Sections

Left, unidentified 'toe biter' (Belostomatidae); Middle, Laccotrephes sp. (Nepidae) collected in Arabia; Right, Nepa cinerea (Nepidae) a British specimen. © The Natural History Museum

As you can see, the Belostomatid dwarfs them both! My supervisor tells me that the biggest Hemiptera are the Belostomatidae and some Pomponia cicada species. Our water scorpion is a relatively small member of the Nepidae, but the unidentified Arabian specimen looks remarkably similar.  I chose Laccotrephes sp. because it is part of the accessions, a veritable treasure trove of unidentified speciemens, and because it has nice patterns on the limbs.

Whilst looking for specimens to photograph, I noticed that the majority of siphons (the abodominal air tubes) of the Nepidae had separated into their two component tubes.

A few weekends ago I visited Wicken Fen, the UK’s oldest nature reserve. Since it was first bought in 1899 by the National Trust, the area of the reserve has increased from 0.008km² (2 acres) to 7.7km², and the trust plans to buy more of the surrounding land to enlarge it further.

Wicken Fen

The habitat of the reserve is a remnant of the formerly vast Cambridgeshire fenlands, land which is now used almost entirely (99.9%) for farming. The fen has long been a place of interest for entomologists, and continues to be so: as well as being species rich, the British Dragonfly Society will be opening a dragonfly center at the fen later in the year.

Even though I visited early in the year, the weather was nice and sunny, and I saw many insect species for the first time. On the start of our walk my girlfriend found a prowling water scorpion, Nepa cinerea, which was an exciting first Heteropteran bug of the year! This was also my first proper opportunity to use my new macro lens, and although I am still learning many basics, I was happy with most of the photos I took.

Water scoprion, Nepa cinerea

Some other firsts for me was seeing a slender groundhopper, Tetrix subulata, and a 24-spot ladybird, Subcoccinella 24-punctata. Whilst my girlfriend is (fortunately) fond of insects, she was particularly excited to see a common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, basking in the sun.

Common lizard, Zootoca vivipara

On the way back I saw many mining bees, Andrena clarkella, digging their burrows around an oak tree.

Mining bee, Adrena clarkella

I am hoping to visit Wicken Fen again soon, perhaps during my next holiday.