The discovery of this spider on heathland at Clumber Park back in 2017, withoubt any doubt, represents one of the county's most unexpected and surprising invertebrate records of recent years.

Thanatus formicinus (Clerck, 1747) is often referred to as the Diamond Spider by the media, and was thought to have been extinct in the UK since 1969, but it appears to be doing well, following the results of targetted surveys run by the British Arachnological Survey, undertaken in the area of the original iscovery. 

It was only previously known from a handful of sites in southern counties and was believed to have become extinct in the UK more than 50 years ago. According to the Spider Recording Scheme's website, it was recorded in 1894 near Brockenhurst in the New Forest and from two sites in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex in the 20th century.

Darren Matthews reports finding and photographing (right) what seems to be Nottinghamshire's first record of the European Paper Wasp Polistes dominula (Christ, 1791).

Polistes dominula is widely distributed across southern and central parts of Europe, but in the UK occurs largely as an accidental import or rare vagrant. It is known to have bred in the Thames Corridor area of south-east England and is sometimes regarded as a transient breeder in the UK. There are few records and the Colwick one, certainly represents the most northerly UK record, but it has occurred in neighbouring Leicestershire within the past few years.

Despite being social wasps, nests are small and usually constructed within the roofspaces of buildings. Nests last from April to as late as October and November, with only young Queens overwintering.

Painted Ladies are currently moving north through Nottinghamshire and other Midlands counties. Our first of the year was recorded as early as April 28th, from Sherwood Forest, which may have been a fore-runner of an increase in numbers during the latter part of June.

We had no further records during May, even though there were some reports of huge numbers in parts of the Meditteranean on social media. Best numbers (or at least the most obvious movement) was on June 27th. We recorded single Painted Ladies moving north during a car journey from Pinxton to Market Warsop, with Painted Ladies recorded at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Huthwaite, two sites in Mansfield Woodhouse and King's Mill Hospital. Numbers are nowhere near those of the huge migrations experienced during Spring 1996 and 2009, but there is potential for much better counts to come.

Our own observations suggest that there are far fewer invertebrates of all Orders, around this year. After another extremely mild Winter which produced a few (temporary) flakes of snow on one day, occasional frosts and then a period of fine, warm weather in February, it looked like 2019 would be a good year for invertebrates.

But then it cooled down again, although remaining largely very dry here through April and May, but then it rained in early June and at the time of writing (June 18th) still shows little sign of becoming drier in the long term. In the field, there have been very few insects generally, but some species have clearly done very well and there have already been a number of recent additions to the county list.

Details of these can be found by reading through the various news items below, but we thought it would be of interest if we listed the other recent notable records here.

Hemiptera - A second county record of Tortoise Sheildbug Eurygaster testudinaria from Gedling CP and found by Mark Tyler, following on from the first record for Nottinghamshire found by Darren Matthews at the same site on May 23rd.

Diptera - Two records of the Cranefly Ctenophora pectinicornis (Tipulidae) with a record from Hollinwell Golf Course on June 4th, which was recorded by Nicholas Jones and Phil Stain (per Sheila Wright) and another photographed by Ken Lomas on June 17th, which we are awaiting further details of. Peter Smith has recorded Terellia longicauda, Trypeta zoe (both Tephritidae) and Black Colonel Odontomyia tigrina (Stratiomyidae) from Netherfield Ash Lagoons, which looks to be the second Nottinghamshire record, although there is a 1925 record from the Newark area listed on the NBN Atlas, but that record is undated, rather vague in that the grid reference is just SK75 and has no recorder or determiner attached to it.

Coleoptera - At Attenborough NR, reserve manager Tim Sexton recorded Anthocomus fasciatus on May 1st (possible second county record) and Dasytes virens on June 18th and Phil Lee found the Longhorns Phytoecia cylindrica at the Idle Valley NR on May 23rd and Pseudovadonia livida at Idle Stop on June 18th.

Other sightings - There have been several Snake Fly (Rhaphidoptera) records, which is unusual for Nottinghamshire. Tim Sexton and Darren Matthews both recorded Xanthostigma xanthostigma at Attenborough NR on May 13th and June 16th respectively, representing the NWT reserve's first records. Snake Flies are unusual to say the least away from the Sherwood Forest area, where Sean Browne found Phaetostigma notata on Scot's Pine on Budby South Forest on June 9th.

The large Woodlouse Armadillidium depressum has been recorded from a further two sites in Nottinghamshire, bringing the total number of known sites to four. David Shaw reported it from a railway bridge at Marnham on June 1st, whilst we found several large adults and numerous juveniles underneath loose mortar along an old stone wall opposite Sainsburys on Perry Road in New Basford on June 16th. 

Goat Moth Cossus cossus (Linnaeus, 1758) is one moth which continues to elude most of the county's moth trappers. Few have ever seen it in the county and since being refound here in 2013, there have been few other records.

Always an extremely rare moth in Nottinghamshire, all recent records have come  from a handful of sites in the far north of the county. The latest one to turn up, was a pristine male, which was trapped by Ian Hunt and Melanie Newman, of the Lound Moth Group on June 5th 2019.

