![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Peter-Chandler-sweep-netting-for-fungus-gnats.jpg\")
<\/a>Peter Chandler looking for fungus gnats<\/p><\/div>
\nThe discovery of the non-biting midge (Chironomus vallenduuki) by entomologist Peter Chandler brings the total of UK biodiversity firsts found at the estate in Glenmoriston to 11.<\/p>\n
Other key findings during the charity\u2019s 2016 survey season included two rare gnats whose larvae feed on fungi. One of these (Sciophila varia) is only known from four other UK sites. The other (Mycomya nigricornis) is only known in the UK from a handful of Scottish sites and had not been seen since 1990.<\/p>\n
\u201cDundreggan is a special part of the Caledonian Forest that keeps on revealing beautiful, interesting and rare species. The surprisingly rich wealth of life in this corner of the Highlands highlights the importance of concerted conservation action to protect and restore Scotland\u2019s wild places,\u201d said Alan Watson Featherstone, Trees for Life\u2019s founder.<\/p>\n
The charity also found two parasitic wasps (Homotropus pallipes and Diphyus salicatorius), for which there are very few Scottish records, and \u2013 for the first time in Scotland north of the River Tay \u2013 a pseudoscorpion called the knotty shining claw (Lamprochernes nodosus).
\n
<\/a>Knotty shining claw<\/p><\/div>
\nA micro-moth, the small barred longhorn (Adela croesella) \u2013 only documented at three other locations in Scotland, and never before this far north \u2013 was found by volunteer Richard Davidson. Richard had been taking part in one of Trees for Life\u2019s popular volunteer Conservation Weeks at Dundreggan when he found the moth.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur latest discoveries add to an already-remarkable range of rare and endangered species found at Dundreggan \u2013 some of which were previously unknown in the UK or Scotland, or which were feared to be extinct,\u201d added Alan Watson Featherstone.<\/p>\n
New species for the UK discovered on the estate in recent years were three sawflies (Nematus pravus, Nematus pseudodispar and Amauronematus tristis), an aphid (Cinara smolandiae), two aphid parasitoids (Ephedrus helleni, Praon cavariellae), three fungus gnats (Brevicornu parafennicum, Mycomya disa, Sceptonia longisetosa), and a mite (Ceratozetella thienemanni).<\/p>\n
Dundreggan has also revealed the second-ever British record of a waxfly species (Helicoconis hirtinervis); a golden horsefly (Atylotus fulvus) only seen once before in Scotland since 1923; and the juniper shieldbug (Cyphostethus tristriatus), thought to be the first Highlands record.<\/p>\n
In total, more than 3,300 species have now been recorded at the forest restoration site. At least 68 of these are priority species for conservation.<\/p>\n
Members of the public can volunteer to help plant half a million trees at Dundreggan as part of Trees for Life\u2019s award-winning restoration of the Caledonian Forest. The charity\u2019s rewilding activity also includes working for the return of rare woodland wildlife and plants, and carrying out scientific research and education programmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Surveys at Trees for Life\u2019s Dundreggan Conservation Estate near Loch Ness have revealed a range of rare species, including a midge never recorded in the United Kingdom before \u2013 underlining the site\u2019s growing reputation as a \u2018lost world\u2019 for biodiversity. The discovery of the non-biting midge (Chironomus vallenduuki) by entomologist Peter Chandler brings the total of UK biodiversity firsts found at the estate in Glenmoriston to 11. Other key findings during the charity\u2019s 2016 survey season included two rare gnats whose larvae feed on fungi. One of these (Sciophila varia) is only known from four other UK sites. The other…<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15992"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15996,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15992\/revisions\/15996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}