Dave Appleton
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applewildlife.bsky.social
Dave Appleton
@applewildlife.bsky.social
Interested in pretty much any wildlife, especially birds, moths and a host of other insect groups. Norfolk county recorder for lacewings and allied insects.

Based in North Elmham, Norfolk, UK.
Still working through specimens from last year… Here’s a beetle family-tick from 11th July: Orchesia micans (Melandryidae). I found this one indoors at home. Not very common apparently. #UKBeetles
January 29, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Filed my self assessment tax return about four days earlier than usual, so to celebrate here are some snaps of a funny robin I saw recently in Sheringham #EasternBlackRedstart #NorfolkBirding 🪶
January 27, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Apparently there are still people out there who don’t pour Baileys on their Frosties. I recommend it, but maybe not for breakfast. #dessert
January 25, 2026 at 8:32 PM
For the first time since the spring, I'm up to date getting my photos off my camera. Best bird photo is this showy Sparrowhawk from a visit to family in the Lakes with @andyappleton.bsky.social in Nov. Best local patch bird was this Black-bellied Dipper at Bintree Mill in Dec. #NorfolkBirding 🪶
January 11, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Certainly get that impression. I've not been entirely consistent with recording these at my garden moth trap but have done so more diligently in recent years - yet recorded fewer. This chart shows the numbers I've recorded by year.
January 7, 2026 at 9:14 PM
I've only just got round to processing the photos from that day so here are some more: one of 6 Little Stints, a Little Ringed Plover and a Ruff. All birds I don't see on my local patch very often.

#Titchwell 🪶
January 3, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Here's a Grey Heron, a Redshank and a Sparrowhawk, from a rare visit to the coast in the summer. Not a very good photo of any of them.

#NorfolkBirding #Birds 🪶
January 3, 2026 at 10:42 PM
How rare is it to find Pholcus phalangioides in the middle of a field 1/2km from a building? Found in a suction sample in Sept but I wonder if it could have entered the bag while the sampler was at home? I'd have shaken the bag out prior to sampling but maybe missed it? @britishspiders.bsky.social
December 20, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Is it safe to call this Callitula pyrrhogaster or are there any confusion species? I can't find a relevant key but it looks like other photos of this species and it's supposed to be distinctive. It's 1.5mm long and was found by suction in late July in grass at the edge of wet woodland in Norfolk.
November 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A good day to come across this account: apparently it’s the 10th anniversary of my Brown Shrike find…
October 20, 2025 at 7:24 PM
In case anyone's interested, here are the faces of each species (yellow except for a dark central keel on signatus, yellow with a pair of thick dark stripes on brevirostris). I had originally doubted my brevirostris ID as the femora had dark patches but comparing each one's epandrium settled it.
October 12, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I had fun identifying Conopid flies today including two recent Ivy Waspgrabbers (Leopoldius signatus) and one from last year. Armed with this experience I revisited and confirmed a suspected Early Waspgrabber (Leopoldius brevirostris) from 2020, quite rare apparently. All four had come to light.
October 12, 2025 at 10:50 PM
The number of Harlequin Ladybirds hibernating in my kitchen went up yesterday: 18 late morning, up to at least 54 by evening. I usually get 2- and 7-spot Ladybirds hibernating in my study and Harlequins in the kitchen but this is more than usual.
October 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I'm working on my specimens caught over the summer. This from my garden moth trap on 13th June appears to be Deleaster dichrous, although there were some problems keying it (tarsus 4 not simple for starters). Not many records in Norfolk (only one up to the end of 2021, don't know after that).
October 3, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Diasemiopsis ramburialis (Migrant Sable) in mid Norfolk last night. I’ve caught lots of good moths here incl. 3 county firsts but this may be the rarest @migrantmothuk.bsky.social so far.

4th for Norfolk (3rd this year) unless @norfolkmoths.bsky.social has others pending.

#NorfolkMoths #TeamMoth
September 20, 2025 at 3:49 PM
I like it when a #newt shows up at my moth trap. I've had Smooth Newts here a few times now but previously they've always been unspotty juveniles (one was a little spotty).

#Amphibians
September 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
It would be great to have an up-to-date book on Europe's lacewings etc. but this isn't it. A hefty price for a small book that covers a small % of its too-big scope. The plates are mainly set specimens, too small to be of use. Some useful detail but limited value with so much omitted. More in ALT.
September 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I caught this Wasp Nest Beetle (Metoecus paradoxus) in my moth trap last night, a new species and family for me. They lay eggs in rotting wood that a wasp might harvest. If one does then the larvae climb on to the wasp, hitch a lift to its nest and then parasitise the wasp larvae. Neat trick.
September 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
How many generations do Ruby Tigers have? They're said to have two, one in spring and a larger one in Jul-Sep. But my records show a dip in late Aug, and phenology charts at @norfolkmoths.bsky.social & other county websites reflect this pattern so I wonder if they have 3, spring, Jun-Aug & Sep?
September 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Best thing in the trap this week was the mayfly Heptagenia sulphurea (Common Yellow Dun) which has quite a restricted distribution in East Anglia. See ALT text for notes about its changing eye colour. Also two Clifden Nonpareils were nice, the first time I've caught two in a year. #NorfolkMoths
September 6, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Three more lacebugs Kalama tricornis today, this time in pitfall traps. Two were in the same place as the one I found by suction yesterday. I look forward to encountering more lacebugs - they're rather smart. Platydracus stercorarius was quite striking for a rove beetle, even on its last legs.
August 26, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I enjoyed some productive suction-sampling today. Lots still to identify but among the highlights was my first (long-awaited) lacebug: Kalama tricornis. Also Angle-spotted Scymnus (Scymnus frontalis), one of the commoner inconspicuous ladybirds to have eluded me until now. #UKbugs #UKbeetles
August 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I've twice caught November Moths where the tegumen was separate from the rest of the genitalia which consisted of a globular structure presumably consisting of malformed valvae and sacculus, with the loose aedeagus emerging through an opening. Here's an Elachista atricomella with similar deformity.
August 18, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Yesterday I found this Figwort Sawfly (Tenthredo scrophulariae) in my garden in a pheremone lure trap that hadn't been set. A decade and a day previously I'd found a larva on my garden Buddleia.

It must have been a good day for them as a friend in Sandwich had one for the first time too.
August 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
I've been processing some of my finds from early-mid May and here are four of the highlights from fieldwork. They're not all rare, but were all new to me: Phratora laticollis, Elachista adscitella (Oblique-barred Grass-miner), Gyrohypnus angustatus and Lilioceris lilii (Lily Beetle). #NorfolkMoths
August 8, 2025 at 10:07 AM