Silverfish

Found in our bath a few mornings back: a silverfish Lepisma saccharina (Thysanura: Lepismatidae ).  This is the most familiar species of the Thysanura, the bristletails, which are an order of insects that have never, in the whole of their evolutionary history, had wings.

According to Michael Chinery (Complete British Insects, Collins, 2005, page 11), silverfish eat "a variety of starchy materials including the glue of cartons and bookbindings".  We often discover them on the bathroom floor in when we switch the light on in the night.  There they presumably feed on maize starch in the talcum powder that my wife and daughter spill.

Photos taken in Reading, UK, on 2010-04-10.

White Slime Mould

What I think is one of the stages in the lifecycle of slime mould Enteridium lycoperdon (= Reticularia lycoperdon).

When it first appears, this species looks like a small pile of grated coconut.  It then consolidates into a solid globule and develops a silvery crust which then cracks open to reveal a fine brown, powdery, mass of spores.

The following specimen appears to be slightly less mature than the above one.

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-04-11.

Wood Anenome

Wood anenome (Anenome nemorosa).

Photo taken in Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-04-09.

Another Orange Slime Mould

From a week ago, another orange slime mould.  This one is also growing on rotting silver birch logs, and its fruiting bodies are much smaller than the Lycogala shown here, so it is possible that it is just an immature specimen of the same species.

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-04-05.

Sawfly

A small black sawfly, probably a Tenthredinid Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae).  It looks similar to some species of Dolerus but I don't feel confident in picking out which species.  [Note added 2010-11-08: The head looks too shiny for Dolerus, which are quite furry about the head.  It is most likely some other genus.]

Photos taken in the Wilderness, Whiteknights Park, Reading University grounds, Reading, UK, on 2010-04-11.