Vanna Bartlett

@vannabartlett

Artist, naturalist, author, cyclist. Loves insects/invertebrates especially solitary bees & harvestmen. County Recorder for Harvestmen and Pseudoscorpions. Hefted to Norfolk. Website

713 Siguiendo1710 Seguidores3298 Publicaciones

Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y vannabartlett.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· 8d

A quick check of Gorse bushes at NWT Sweet Briar Marshes today and I found my first Gorse Lacebugs (Dictyonota strichnocera) and the capsid bug Platycranus bicolor (at least I think it is!).

A pair of Lace bugs on the spiky green stem of a Gorse bush. The bugs have lace like forewings, thick black antennae and a black head. The thorax is also black with three pale ridges running down the centre.

A pale greenish capsid bug sitting head down on the spiky green stem of a Gorse bush. The bug is covered in whitish scale like hairs. It has pale yellow antennae and grey eyes.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· 8d

A Mullein plant at NWT Sweet Briar Marshes, Norwich yielded some nice finds today - Mullein Aphids (Aphis verbasci), Ant Nest Ladybird (Platynaspis luteorubra) and Lacebug Acalypta parvula. I have seen lots of reports of the ladybird this year so it was really great to find one (only my second).

The pale grey 'fluffy' underside of a Mullein leaf with several pale yellowish aphids attended by a single black ant. The aphids have dark siphunculi (a pair of short spine like protrusions from the rear of the abdomen); a few are winged and these ones have a black head and thorax.

A small black ladybird beetle with four red spots sitting with its head tucked in on a green leaf. The ladybird is covered in fine, pale short hairs.

A tiny pale grey lacebug on the 'fluffy' pale grey underside of a Mullein leaf. The bug has red eyes and antennae that have dark swollen tips.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· 10d

Yesterdays 43 mile cycle ride with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social took in 5 churches. Churchyards are all parched/barren, virtually lifeless even where areas left uncut. No pseuds outside in the heat but inside a couple treasure awaited - Cheiridium museorum aka Book Scorpion, alive and well.

A flint built Norfolk church with a square tower and slate roof. A bicycle propped by the south porch. Blue sky with a few small, white clouds and dark pine trees behind to the right. The churchyard in the foreground is parched browned grass, left long but dead in the heat and drought. A gravel path leads up to the doorway.

A flint built, square towered church with a red pan tile roof sitting on a slight rise. A large expanse of blue sky with the sparsest of white cloud. Dark leaved trees to either side. The ground in front of the church is parched and virtually bare, grass mostly cut so short that it has completely frizzled up. A few, straggly bits of longer vegetation between the slanting gravestones are also dead and dry.

A flint built church with red pan tile roof and a short, squat square tower. Bule sky and clouds behind with long foreground shadows cast by unseen trees. The churchyard is parched dry grass, mostly mown but some left longer.

A tiny, reddish-brown pseudoscorpion heading right with its claws held out to either side in front of it, next to the remains of a Harlequin Ladybird's wingcase (pale orange with black spots). On a pinkish stone with white and grey patches.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· 18d

I wasn't 100% certain! Checked in the garden though and took these pics: development of Wild Carrot from small tight bud starting to open to white disc of fully open flowerhead, ending in curled up inflorescence with ripening seeds visible.

A Wild Carrot plant in amongst dry grasses, the flower bud just starting to open, showing small whitish flowers.

A Wild Carrot plant with a more developed flowerhead just opening out with numerous small white flowers unfurling.

Flowerhead of Wild Carrot - a white disc of many small flowers.

Seedhead of Wild Carrot - the inflorescence has curled over into itself and the developing seeds can be seen.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· 20d

No trip to the seaside is complete without rolling over some dry horse dung to see what is underneath (it's slightly more pleasant than turning over dead seals...). This pile at Holkham didn't disappoint with my first Armadillidium album. Thanks to @jeremybartlett.bsky.social for first photo.

