According to a BBC News report released yesterday the invasive species Lasius neglectus has been found in Gloucestershire in the UK.
For those who are unaware of L. neglectus, it is a relatively newly discovered invasive ant species. It has been marching across Europe and, because it does not seem to be too bothered by cold conditions, a number of myrmecologists have been predicting that it will become or was already established in the UK, making it the first non-native ant that could survive away from heated buildings. The question was how long it would take for its presence to be realised, as it looks very similar to the common black garden ant Lasius niger.
More information on the identification, biology and status of L. neglectus.
Showing posts with label invasive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label invasive. Show all posts
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Saturday, 12 July 2008
New species
I honestly can't remember the last time a new species of invertebrate was found in the UK (excluding bacteria from the definition). That makes it quite an event when something as significant as a slug is found, sort of the British equivalent of the Vu Quang ox.
The slug was described by specialists at the National Museum of Wales and Cardiff University, who named it Selenochlamys ysbryda, after ysbryd, the Welsh word for ghost. The beast is subterranean, lacking pigmentation and blind. It spends its time eating earthworms.
Sadly though, S. ysbryda is probably not native to the UK, as its nearest relatives live in the mountains of eastern Europe, Georgia and eastern Turkey. Because it may have invaded British shores, the National Museum of Wales are seeking any additional records, to see how widespread it is, and have provided an identification guide.
More information can be found at the National Museum of Wales website and BBC News.
The slug was described by specialists at the National Museum of Wales and Cardiff University, who named it Selenochlamys ysbryda, after ysbryd, the Welsh word for ghost. The beast is subterranean, lacking pigmentation and blind. It spends its time eating earthworms.
Sadly though, S. ysbryda is probably not native to the UK, as its nearest relatives live in the mountains of eastern Europe, Georgia and eastern Turkey. Because it may have invaded British shores, the National Museum of Wales are seeking any additional records, to see how widespread it is, and have provided an identification guide.
More information can be found at the National Museum of Wales website and BBC News.
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Tropical plants at the Eden Project
When the development of the Eden Project first started in Cornwall I made a prediction: that their biomes would become overrun with ants. This wasn't completely without precedent, as the this is exactly what had happened with Biosphere 2 with the crazy ant Paratrechina longicornis.
I'm rarely this accurate, so I'm feeling quite smug!
My first encounter with ants from the Eden Project was having a specimen thrust in front of me by Cedric Collingwood a few years ago. His explanation was that it had been brought to him by a friend who couldn't initially remember where he collected it, but quickly remembered when it became apparent that it was a tropical species. Since I hadn't encountered the species before I quickly forgot what it was.
Last year one of my colleagues brought me a specimen that he had collected from the tropical biome at the Eden Project (I like colleagues that bring me ants). This was clearly a Technomyrmex, probably T. albipes, but I really struggled to come to a satisfactory conclusion on which species it was, so made a note to visit the Eden Project to collect some more and hopefully make identification easier. I did this last Friday.
Within seconds of entering the tropical biome I had found ants. The biome is absolutely full of them. In one place they were so dense that with one puff on my pooter I collected about 40 specimens! Unfortunately, I only found one species: Technomyrmex. With the number that I collected I should be able to make a better species identification.
I've since had a chat with the person who deals with pest control at the Eden Project, Michael Pytel. He stated that they are T. albipes (I'm still going to check) and that they had actually declined in numbers over the past two years! Apparently they were not the only ant to have been introduced and actually displaced P. longicornis, the species that caused problems at Biosphere 2. Other ants that still occur include subterranean Pheidole and Hypoponera, and a species of Solenopsis has been found there in the past. Work will continue to try to reduce the Technomyrmex population and redress the balance.
T. abipes is a major pest species in the tropics. It would be easy to consider Technomyrmex only as a pest in the tropical biome, but I think it deserves a little more respect. Even if it escapes the biome it is very unlikely that it would become established, as the climate in the UK is too cold. It is probably the only contact with such a prominent tropical invertebrate that visitors to the Eden Project are likely to come across and so could be a valuable educational tool. They could demonstrate the global problem with species occurring in the wrong environment and the damage that they can cause to ecosystems. I'd like to see the Eden Project recognise this opportunity, if they have not already.
(Apologies to anyone who actually expected this to be about tropical plants!)
I'm rarely this accurate, so I'm feeling quite smug!
My first encounter with ants from the Eden Project was having a specimen thrust in front of me by Cedric Collingwood a few years ago. His explanation was that it had been brought to him by a friend who couldn't initially remember where he collected it, but quickly remembered when it became apparent that it was a tropical species. Since I hadn't encountered the species before I quickly forgot what it was.
Last year one of my colleagues brought me a specimen that he had collected from the tropical biome at the Eden Project (I like colleagues that bring me ants). This was clearly a Technomyrmex, probably T. albipes, but I really struggled to come to a satisfactory conclusion on which species it was, so made a note to visit the Eden Project to collect some more and hopefully make identification easier. I did this last Friday.
Within seconds of entering the tropical biome I had found ants. The biome is absolutely full of them. In one place they were so dense that with one puff on my pooter I collected about 40 specimens! Unfortunately, I only found one species: Technomyrmex. With the number that I collected I should be able to make a better species identification.
I've since had a chat with the person who deals with pest control at the Eden Project, Michael Pytel. He stated that they are T. albipes (I'm still going to check) and that they had actually declined in numbers over the past two years! Apparently they were not the only ant to have been introduced and actually displaced P. longicornis, the species that caused problems at Biosphere 2. Other ants that still occur include subterranean Pheidole and Hypoponera, and a species of Solenopsis has been found there in the past. Work will continue to try to reduce the Technomyrmex population and redress the balance.
T. abipes is a major pest species in the tropics. It would be easy to consider Technomyrmex only as a pest in the tropical biome, but I think it deserves a little more respect. Even if it escapes the biome it is very unlikely that it would become established, as the climate in the UK is too cold. It is probably the only contact with such a prominent tropical invertebrate that visitors to the Eden Project are likely to come across and so could be a valuable educational tool. They could demonstrate the global problem with species occurring in the wrong environment and the damage that they can cause to ecosystems. I'd like to see the Eden Project recognise this opportunity, if they have not already.
(Apologies to anyone who actually expected this to be about tropical plants!)
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Harmonia is overrated
Earlier this week I was in Dover, Kent and encountered my first harlequin ladybirds, Harmonia axyridis.
The surprising thing was that I hadn't already seen any. Since it first appeared in the UK in 2004 the species has spread at an incredible rate, and is now known from much of England and parts of Wales.
Because they are an invasive species that threaten the ladybirds native to the UK I collected as many as I could. On Thursday I took these into work not far from Bristol to show my colleagues what they should be looking out for, feeling a little smug that I could do this, until one of the people I work with, Jenna, mentioned that there were some in the window that were the same. She was absolutely right, they were harlequins as well.
As a result I scoured the office building, removing as many as I could find. This resulted in 28, to which I added a further 14 yesterday (Friday).
The question I guess I should ask myself, as an entomologist, is how did I miss these? The simple answer is complacency - I assumed that if they were in the area they would be pretty rare. Despite this I don't think we had any here last year, except perhaps for the odd one or two, so the speed at which they've become established is staggering.
I will continue to remove the ones that I find, but I think it's a lost cause. I think they're probably here to stay.
Sightings of the harlequin ladybird are being collected by the Harlequin Ladybird Survey, and can be submitted online.
The surprising thing was that I hadn't already seen any. Since it first appeared in the UK in 2004 the species has spread at an incredible rate, and is now known from much of England and parts of Wales.
Because they are an invasive species that threaten the ladybirds native to the UK I collected as many as I could. On Thursday I took these into work not far from Bristol to show my colleagues what they should be looking out for, feeling a little smug that I could do this, until one of the people I work with, Jenna, mentioned that there were some in the window that were the same. She was absolutely right, they were harlequins as well.
As a result I scoured the office building, removing as many as I could find. This resulted in 28, to which I added a further 14 yesterday (Friday).
The question I guess I should ask myself, as an entomologist, is how did I miss these? The simple answer is complacency - I assumed that if they were in the area they would be pretty rare. Despite this I don't think we had any here last year, except perhaps for the odd one or two, so the speed at which they've become established is staggering.
I will continue to remove the ones that I find, but I think it's a lost cause. I think they're probably here to stay.
Sightings of the harlequin ladybird are being collected by the Harlequin Ladybird Survey, and can be submitted online.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
