Alive and Ticking
By Gary Farmer
Short-winged Coneheads (Conocephalus dorsalis) were
found again at Ipsley Alders Marsh this year. This is still the
only known location in the county for this species.
Last year I found only a single female nymph on one occasion
and an adult female later in the year. This did concern me that I
may have somehow transported an individual from Dorset (an area I
visit each year) or may be one had arrived on the leg of a Grey
Heron. I was relieved then, when this year I found a single
female nymph again. Quite a coincidence but at least this
confirmed that a breeding colony is present. I still felt that I
needed to find out how large the colony is so I invested in a
modified bat-detector and returned to the marsh later in the year
with the device. After searching in the area where I had found
the nymph without success I turned on the detector and it
immediately picked up the song of a Short-winged Conehead.
| The song is a rapid
ticking, lasting for several seconds before slowing down
(sounding like a helicopter on the bat-detector at this
point), pausing and then repeating. I headed towards the
source of the song when I heard another calling, then
another and another...... I soon realised that I was
surrounded by at least 20 stridulating males. This
display continued into October. Even with the detector I
found it really quite difficult to find them so they may
have been at the site for some years. In which case,
where else are they in the county ?
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| Short-winged Conehead (Conocephalus
dorsalis) at Ipsley Alders |