Another new species for Linacre!

 I've had a couple of 2-hour visits to Linacre this week and managed to record lots of insects, including a new species!

The first walk, on 28th, with 3 of the volunteer rangers, resulted in the new species, a queen Median Wasp, that was seen, basking on the bracken next to the middle reservoir.

Median Wasp

Other insects seen on this walk were: Common Blue Damselfly, Common Dater (1 - the first of the year), Brown Hawker (1), Migrant Hawker (1), Peacock (1), Gatekeeper (6), Green-veined White (3), Speckled Wood (1), Large White (2), Small Copper (2), Ringlet (1), Comma (1), Meadow Brown (a minimum of 10), Common Blue Butterfly (2 males, in the field beyond the top reservoir).

Common Blue Butterfly

The second walk, yesterday, didn't bring any new species, but it did give several interesting sightings, including a female Wall Brown, an egg-laying female Common Blue Butterfly (in the ringing site), a minimum of 10 Red Admirals and lots of 7-spot Ladybirds. Other sightings were: another Common Darter (down by the ringing site), 1 Migrant Hawker, 1 Brown Hawker, 9 Green-veined White, 1 Large White, 4 Meadow Browns, 4 Commas, 3 Speckled Woods and 1 Holly Blue.

Holly Blue and 7-spot Ladybird

Two species of hoverfly were also recorded: Volucella pellucens (2nd record of the year) and Volucella inanis (1st record of 2025).

Volucella inanis