Vexation Lane

Situation This site is adjacent to a small part-tarmac road, known as Vexation Lane, which runs off the B6034 from the A614 at Rufford to the village of Edwinstowe.

Parking and access A partly constructed tarmac entrance allows room for three parked cars, but there are small laybys across the road from the site. The site is privately owned, so access is purely up to the individual.

Description and habitat Vexation Lane is an area of open, sandy ground, lying just east of Edwinstowe. Whilst the land is privately owned, there seems no problem with access on a small scale and this site is well worth a visit by the coleopterist, as it has great potential for unusual Carabids. The habitat is quite unique in the area. Originally agricultural farmland, the area was landscaped over five years ago in preparation for what was believed to be a Robin Hood style theme park, complete with lake and island.

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The business venture seems to have fell through for now and the site has remained untouched since, developing into what may well prove to be a temporary site of entomological interest. The site substrate when the land was in agricultural use, was typical of the Sherwood Forest area. But the top soil was removed during the landscaping process, so that the only substrate present is sand and gravel. Since landscaping, this has become a carpet of various mosses, with some naturally developing areas of sparse grass and Clover. Some Birch and Sallow scrub is slowly developing on site, but this remains sparse and the site retains its very open aspect.
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Invertebrates We began to look at the site just over a year ago in 2011, but largely concentrated on the rougher area of ground at the roadside and our visits were always very brief. In August 2012, we ventured further onto the site and quickly realised that it had great potential for turning up some unusual ground beetles, especially in terms of Nottinghamshire records.
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		Our recording here is still in its early stages, but on one of our first visits, we found the impressive Broscus cephalotes (shown left) a largely coastal strand-line Carabid with few inland records. A second visit produced a further three records, so this is certainly a site that will pay dividends for further recording. The more grassy areas of the site are good for Grass Veneer moths (Crambidae) and we also found Agriphila latistria, a moth new to us at the time and Crambus hamella, a moth we have only previously recorded on Budby South Forest and the nearby Sherwood Heath SSSI. Summary Temporary sites such as this and areas of waste ground in semi-urban areas are all important habitats that often get ignored by invertebrate recorders. Yet all these sites are capable of providing records of interest on either a local or national scale. These sites are quickly utilised by a range of invertebrates, so the potential for other interesting fauna to occur here is extremely good and this is a site well worth a visit, especially by those with an interest in coleoptera.
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Quite often, similar sites are lost to development before any recording work is undertaken and we all have a tendency to record at well known sites or reserves, in preference to that little neglected corner of land we pass most days of the week. However, we believe that Vexation Lane has much to offer the naturalist, at least while it remains in its present state.