After a bird survey in Dorchester i made a couple of stops in Dorchester for some invertebrate species I had not seen before. First was at Silverlake, Crossways where last year Scarlet Darter bred, this year there have been counts of up to 20 individuals and so I was fairly confident of encountering this stunning species. My first wander of the lake produced a male Lesser Emperor, a relatively regular migrant that I had also not seen before in the UK. The second circuit of the pond produced a Red-veined Darter, a species I had seen once before in the UK. The third circuit produced the target species, a stunning male Scarlet Darter warming itself it is characteristic vertical posture, but not just one, at least four individuals.
Scarlet Darter
Scarlet Darter
Scarlet Darter
Red-veined Darter
Red-veined Darter
Lesser Emperor
Black-tailed Skimmer
Common Darter
I then headed to Corfe Castle where I parked at the National Trust car park and cafe and quickly encountered Lulworth Skipper on the grassy railway embankment within the car park, a new UK butterfly species for me. I crossed the road and wandered a short way around the banks of the castle seeing several more individuals, all less than fresh and a little past their best, but, a very distinctive, if rather dull, little butterfly.
Lulworth Skipper
Lulworth Skipper
With some quick successes early in the day I then headed to Middlebere Heath for the stunning Purbeck Mason Wasp. A large nesting aggregation of which is present along the track running away from the parking layby. Also present along the path were many other species of hymenoptera with their associated host parasites including two scarce species of bee-fly, Heath Bee-fly and Mottled Bee-fly. It was now very hot and I headed home and back to work after a very early morning and some fantastic invertebrate sightings in Dorset.
Purbeck Mason Wasp
Purbeck Mason Wasp
Mottled Bee-fly
Heath Bee-fly