A figure wearing a grey peaked cap and a blue jacket with a black and yellow rucksack on their back crouching on a sandy beach and peering at the underside of a large lump of dry horse dung. A short handled net with white mesh bag lies on the sand in front of the figure.

Two small, pale sandy coloured woodlice half curled up on some damp sand. A pink human finger is just visible top right corner giving an indication of the size of the woodlice.

Close up of one of the woodlice in amongst the sand grains. It is a pale sandy colour with a broad, darker brown central band that has very pale flecks on it.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jul 12

A great day for pseudoscorpions yesterday. Took advantage of cooler weather & cycled 45 miles with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social taking in 4 churches. Chthonius ischnocheles at all 4 in churchyard. Inside 3, Cheiridium museorum, inc live individuals (often find dead ones). A good days recording.

A square towered Norfolk church with two bicycles (one with the cyclist standing next to it) propped against the flint boundary wall. A wooden gate is half open, leading into the grassy churchyard. The church is on a slight rise, grey sky behind. There are bushes and trees alongside the road to the left of the photo and bushes in the foreground to the right.

Chthonius ischnocheles (1 of 8 seen during the day): facing right on a grey stone, it has a dark brown head with reddish chelicerae, a paler brown body and pale, reddish claws and legs.

Two tiny Cheiridium museorum on a pale grey stone ledge inside a church. They are slightly smaller than a pin head, with a flattened, tear-drop shaped body and a pair of 'arms' that end in claws.

Close-up of a Cheiridium museorum, facing right. This one has a tiny thrip in its chelicerae. A total of eleven live ones were found inside two different churches. Numerous dead ones were also found, some snagged in cobwebs, in three of the four churches visited.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jul 9

Had a male Melitta haemorrhoidalis patrolling the patch of Bellflowers in our garden in Norwich earlier in the week, then found him roosting inside one of the flowers yesterday evening. Today, a female turned up and spent her time collecting pollen and nectar from the Bellflowers.

A pale purple Campanula flower with a smallish bee tucked up deep inside the flower. You can just make out the bees head, it is upside down.

A fairly large bee hovering in its approach to a pale purple flower. The bee is to the right with the flower to the left. The bee has a dark abdomen with reddish hairs at the tip and pale partial hair bands. The top of the thorax is brown, with a darker band across the centre. The bee has yellowish pollen on its hind legs that has been mixed with nectar to help it adhere to the pollen hairs.

A fairly large bee hovering in its approach to a pale purple flower. The bee is slightly above the flowers, coming down. The bee has a dark abdomen with reddish hairs at the tip and pale partial hair bands. The top of the thorax is brown, with a darker band across the centre. The bee has yellowish pollen on its hind legs that has been mixed with nectar to help it adhere to the pollen hairs.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jul 6

One of my favourite robberflies, Choerades marginatus, sitting poised and alert on a leaf. Foxley wood, Norfolk, yesterday. #Flies #Diptera #Insects

A robberfly sitting face-on on a pale green leaf. The robberfly has large bluish-green eyes, black legs and a black abdomen that has tufts of golden hairs along the sides. There are white hairs on the lower 'face' between the eyes with some longer, black hairs below them.

A robberfly sitting facing left on a pale green leaf. The robberfly has large bluish-green eyes, black legs and a black abdomen that has tufts of golden hairs along the sides. There are white hairs on the lower 'face' between the eyes with some longer, black hairs below them.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jun 29

A shortish cycle ride (27 miles) on Sunday with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social to a small local wood yielded some nice inverts. Large Skipper was the only butterfly out of 16 species seen that posed for a photo. More obliging were Chthonius ischnocheles & the ever-lovely Lacinius ephippiatus.

A concrete track with a raised kerb running alongside a dense bit of woodland in dappled sun with deep shade. A green bicycle is propped on the kerb.

Large Skipper butterfly sitting with its wings closed on a bramble leaf, facing right. The butterfly is quite small and pale tawny orange.

