Harris Clements

Cheers :) I believe it is Asaphidion curtum

Phaedon tumidulus

Donacia species (maybe simplex?)

Altica species

Otiorhynchus raucus

Aspidapion aeneum

Liparis coronatus

Amphimallon solstitiale

Onthophagus coenobita

Cetonia aurata

Saperda populnea

Rhynchites auratus

Asaphidion curtum

A gallery of some interesting beetle species from previous years I've recorded in Essex... 🪲 🌱

#essexwildlife #essexbeetles #britishbeetles #britishinsects #entomology #scarab #wildlife #coleoptera #iRecord #insects #britishbugs

Shipworm (see last repost) & other tunnelling molluscs from the Oxford Book of Invertebrates (1971)

According to www.octospora.de/species_info... spores are "21-28 x 10-11 µm", larger than many other Octospora species. @ilichenmoss2.bsky.social suggested this species on iNat due to the 'cigar-shaped spores, paraphyses curved apically'. I did not measure this specimen unfortunately.

Assorted lichen and moss on a short stick.

Assorted lichen on a tree trunk.

Lichen on a cherry tree trunk.

Assorted lichen on a tree trunk.

Good morning.

#algae #liverworts #bryophytes #eppingforest #essex #london #essexwildlife #essexplants #britishflora #microscopy

Additionally in the bog: Bog Pondweed, Potamogeton polygonifolius (first two images) and within the water the very common desmid Euastrum binale gutwinskii, identified with the 4th photo 📚. I've found it in virtually every acidic body of water I've ever looked at under the microscope. 🔬

A couple of #bryophytes from back in April 2025 in Epping forest. 🌱🌲 Abundant Sphagnum bogs with lush growth present as well as Mnium hornum (Swan's-neck Thyme-moss) and Lepidozia reptans (Creeping Fingerwort).

#lichens #bryophytes #britishmosses #moss #britishlichensociety #britishbyrologicalsociety #limestone #lime #chelmsford

A mix of mosses and lichens on a monument.

And lastly I've a mix of species; the darker green moss in the left I suspect is the Dusky Beard Moss Didymodon luridus. As for the lighter moss I am not so sure. Also there is a pretty cool lichen on the top and bottom, some sort of cyanobacterium-containing species. Blennothallia? 🌿🌱🍄

Large moss on a tombstone.

Just besides the Orthotrichum was this Syntrichia species, a type of Screw-moss which looked attractive with its large leaves and long hair points.

Moss on the cathedral walls.

Enjoying the base-rich mortar on the cathedral walls is this clump which I believe to be Vinealobryum vineale, Soft-tufted Beard Moss.

Moss in fruit on a tombstone.

Some of my recent photos of some rock-dwelling bryophytes from the grounds of Chelmsford Cathedral:

Here is the common Anomalous Bristle-moss, Orthotrichum anomalum, fruiting happily on an old grave, enjoying the calcareous rock it is composed of (assuming limestone?). 🌿🌱

A white snail with a horn shaped house walking on a brown leaf.

There is a 2 mm long snail in my leaf box.

Carychium tridentatum.
#snails #invertebrates

Another Octospora #ascomycete fungus seen recently, this one in Chelmsford on an old grave with the accompanying Grimmia host.

#britishferns #britishplants #nativeplants #ferns #urbanplants #BSBI

Probable A. adiantum-nigrum growing under the Chelmsford viaduct near the train station.

A. scolopendrium close up on the walls surrounding the Chelmsford cathedral.

Ferns growing up a wall alongside a drain pipe.

A nice mosaic of urban fern growth in #Chelmsford the other day. Asplenium scolopendrium (Harts-tongue Fern), A. trichomanes (Maidenhair Spleenwort) and A. adiantum-nigrum (Black Spleenwort) growingly healthily. 🌿 There were even small plants of the Wall Rue, A. ruta-muraria!

Not 100% sure on the moss species, but Torula muralis (the common Wall Screw Moss) was abundant. #brtiishbryologicalsociety #mosses #tortulamuralis #bryophytes #britishmosses

(Lichens tentatively IDed as Variospora flavescens and Diploicia canescens from first to last).

#brtishfungi #lichens #moss #Galerina #mushroom #britishmushrooms #maldon #wallhabitat

Three Galerina mushrooms frying on a mossy wall.

Some small Moss Bells (Galerina), not sure on the species, but seen fruiting on this nice moss/ lichen covered wall in #Maldon. Mortar between bricks possibly lime, as there were a few lichens suggesting a more calcareous environment.

Looks interesting 👀

An interesting feature about this fungus and a few (but not all) Arrhenia is the lack of gills which is quite unusual for a basidiomycete fungus (the group containing most fungi you and I call 'mushrooms'). 🍄

#britishfungi #fungi #fungus #oysterling #Arrhenia #basidiomycete #mosses #britishmosses

Arrhenia retiruga growing happily on Grimmia pulvinata on a wall.

A different view of Arrhenia retiruga hrowing happily on a mossy wall.

Stereo microscope photo of the Arrhenia

Stereo microscope photo of the Arrhenia

🍄‍🟫 Another parasitic fungus that frequents mossy walls (photos from back in December):

I've identified this one as Arrhenia retiruga, with the common name Small Moss Oysterling according to #iNaturalist. Seems to like the common cushion moss #Grimmia as a host which it parasites upon.

#orchids #britishorchids #essexwildflowers #essexorchids #essexflowers #pyramidalorchid #unimprovedgrassland #beeorchid

And lastly, the lovely splotchy leaves of the Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula) in woodland in the northern half of the county. 🌳

Here's a plant I think is the Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa); this species I've also only seen once but this plant here seemed to like damp unimproved grassland besides a pond. 🪻🌧️