27.03.17 - John O'Gaunt

I headed up to John O'Gaunt to do some recording because it was a big blank area on the VC55 Springtail Atlas. However I had two problems on this trip. The first was that this entire area is heavily agricultural with poor diversity, but the major problem was the lack of rainfall. At the end of March in what should be peak springtail season the soil was dry and cracked and springtails were hard to find. In the end I sampled as close to the water as possible in Gaddesby Brook (and also in a damp drainage ditch by the viaduct, where I found nothing). The banks of the brook turned up Entomobrya nicoleti, Entomobrya nivalis, Isotoma viridis and Orchesella cincta, but perhaps the most notable species were a number of Entomobrya albocincta, which seems to be quite prevalent at the moment and is normally less abundant: