversity of the midlands.....from
Heritage Week, 2007 news at >>>
www.heritageweek.ie
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Monarchs
in the news 2007-2008
Fall
migration
south
beg
mid-August 2007
for northern monarchs.
After
crossing half the
continent of North America, the monarchs reached
their overwintering
sanctuaries, located at approximately 19.60N, 99.60W, in Central Mexico around November. It's an area only
70 miles wide and within it
only 12 mountaintops have the habitat the butterflies need to survive.
After living off their fat reserves all winter, tens
of millions of Monarchs will head northward in March 2008 producing the next generations of
Monarch butterflys.
Migration
North news begins in February 2008.
Follow
Monarch News at
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/News.html
Map from
the Animal Navigation Website at >>>
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The
Harlequin Ladybird
News
Update from The
Harlequin Ladybird Survey website (UK),
31/10/2007
Why
are there very large numbers of ladybirds this autumn?
They are likely to be harlequin ladybirds, an alien species that is
spreading fast in the UK. Harlequins are active later in the year than most
other ladybird species. In autumn they gather in large groups at overwintering
sites, which are often in or on buildings. They leave chemical traces that
attract others of the same species to that spot. They do not normally breed
indoors and should leave buildings in the spring.
.......read more at =>>
Because
of its threat to wildlife Damian McFerran of CEDaR and Roy Anderson of DARDNI in
Belfast are keen to see what members of the DNFC can find out about Harlequin
ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis) in Ireland.
It's worth viewing the UK annual spread maps at =>>
 |
|
three
common colour variants of the Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) |
You
can download a ladybird identification sheet (pdf file) from the Harlequin Ladybird survey web site
(UK) at =>>
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the
most invasive ladybird on Earth.
A
new ladybird arrived in Britain in the summer of 2004 called the Harlequin
ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
It
is also known as the Multicoloured Asian Ladybird and the Halloween
Ladybird.
It
has already invaded much of northwestern Europe
It
was introduced to North America in 1988, and is now the most widespread ladybird
species on that continent.
The
harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) has a very variable appearance!
The
most common forms in the UK are
orange with 15-21 black spots and black with two or four orange or red
spots
The
Harlequin ladybirds are most
commonly found on deciduous trees, such as lime, sycamore and maple, and on low
growing plants such as nettles. They will also inhabit reedbeds, coniferous
woodland and crop systems.
Harlequin
ladybirds feed most commonly on aphids, but also feed on scale insects,
adelgids, eggs and larvae of butterflies and moths, many other small
insects, including other ladybirds, pollen, nectar, and sugary fluids, including
honeydew and the juice from ripe fruits.*
*
For further
information on Recognition and Distinction etc. please visit
The Harlequin Ladybird survey web site (UK)
=>>
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IRISH MOTH DISCUSSION GROUP
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MothsIreland/
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DNFC
WEBSITE
Visit the Dublin Naturalists
Field Club Butterfly website at
www.butterflyireland.com
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NEW
BUTTERFLY SPECIES IN IRELAND
Researchers
at the Ulster Museum and Butterfly Conservation have made a startling new
discovery: a new species of butterfly in Britain and Ireland; the first to
be discovered for over 110 years.
The new species of Wood White
(scientific name: Leptidea reali)
looks very similar to the ‘normal’ Wood White (Leptidea
sinapis) and has only been identified by examining the genitalia of
museum specimens.
So far, the new species has been found
only in Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) and
the specimens examined from Britain have turned out to be the normal
species of Wood White.
The discovery was jointly made by
Brian Nelson and Robert Nash (Ulster Museum) and Maurice Hughes
and Dr.
Martin Warren (Butterfly Conservation).
This has helped explain a curious
phenomenon revealed recently in The
Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland. In Britain,
the Wood White is true to its name and found in woodland rides but is
declining rapidly, whereas in Ireland it occurs in more open habitats
(such as road verges, scrub and sheltered grassland) and has expanded
rapidly northwards in recent decades.
The phenomenon can now be explained
because they are two different, but almost indistinguishable, species that
may have different ecological requirements.
Maurice
Hughes (Regional Development Office of Butterfly Conservation in N.
Ireland) was one of the research team making the discovery. He said “This
is an exciting and important discovery, which helps explain the puzzle of
why the Wood White has fared so differently in Ireland compared to
Britain. In Ireland we have found that the ‘normal’ Wood White is
apparently confined to the scrubby woodland around the Burren in County
Clare (making it the rarest Irish butterfly).
The 'new' species occurs
throughout Ireland, but is absent from Britain (the only one). It has also
highlighted the need for renewed effort to conserve all populations of
this highly threatened species. We will now be conducting further work in
both Britain and Ireland to examine ecological differences and see whether
we can find characteristics that can be used to separate the two species
in the field.”
The new
species does not yet have an English name, although the scientific name reali
is derived from the person who first discovered it in continental Europe.
So perhaps “Réal’s Wood White” would be appropriate.
Reproduced from
Press Release by Butterfly Conservation
News Publish Date: 10/02/2001
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