Weather and Species
Sunday, January 24th 2016
We talk about good winters and bad ones, dry, wet, cold or too warm springs and so it goes on. Conditions that are good for one species may spell disaster for another. The moth trap has not been out for several weeks due to bad weather. This week it was set but not a moth in it.
Usually at this time of year we catch Mottled Umber moths. Larval food plants include Pedunculate and Sessile Oak, Downy and Silver Birch, Hazel, Blackthorn and Hawthorn. These food plants are important not only as the larva feed on them from April to late June, but the the female lays her eggs on the trunks to overwinter. The larva, which when fully grown may be 33mm long, uses a thread to leave the tree and drop to the ground. Here it burries into the soil and makes its cocoon.
Scarlet Elf Cup has been reported from some sites around Foxglove. None yet this year at Foxglove, well, at least not in its usual places. Has it been too warm for the fruiting bodies to develop, or has the recent cold spell caused problems?
Another winter fungus is Green Elf Cup, the fruiting bodies of which are not often seen, but the green stained wood can be more easily spotted. Usually it is hidden away, deep in the woodland, but this is out in the open. It is not sheltered from the elements so this may affect its development.
Walking up the quad bike track a greenish mound was glanced. Never been there before? On closer inspection it was found to be a lichen. No idea how we have missed it! It is growing in a very wet, mossy area of the heath.
Research by Christine and Jo has identified this as Cladonia furcata. Yes another new species for the reserve. This lichen is commonly found in woodland near the coast. It may be seen growing on soil, humus and moss. Extracts of this species have been shown to kill leukemia cells in vitro, and may have possible value in the treatment of cancer.
We are still awaiting the first Primrose. Has it been too warm for them over the winter so far? Many people are reporting the garden varieties in bloom. We will just have to wait and see what the weather throws at us and how the flora and fauna respond.
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