Mesopsocus immunis (male) found in the Kingmoor Nature Reserve, 9 June 18 (2 of 2)
Adult male Mesopsocus immunis barkfly collected from the Kingmoor South Nature Reserve, Carlisle, on 9 June 18.
Nailed one at last!
I devoted a lot of effort last year to finding and photographing Mesopsocus barkflies in the Carlisle area, but was unable to establish with confidence whether they were Mesopsocus immunis or M. unipunctatus - although on the balance of probabilities, the former seemed more likely. A summary of the findings was presented here:
www.flickr.com/photos/8453647@N05/36504946125
As there are currently no county records for either of these species - presumably due to identification issues - I set myself the task this year of pinning down the id of at least one specimen with the aid of my recently acquired SX10D microscope.
Earlier in the month I collected an adult female Mesopsocus from Kingmoor Sidings but even after microscopic examination of relevant area (the subgenital plate) I was unable confirm its identity (see photo posted 3 June). Nevertheless, I thought it might be worth having a go with a male specimen as the relevant feature in this case (the parameres) seemed to be more distinctive.
So yesterday I spent a few hours searching Kingmoor South, Kingmoor Sidings and Wreay Woods for some adult males. Although at least 20 females were found, only 2 males were seen, and one of these had grossly deformed wings. Consequently only one specimen, found in Kingmoor South, was retained for examination. Unfortunately, it can be seen from Photo 2 that even in this case at least one of the wings is defective - although the damage was perhaps caused when the insect was collected.
The parameres - part of the external reproductive organ - are shown in the Photo 2 insert, and can be compared with the images (bottom) included in the National Barkfly Recording Scheme (Britain and Ireland) web site for the two species:
Mosopsocus immunis:
www.brc.ac.uk/schemes/barkfly/key/A1-B-C2-D20-E1.htm
Mosopsocus unipunctatus:
www.brc.ac.uk/schemes/barkfly/key/A1-B-C2-D20-E2.htm
In fact the simplified sketches presented on P118 of the relevant RES handbook* are perhaps easier to follow. The associated notes explain that in the former case the external (ie the outer) lobe is weakly dilated and distinctly shorter than the internal lobe; whereas in the latter case, the external lobe is strongly dilated and about the same length as the internal lobe.
The specimen is therefore clearly Mosopsocus immunis.
It should be noted that as the two species are often found in close proximity, it certainly cannot be said that all of the specimens previously found in Kingmoor South are necessarily Mosopsocus immunis.
* Ref 1: Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, Volume 1, Part 7: Psocoptera (booklice, barklice), Second Edition, T.R. New (Royal Entomological Society, 2005)
Mesopsocus immunis (male) found in the Kingmoor Nature Reserve, 9 June 18 (2 of 2)
Adult male Mesopsocus immunis barkfly collected from the Kingmoor South Nature Reserve, Carlisle, on 9 June 18.
Nailed one at last!
I devoted a lot of effort last year to finding and photographing Mesopsocus barkflies in the Carlisle area, but was unable to establish with confidence whether they were Mesopsocus immunis or M. unipunctatus - although on the balance of probabilities, the former seemed more likely. A summary of the findings was presented here:
www.flickr.com/photos/8453647@N05/36504946125
As there are currently no county records for either of these species - presumably due to identification issues - I set myself the task this year of pinning down the id of at least one specimen with the aid of my recently acquired SX10D microscope.
Earlier in the month I collected an adult female Mesopsocus from Kingmoor Sidings but even after microscopic examination of relevant area (the subgenital plate) I was unable confirm its identity (see photo posted 3 June). Nevertheless, I thought it might be worth having a go with a male specimen as the relevant feature in this case (the parameres) seemed to be more distinctive.
So yesterday I spent a few hours searching Kingmoor South, Kingmoor Sidings and Wreay Woods for some adult males. Although at least 20 females were found, only 2 males were seen, and one of these had grossly deformed wings. Consequently only one specimen, found in Kingmoor South, was retained for examination. Unfortunately, it can be seen from Photo 2 that even in this case at least one of the wings is defective - although the damage was perhaps caused when the insect was collected.
The parameres - part of the external reproductive organ - are shown in the Photo 2 insert, and can be compared with the images (bottom) included in the National Barkfly Recording Scheme (Britain and Ireland) web site for the two species:
Mosopsocus immunis:
www.brc.ac.uk/schemes/barkfly/key/A1-B-C2-D20-E1.htm
Mosopsocus unipunctatus:
www.brc.ac.uk/schemes/barkfly/key/A1-B-C2-D20-E2.htm
In fact the simplified sketches presented on P118 of the relevant RES handbook* are perhaps easier to follow. The associated notes explain that in the former case the external (ie the outer) lobe is weakly dilated and distinctly shorter than the internal lobe; whereas in the latter case, the external lobe is strongly dilated and about the same length as the internal lobe.
The specimen is therefore clearly Mosopsocus immunis.
It should be noted that as the two species are often found in close proximity, it certainly cannot be said that all of the specimens previously found in Kingmoor South are necessarily Mosopsocus immunis.
* Ref 1: Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, Volume 1, Part 7: Psocoptera (booklice, barklice), Second Edition, T.R. New (Royal Entomological Society, 2005)