A pseudoscorpion on stone in sunshine, facing left. The pseudoscorpion has a dark brown head and a slightly lighter body. Its pincers are pale reddish.

A harvestman on a piece of wood in bright sunshine, head uppermost. The harvestman is pale greyish brown with a very dark rectangular 'saddle' down the middle of its back.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jun 25

Even though the gazebo has been up all week to give some shade, the grumpy old bear is still complaining.

A cuddly teddy bear with a bottle of San Miguel beer, sitting on a wooden stool by a barrel table in the shade of a white gazebo. Behind is a sunny garden with a studio and lots of greenery.

Close up of cuddly bear with bottle of beer.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jun 25

Too hot to do much outside this week so catching up with some drawing work. These are proving rather tricky: 4 plates illustrating Norfolk harvestmen. T. H. Savory was correct when he said the study of harvestmen is a study of legs!

4 sheets of white A4 paper laid out on a table and overlapping each other slightly. Each page has at least 7 harvestmen drawn on it either in pencil or black ink in various stages of completeness. Only one sheet (2nd from left) has the fine details inked in. Most of the harvestmen have long legs and the drawings overlap and interweave.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jun 21

Some wonderful aphids on birch at Meathop Moss, Cumbria last week: Glyphina betulae, accompanied by ants (don't know species). Seen with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social @norwichbirder.bsky.social @caryocatactes.bsky.social

The new shoot of a small birch tree coming into leaf and covered with aphids, attended by two reddish-brown ants. The aphids start of green but as they grow they turn dark blackish with a thin white dorsal stripe and four oval white spots.

The new shoot of a small birch tree coming into leaf and covered with aphids, attended by a reddish-brown ant. The aphids start of green but as they grow they turn dark blackish with a thin white dorsal stripe and four oval white spots. One of the aphids has wings.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jun 21

Star find from Cumbria last week: the psyllid Craspedolepta subpunctata on Rosebay Willowherb at Sandscale Haws. Saw several mating pairs, all of which had produced a wax globule as seen in first 2 photos. @norwichbirder.bsky.social

A pair of pale yellowish psyllids on the pinkish stem of Rosebay Willowherb with green leaves behind them. There is a transparent globe of wax on the conjoined rear ends of the mating psyllids.

A single, pale yellowish psyllid head down on the green stem of a Rosebay Willowherb plant. There is a waxy globe attached to the rear end.

A pale yellowish psyllid head down on a green stem of Rosebay Willowherb.

A pale yellowish psyllid facing left on a pinkish leaf stem. The tips of the antennae are dark and the eyes are dark and reddish. The ends of the wing veins are dark.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Jun 11

I've cropped @ianbeavis.bsky.social photo and high lighted the pedicel with a blue arrow. The pedicel is the thin black 'stalk' joining the rear of the thorax to the front of the abdomen. In the photo of a Figwort Sawfly (taken from Brock's insect book) you can see that there is no pedicel.

A brown crab spider clutching a large black and yellow solitary wasp on a green leaf. A blue arrow drawn over the image is pointing out the thin black pedicel that joins the wasp's thorax to its abdomen.

Photograph of the photo of a Figwort Sawfly taken from Paul Brock's Insect Book. A blue arrow is pointing to the junction between the thorax and the abdomen which clearly is not constricted in any way.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· May 26

Help from #Harvestmen #Opiliones fans requested! I am looking for photos of Leiobunum limbatum, Leiobunum gracile (tisciae) & Dasylobus graniferus for a project I'm working on. These are European species that have recently been recorded in the UK. Reply to this post or message me if you can help.

The harvestman Dicranopalpus larvatus sitting on the underside of a pale piece of wood. This is a male, he is a pale whitish colour with black around the eyes and at the front of the carapace, and a large black patch on the rear of his abdomen giving him a pied appearance. His pedipalps are shaped like tuning forks and held up rather protectively looking in front of him. His eight legs are held splayed out to the sides.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· May 12

After months of work my Norfolk Pseudoscorpion guide for @norfolknats.bsky.social is now on the website free to see/download. Covers 20 species recorded in Norfolk so hopefully useful for other areas of UK. norfolknaturalists.org.uk/wp/wp-conten...

