Art Prints from

Carabus nitens (Linnaeus)

"The Heath-glory ground-beetle"

One of our most beautiful insects, this ground-beetle occurs mainly on heaths, moors and peat bogs. Here, amidst the favoured habitat of active Sphagnum, Heather Calluna vulgaris, etc., it can be surprisingly well camouflaged. It also occurs in dune slacks in sand-dune areas. It is rare on Hatfield Chase, the last being taken on Thorne Moors in 1976. The British range is mainly in the New Forest, northern England and the southern half of Scotland.  Graded Nb. Length 13-18mm.

Plateumaris discolor (Panzer)

The Bog reed-beetle

Whilst this conspicuous metallic blue, green, ruby or purple beetle is common on peat bogs throughout much of upland Britain, it presumably died out on the Humberhead Levels a long time ago. Fossil fragments (usually elytra) are common in the peat of both Thorne and Hatfield Moors, but no live specimens have been recorded.  The larva develops in roots and submerged lower stems of cottongrasses Eriophorum.  Thus the species probably died out here as the result of a period of prolonged drought, at a time when no other colonies survived nearby. Fossil fragments are always blue-green, due presumably to pigment change in the presence of peat acids. Length 6.5-9mm.

Platyrhinus resinosus(Scopoli)

"King Alfred's fungus-weevil"

Our largest and most spectacular fungus-weevil.  This beetle feeds on the globular black fungus known as King Alfred’s Cake Daldinia concentrica, which grows on dead or dying Beech Fagus sylvatica,birch Betula and Ash Fraxinus excelsior. Today, the beetle occurs in older wooded areas throughout Britain northwards to Inverness-shire, though it was always decidedly localised.  Formerly it was much scarcer. It is frequent on Thorne and Hatfield Moors. The cryptic pattern provides very good camouflage. The created popular name combines the usual food-source of this beetle and the North American group-name for the family Anthribidae, to which it belongs. A local species, graded Nb. Length 7-13mm.

Bembidion humerale (Sturm)

The Thorne Moor ground-beetle

This is one of the classic Hatfield Chase specialities, known from nowhere else in Britain today, though fossil evidence shows that it was formerly much more widespread. It was probably an early post-glacial colonizer of Britain, when the sub-arctic climate was ameliorating. The beetle occurs mainly on open areas of damp peat, typically around shallow pools where the surface has some moss and algal growth. In such situations on both Thorne and Hatfield Moors it can often be found in numbers. Graded RDB1. The popular name appears to be widely accepted in conservation circles locally. Length 2.5-3mm.

Amara fulva (Müller, O.F.)

"The Orange mole-beetle"

A very distinctive ground-beetle, this occurs in many lowland areas of Britain but is always very local.  It is usually found on inland sandy banks of rivers or on extensive sandy heaths, and exemplifies the sabulous fauna of Hatfield Moors. The created popular name refers to the burrowing habits of the beetle and its predominant colour. Length 8-10.5mm.

Temnochila coerulea (Olivier)

This beetle is included in recognition of the encyclopaedic research done on the fossil beetles of Thorne and Hatfield Moors by Dr Paul Buckland, Dr Nicki Whitehouse and their colleagues. Temnochila coerulea, which is now extinct in Britain, is a large bright to dark blue, heavily sculptured beetle that inhabited the Urwald (wildwood) on Hatfield Chase in the Bronze Age. Up to the early twentieth century, it occurred in several places in northern Germany and in southern Sweden.  However, today it is probably restricted to the Mediterranean region, from the Pyrenees to Greece. The beetle occurs under the loose bark of pines Pinus, where it feeds on other saproxylic beetles. Length 11-18mm.

Delphax crassicornis (Panzer)

"The Superb reed-hopper"

This conspicuous hopper has only very recently been recognised in Britain, although it has been known on Thorne and Hatfield Moors for at least 40 years. The male is shown here; the female is short winged and much duller. Available evidence suggests that in Britain the species may only occur on the Humberhead Levels, where it has been taken in several localities from Misson northwards to Askern and Thorne Moors. The insect exemplifies the rich reed-fen fauna of the Humberhead Levels, and their affinity with the Baltic region. The created popular name refers to the spectacular male and the association of the hopper with Common Reed Phragmites australis. Length 6-8mm.

 The following 6 images occur in pairs on 3 A4 prints

Eutaenionotum guttipenne v.olivaceum (Oldenberg)

"Oldenberg's Olive"

An international rarity, this small, sombre, though rather distinctive, dark brownish shore-fly has faint pale wing-spots. The markings on the dorsal surface of the head between the eyes consist of a ‘shifting pattern’, of which the pale and dark areas alternate from dorsal to anterior view. In side view, the head has the mouth edge strongly projecting forwards. Apart from Thorne and Hatfield Moors, where olivaceum is frequent in tufts of Purple Moor-grass Molinia caerulea, the fly is only otherwise known from a single specimen collected near Berlin in 1906. The type form E. guttipenne occurs widely in sub-arctic areas of North America and Scandinavia. The created popular name combines the name of the dipterist who described the insect, Lorenz Oldenberg, with the varietal name chosen by him.  Length 2.4-2.6mm.

Phaonia jaroschewskii (Schnabl)   

"The Hairy canary"

This rare muscid, for which Thorne Moors is regarded as the British headquarters, is a fly of peripheral fen and carrland around lowland raised mires. During the past fifty years, as a result of intensive surveys over much of Britain, it has been found sparingly at a handful of sites in eastern England from Berkshire to Co. Durham. It is always extremely localized and hence vulnerable to habitat change.  This has, for example, been noted in the past on Thorne Moors during drainage operations preceding increased peat extraction. Length 6-8mm. 

Celaena haworthii (Stephens)

Haworth's minor moth

A characteristic moth of peaty heaths and moors throughout northern and western parts of Britain, it is also frequent on Thorne and Hatfield Moors. The caterpillar feeds mainly on cottongrasses, and the adult males are often seen flying in bright sunshine over Heather. The moth was named after A.H. Haworth, a leading British lepidopterist who was a native of Hull. The Continental range is restricted to Portugal, then from northern France to northern Poland, southern Norway and Sweden. Wingspan 25-30mm.

Parasemia plantaginis (Linnaeus)

Wood tiger-moth

This conspicuous moth was last seen on Hatfield Moors by the Doncaster lepidopterist G.E. Hyde many years ago.  As fluctuating populations and apparent absences for many years are a feature of the species, it may still occur in the area. It is widespread throughout much of Britain, though of very sporadic occurrence. The caterpillar feeds on a wide variety of common herbaceous plants. Wingspan 34-42mm.

Cerapterocerus mirabilis Westwood

One of the minute, but exquisitely beautiful, encyrtid wasps that are parasitic on scale insects Coccoidea. The national status of none of these wasps is well understood as they are seldom collected. C. mirabilis is one of the most distinctive, because of the very characteristic wing markings. A number of specimens were taken at Lindholme during a survey in 1992, and records from elsewhere in Britain suggest that the insect may be typical of dry calcareous grassland. Length about 1mm.

Campsicnemus magius (Loew, H.)

"The Saltern tangle-foot fly"

The male of this small long-legged fly is one of our most remarkable flies, by virtue of the extraordinarily modified front legs that, as in related species, function prominently in their often complex courtship displays. The species occurs mainly on pools and wet mud in salt-marshes in Kent and East Anglia. It has been taken a few times in small numbers at Bell’s Pond on the western edge of Thorne Moors, by far its most northerly known locality. It exemplifies the small group of rare halophilic insects found at this locality. Length about 3mm.