Despite a growing site species list, it is doubtful if the addition of Goat Moth was ever thought likely, especially in view of the moths current status. It is believed that an attempt is to be made, to search for signs of larval activity in the immediate area where the moth was trapped.

An unusual series of Light Knot Grass Acronicta menyanthidis (Esper, 1798) records, took place at the end of May 2019. Of the records made public via social media, were two from just over the county border in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Then we were contacted by Pete Leonard from Leicestershire, informing us of one he'd trapped at Bottesford on May 25th. Frustratingly this was just out of VC56, but a few days later, Pete informed us of a Nottinghamshire record from the same night.

It was recorded by Mike Hill and Tom Shields, who were running a trap at Netherfield Ash Lagoons for the Netherfield Wildlife Group on May 24th and is the first Nottinghamshire record since the publication of Carr's book in 1916. Light Knot Grass is a northern species, typically of damp heathland and moorland.

Our thanks go to Pete Leonard of Harby in Leicestershire, for very kindly supplying us with his photograph of the Bottesford moth.

Phil Lee has recorded what seems to be the county's first record in almost a century, of Centrotus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758) from the NWT's Eaton Wood reserve near Retford.

The NBN Atlas lists a 1925 record from woodland near Kneesall, but we are unable to trace any other records until the one found by Phil near the entrance to Eaton Wood on May 29th. Centrotus cornutus is one of two species of treehopper (Membracidae) known from the UK and is the more widespread of the two, although not commonly found anywhere.

Reserve manager Tim Sexton continues to turn up new species for the county, at the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Attenborough NR. Tim's latest find is the weevil Thryogenes scirrhosus (Gyllenhal, 1836), a generally uncommon speces found at a number of localities, scattered over much of the southern UK.

Found by Tim in May 2019, Thryogenes scirrhosus favours waterside vegetation, where it can be found on plants such as Common Club Rush (Schoenoplectus lacustris) and Branched Burr-reed (Sparganium erectum).

After recent records from the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire, Brassica Bug Eurydema oleracea (Linnaeus, 1758) has finally been recorded in Nottinghamshire.

Brassica Bug had been spreading steadily north from southern counties of the UK for a number of years, but progress seemed to slow, following Leicestershire's first records in 2015 and Lincolnshire's first the following year. It seems to have had a good year in 2018, which possibly allowed further range expansion and was finally eventually recorded from Nottinghamshire on May 16th, when three adults were found by Darren Matthews, on Garlic Mustard at Colwick Racecourse.

The adults come in several colour forms, where the white markings can be replaced by either red or yellow and are found on a range of Brassicas including plants such as Garlic Mustard and Horse Radish. In view of the Colwick record, further reports from other sites in VC56 Nottinghamshire should soon follow.

Among the latest invertebrate records posted to iRecord in the early part of this year, has been a record of Bryony Ladybird Henosepilachna argus (Geoffory in Fourcroy, 1762). As far as we know, this would indeed be a first for Nottinghamshire, but the record has yet to be validated and there seems to be no supporting photograph to back up the record from April this year.

The record concerns several adults, which were apparently swept from a stretch of grass and low vegetation containing White Bryony (Bryonia dioica), from Carlton-in-Lindrick north of Worksop. Bryony Ladybird is a non-native species, first reported from Oxfordshire in 1997. It spread (or arrived around the same time) into Surrey, but it has never expanded its UK range in the way a number of other non-native species have done in recent years. Bryony Ladybird is very much an urban species, so should be looked for wherever White Bryony grows. Even in the most unlikely of places.

Reserve manager Tim Sexton was stunned when he found the county's first Blossom Underwing Orthosia miniosa ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) for over a hundred years, in the trap at the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust's Attenborough NR on April 21st. 

Another early flying moth, Blossom Underwing has declined generally from many UK sites over the past number of years and many recent records are thought to refer to migrants from the continent. Tim's record is thought to be the first county record since the late 1800's.

It is attracted to MV light and like most other early Spring Noctuids, is especially fond of Sallow blossom. It seems highly unlikely that this moth has ever really been perminently resident in Nottinghamshire

Colin Watkin reports trapping and photographing a White-marked (Cerastis leucographa) from his garden at Rampton in north-east Nottinghamshire on April 5th.

White-marked is an extremely rare moth in Nottinghamshire and this is only the second modern county record, following two recorded at Sallow blossom in the Misterton area in March 2011 (Wood, N.).

Typically flying in March and April, this early flying species is known to occur in scattered woodland localities throughout the southern half of the UK and Wales. It is attracted to MV light and like most other early Spring Noctuids, is especially fond of Sallow blossom.

Photographs kindly supplied by Colin Watkin.

Records away from its main stronghold of Sherwood Forest are extremely unusual and aside from a couple of Clumber Park records in 1996 (Faulds, T.) the spider is known only from the Idle Valley NR in 2000 (Williams, H.).

Steatoda nobilis (Thorell, 1875) must be well established in Nottinghamshire and probably more widespread than records indicate. In late 2018, we found a large female (unusually) in a hollow underneath a paving slab at a house on Gretton Road.

On March 4th, a distinctive looking web in a conservatory, soon proved that the Noble False Widow is doing well, when a large female was enticed into the open. Despite the continued press reports to the contrary, S. nobilis is not liable to bite and presents no danger to the public.