Dendrochernes cyrneus, a large pseudoscorpion with robust shiny, blackish claws on a piece of tree bark.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 30

The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Coleoptera... 2/2. A Black-headed Cardinal Beetle with two Chernes cimicoides pseudoscorpions clinging to its legs; behaviour known as phoresy: they grab onto the beetle to hitch a lift to a new habitat when the one they are in is no longer suitable.

A beetle with red wing cases and pronotum and a black head sitting rather upright on the end of a dry plant stem. The beetle has serrated black antennae and black legs. A tiny brown pseudoscorpion is clinging on to its front left leg and another is on its rear right leg (hidden in shadow).

A side view of the beetle with the two pseudoscorpions still clinging on to its legs. The pseudoscorpion on the front leg can be seen to be holding on tightly with one of its powerful claws gripped around the base of the beetle's tibia where it is at its narrowest.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 30

The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Coleoptera... 1/2.

A Black-headed Cardinal Beetle with long red wing cases, a red pronotum and a black head. The antennae are long and black with short spines on the segments making them serrated. The beetle is sitting on a fallen tree and is facing right. It has black legs, two of which have small round, brownish creatures clinging to them.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 29

Lovely encounter with Ant Lion larvae at Holkham yesterday.

A small, circular depression in grey sand with the little round, flat head with wide open jaws of an Ant Lion larva poking out at the bottom and to one side.

An Ant Lion larvae half out of the sand facing away from the viewer. It has a large grey body with short legs and a small head that has long, slender mandibles.

An Ant Lion larva sitting on someone's hand, facing towards the viewer with its head down. It has a grey body with a smallish head that has formidable long thin jaws.

Close-up of the head of an Ant Lion larva showing the amazing long curved jaws with teeth and spines running the length of them. The head is quite small and has stout bristles down the sides. The body is covered in grains of sand. It has quite thin, short spindly legs that have bristles along their length.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 26

A rare 'day off' for me and a chance to indulge in some drawing. These were sketched from a series of photos taken by @jeremybartlett.bsky.social of Segestria senoculata that I managed to lure out of their retreat by tickling the 'trip wire' with a piece of grass. Gone over in black ink.

A piece of A4 white paper with three black ink drawings of the spider Segestria senoculata and an unfinished pencil sketch of a hole in a wall that houses another spider. From left to right the drawings show a spider with just its first three pairs of legs poking out of the hole it is in, next is the whole spider just outside the hole and the third drawing is of another individual out in the open. The spider has a dark cephalothorax and large dark, shiny chelicerae. The abdomen is pale with a dark almost zigzag pattern down the back.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 18

An absolutely gorgeous queen Dolichovespula media collecting wood fibres in a churchyard today. I briefly thought it was a Hornet to begin with she was that big. I've only seen workers before and not many at that. Fairly scarce in Norfolk I think. With @jeremybartlett.bsky.social

A large queen wasp sitting upright on a wooden post chewing off fibres for her nest. The wasp has a black thorax with reddish patches on the shoulder bordered with a yellow 'tick' mark and a black and yellow banded abdomen. There are reddish marks on the rear of the thorax.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 18

Pseudoscorpions are starting to be easier to find now the weather's warming up. I carried on surveying churchyards all through winter & kept drawing blanks. Re-visits in April have proved very successful with several 'blank' churchyards now having records. Even got another East Norfolk Roncus!

Intwood church on a lovely sunny day with blue sky and fluffy white clouds behind the tall, round flint tower. Two bicycles are leaning against the flint porch.

Ephippiochthonius tetrachelatus: a pale yellowish coloured pseudoscorpion sitting on a whitish piece of render. It has pale pinkish claws with a characteristic 'dimple' on the top of the claw hand.

