The First First

I have been hoping that I may eventually score a new county record in Batch Valley, and last night I had confirmation that I had succeeded. Whilst I would have liked this be some stunning beetle or bug, or a new macro species in the moth trap, it was always more likely to come from one of the less recorded taxa, and so it was.

We are blessed in Shropshire with having a number of entomologists who are not only highly capable, but also happy to receive photographs and help to identify difficult species. Among their number is Pete Boardman, who whilst I have only met once had been full of support and ready to respond to entomological questions, particularly when it comes to craneflies.

When I returned from Pembrokeshire on 10 May, I noticed a cranefly on the side of the house. It looked different, so I took a couple of photographs with a view to sending them to Pete. Yesterday I finally got around to going through my recent pictures and sent them off to him. The reply came back very quickly.

"That's Triogma trisulcata - one of the Cylindrotomidae (long bodied craneflies) and it is NEW TO SHROPSHIRE :-) Fantastic stuff, it's a species I had hoped would turn up. If you look on the NBN Gateway you'll see it isn't a particularly common species in the Midlands"

Triogma trisulcata

Triogma trisulcata