DERC Newsletter
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No. 44 Winter 1999 / Spring 2000
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In this issue:
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Over
the last few months, DERC seems to have been in a continual state of
flux. Nick Button has begun work on Professor Good's Botanical Archive
(supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund). Alison Stewart (Computer Officer)
has left on maternity leave and her post is being covered by Philip
Harvell. Meanwhile, we have moved offices once again. Despite all the
disruption we have settled into our new accommodation, on top of the
library in Dorchester, and seem to be busier than ever.
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Gad Cliff
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Philip
has taken on the creation of our first DERC web-site. It will include
an introduction to DERC, up-dates on projects and articles on species
and habitats. We would be very interested to hear your views, what other
information would you find useful? How can we use the web to encourage
recording in Dorset? Please let us know.
And
finally, if you have not yet sent in your records for 1999, please do.
As always we rely on your input to keep our information as up-to-date
as possible. Records can be sent, e-mailed or recorders are welcome
to visit the office (and see the new technology). The dates for our
first workshops have been set, and we hope to see many of you there.
Carolyn Steele (Record Centre Manager)
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Stag Beetle Update
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Stag Beetle
Drawing: Robin Walls |
Last year both
DERC and The Dorset Wildlife Trust asked you to be on the lookout for
that most distinctive of beetles the Stag beetle. All your sightings
were forwarded to the organisers of the National Stag Beetle Survey
and have been used to create a preliminary distribution map. The results
shows that the main centres for this beetle are Greater London (3,068
records), Surrey (1,425 records) and Hampshire (1,042 records). There
were 571 sightings reported from Dorset, a total which establishes us
as one of the top ten counties. The majority of the sightings were in
the south east of the county with only a few scattered sites to the
west. If anyone has seen the beetle, particularly in the west but has
not reported it please can you send the location and date to DERC so
that the final map gives a true indication of its distribution. The
final results will be shown on our web-site this summer.
At the moment we know of a number of veteran tree sites in Dorset plus c.40 other
trees in hedges or standing in small groups. According to the distribution map most of
these trees are found in North and West Dorset, with scattered specimens elsewhere. |
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A New Record For Dorset
The
flora of Dorset has been well documented and the discovery of new county
species, other than aliens (usually garden escapes) is now quite unusual.
This however is not the case for invertebrates. Other than butterflies,
moths, dragonflies and hoverflies the fauna has not been well documented
and records are scattered throughout the country and literature. Because
of this, new county records are difficult to substantiate. However one
new species of fly can be reported with confidence. Campsicnemus umbripennis
hispanicus Strobl (Dolichopididae) was found by a member of the Dipterist
Forum Field Meeting in 1998 at Spittles near Lyme Regis. This species
is not only new to Dorset but also new to the British Isles, its previous
known range being Spain, the French Pyrenees and Portugal.
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Wasp Spider Makes The News
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Agriope bruennichi
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Readers
of the Dorset Evening Echo will remember that on the 7th September the
front page carried an excellent picture of the wasp spider Agriope bruennichi
together will the headline 'New foreign invasion'. Whilst it is good
to see that occasionally invertebrates can be front page news it is
a pity that the text did not give a true representation of the facts
i.e. that the spider is relatively common in Dorset with well over 150
sightings mainly from the east of the county (see distribution map in
Newsletter No 43) and that the first known record from Dorset is for
Southbourne in 1940, hardly a new invader. Thank you to everyone who
has sent in new records of this spectacular spider.
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New Dorset Flora
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Flora of Dorset
Humphrey Bowen |
An entirely
new Flora of Dorset by Humphry Bowen is due to appear early summer
of 2000. In addition to full notes on the flowering plants and ferns,
it will include up-to-date check-lists, with localities for rarer species
of bryophytes, lichens, fungi, charophytes and marine algae. Earlier
chapters by local experts cover physical features of Dorset, vegetation,
human effects and early Dorset botanists. Illustrations include 800
tetrad maps, sketches by Anita Pearman and many colour pictures.
The hardback
flora will cost about £40 with a 25% reduction for pre-publication orders
from the publishers:
The Nature Conservation
Bureau, 35 Kingfisher Court, Hambridge Road, Newbury RG14 5SJ.
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Dorset Environmental Records Centre