Chthonius ischnocheles: a rather dark, shiny brown pseudoscorpion sitting on a piece of reddish brick facing right. Its claws and jaws are reddish.

Roncus lubricus: a slender pseudoscorpion with brown abdomen and shiny reddish head and claws facing right on a pale, whitish stone. The pseudoscorpions pedipalps are very long and are held wide open in front of the animal as it runs along.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 18

My homage to a rookery, painted quite a few years ago. Photo doesn't do it justice (artificial light). Hangs in the stairwell so see it every morning. I think the Rooks look like they are peering over edge of hot air balloon baskets - I imagine them off ballooning!

A painting of bare tree with Rook nests and Rooks against a pale blue sky.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Apr 3

A good way to spend a Good Friday: find a good grass heap, do a bit of gentle sieving (panning for pseudoscorpion gold) and find a few good pseuds, in this case Lamprochernes nodosus. #arachnids #pseudoscorpions #invertebrates

A large, old grass heap with a green plastic sieve and a brown plastic tray and a pair of gardening gloves on the ground in front of it. The tray and sieve have bits of material from the grass heap in them.

A look down on the brown plastic tray where there are bits of material sieved from the grass heap and two small, reddish brown pseudoscorpions.

Close-up of one of the pseudoscorpions in the plastic tray, facing right with its large claws held out wide in front of it.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Mar 30

Harvestmen are difficult to draw at the best of times, this study of Nemastomella bacillifera is proving hard work and taking a lot of concentration to work on. I'm working from several photos of 3 different individuals I saw last week.

A pencil drawing partly worked over in black ink of a harvestman with long spines on its abdomen. Drawn on white paper, the drawing includes some sketches of how the leg coxae are formed and the ocularium on the right hand side. There are quite a few pencil smudges and evidence of rubbing out. The harvestman is shown from the side.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Mar 28

A successful trip to Plymouth last week to see a couple of unusual harvestmen: Nemastomella bacillifera & Scotolemon doriae. Many thanks to @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social for joining us & finding them, we certainly wouldn't have found the Scotolemon without his expert knowledge. #harvestmen

A black harvestman with pale orange patches on its abdomen facing left on a pale grey stone. It has long black legs and dark pedipalps held bent into a triangle shape in front of it. The most striking feature of this harvestman is the double row of long, blunt-tipped spines running down its back.

A tiny orange harvestman sitting head down on the underside of a pale grey rock with its legs mostly scrunched up around it.

A tiny orange harvestman facing right on a pale grey rock walking speedily along with its pedipalps partly raised.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Mar 27

Well spotted! That's the 'polar shelf' so I shouldn't be surprised.

A shelf with books on it, most of which are on the subject of polar exploration. The shelf above has classical music cds.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Mar 27

The house was a bit chilly when we got home from a week away...

A white room thermostat reading 13.5 degrees centigrade sitting on a shelf with some music cds behind it and some books on the shelf below.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Mar 19

One of my favourite planthoppers putting in its annual appearance in our garden in Norwich: Asiraca clavicornis. And a drawing I did of one a few years ago. #insects #invertebrates

A brownish-grey planthopper sitting on a green leaf facing left, in bright sunshine. The bug has stick like antennae that project out to either side of its head which end in a fine filament.

Looking down on a brownish-grey planthopper sitting on a green leaf. The bug's wings have a lines of fine short hairs on them. The top of the head is pale and the stick like antennae point out and slightly upwards to either side.

A black and white pen and ink drawing of a planthopper facing right. The hind legs have short spines on them while the front pair of legs are somewhat inflated.

Vanna Bartlett@vannabartlett· Mar 18

Male on left, female on right. Antennae of male slightly longer; abdomen longer and thinner. Female abdomen is shorter and looks a bit broader. The orangey colour on head of both bees is pollen from Red Deadnettle, a favoured forage plant.