My old friend Vanna recently found a very rare beetle in Earlham Cemetery in Norwich and via her husband Jeremy I arranged a rendezvous with Vanna on Friday to try to seek them out. My expectations weren't high as a recent look by the finder when she took one back she'd taken home to study had failed to reveal any. Lifting the rotting log she'd found them under however revealed 2 straight away which were quickly joined by a 3rd. And what are they? Graveyard Beetle, Rhizophagus parallelocollis. A 2mm long beetle with a close association with graveyards and crypts where they feed on decaying organic matter. I will leave the rest to your imagination! This was the first record at the site since 1904, indeed there are very few county records of this unobtrusive tiny beetle.
When we'd photographed them we let them be and had a wander around a few spots in the cemetery checking for anything else. And very productive it was with 7 species of ladybird recorded despite it not being a very good year for them - Cream-streaked, Cream-spot, Pine, Harlequin, 7-spot, 10-spot and the tiny and very local species Red-headed Rhizobius. That wasn't all though, we (mainly Vanna!) also found the beetles Birch Catkin Bug, Orsillus depressus, Deraeocoris lutescens and Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Beetle. There were 2 new harvestmen for me too with Spring Harvestman and the rare Dicranopalpus larvatus plus Spotted Snake Millipede.
Signs of botanical spring included Snowdrop, Winter Aconite, Groundsel and Primrose in flower.
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