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Myella
Ponds -
Dave
Bentley - Ecological Consultant
Bugs found in Myella Ponds |
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Dear
All,
Ponds
at Myella
I
stopped a couple of nights with you 15-16th Feb 2006 and
had a look at your ponds, and said I would let you know
what I found. Well please bear in mind that I am a
professional ecologist in the
UK
and not
Australia
and thus anything below should be taken with a large
pinch of salt. I have used what I know about
UK
ponds and have only reference to a simple guide on
Australian ponds. The English names are UK English for
something that looks like your plant in the
UK
. I have been quite busy touring the
Americas
for 7.5 months but am now free to tackle this simple
report. I will see about attaching photos or maybe
sending a disk.
Cow
pond near sunset viewing point
The
pond has a grass fringe with patches of Soft Rush and a
Gallingale or similar. The banks are dotted with shrubs.
Algae is encouraged by the cattle access. The size is
about 11m by 30m. And it is shallow and clouded by
cattle.
There
is some Water-plantain and the American tropical alien
Water Hyacinth (blue-flowers) grows in a small patch.
I
found no leeches, no flatworms, no freshwater cockles
nor mussels, no larger crustaceans, no pond skaters, no
Stoneflies, no Mayflies, no Caddis. I found no fish.
Present
were:
Snails:
Lymnaea peregra?
The Wandering Snail
Physa ?
A Bladder Snail
Water Bugs:
Sigara ?
Lesser Water Boatmen
Notonecta ?
Greater Backswimmer
Anisops/Enithares ?
Small Backswimmer
Paraplea
Pigmy Backswimmer
Lethocerus
Giant Water Bug
Hydrometra
Water Measurer
Dragonflies:
Anax ?
Emperor Dragonfly
Zygoptera
Blue Damselflies
Libellula
Chaser Dragonfly
Acilius
?
Medium to Bigger Beetle
Laccophilus ?
Smaller Diving Beetle
Hyphydrus ovatus ?
Egg-like Diving Beetle
Hyphydrus ?
Spangled Egg-like Diving Beetle
Laccobius ?
Small Grey Scavenger Beetle
Cercyon ?
Small Black Scavenger Beetle
Octhebius ?
2 or 3 species of this Scavenger Beetle genus
Dytiscus semisulcatus?
Black-bellied Great Diving Beetle
A Red and Black Leaf Beetle
Copelatus ?
Tear-drop shaped diving Beetle
Frog
and Frog tadpole (Possibly Striped Burrowing Frog).
Big
Pond
This
was about 45m in diameter and square or circular, not
paced out due to tall bank set in tall herbs. Deep open
water present. Patches of large-leaved Water-lilies with
white hair-fringed flowers with 5 white petals and
yellow centres. A smaller variegated lily grew amongst
it. There are marshy banks with what may be Amphibious
Bistort, and lots of sprawling yellow-flowered
Water-primrose, another tropical American alien. There
is a patch of Reedmace, sometimes called Bul-rush or
Cat-tail. The Gallingale plant fringes the edges of the
banks. The pond is set in damp grassland.
Snails:
Planorbid
Like the
UK
’s White Ramshorn but with a keel
Water
Bugs:
Diplonychus ?
Giant Water Bug bearing eggs. Not more than 12mm
long.
Microvelia ?
Lesser Water Cricket or Small Water Striders
(Aus)
Anisops/Enithares ?
Small Backswimmer
Dragonflies:
Sympetrum ?
Darter Dragonfly
Beetles:
Laccobius ?
Small Grey Scavenger Beetle
Cercyon
Small Black Scavenger Beetle
Copelatus ?
Tear-drop shaped diving Beetle
Dytiscus semisulcatus?
Black-bellied Great Diving Beetle
I
have no idea how to rank these habitats other than to
say that they are clearly valuable to the species that
live in them. Neither appears species rich to me, but
then again I was only using my small net so may have
missed plenty. Still I had a good time, and I took a
video of my encounter with the Giant Water Bug Lethocerus
which shows my amazement at catching something of such a
size. Its too large to email!
Best wishes,
Yours
faithfully,
Dave
Bentley BSc 79
Brecon Drive, Bury,
Lancs. BL9 9LE
UK T/F 0161 763 7832, 07944 122292
davebentley@pondconsultancy.fslife.co.uk,
18/07/2007
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