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Chris Raper

    Chris Raper

    AimBiotic interactions are an important factor structuring ecological communities but data scarcity limits our understanding of the impact of their response to climate and land use changes on communities. We studied the impact of a change... more
    AimBiotic interactions are an important factor structuring ecological communities but data scarcity limits our understanding of the impact of their response to climate and land use changes on communities. We studied the impact of a change in species assemblage on biotic interactions in a community of closely-related butterflies. Specifically, we examined the impact of the recent range expansion of Araschnia levana on the resident species, with a particular focus on natural enemies, parasitoids, shared with other butterfly species in the assemblage.LocationSweden.Time periodTwo years (2017-2018).Major taxa studiedNettle-feeding butterflies (Aglais urticae, Aglais io, Araschnia levana, and Vanessa atalanta) and their parasitoids.MethodsWe assessed parasitism in 6777 butterfly larvae sampled in the field from 19 sites distributed along a 500 km latitudinal gradient, and every two weeks throughout species’ reproductive seasons. We identified the parasitoid complex of each butterfly spec...
    The Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) project aims to sequence and assemble high-quality genomes from all eukaryote species in Britain and Ireland, with the first phase of the project concentrating on family-level coverage plus species of... more
    The Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) project aims to sequence and assemble high-quality genomes from all eukaryote species in Britain and Ireland, with the first phase of the project concentrating on family-level coverage plus species of particular ecological, biomedical or evolutionary interest. We summarise the processes involved in (1) assessing the UK arthropod fauna and the status of individual species on UK lists; (2) prioritising and collecting species for initial genome sequencing; (3) handling methods to ensure that high-quality genomic DNA is preserved; and (4) compiling standard operating procedures for processing specimens for genome sequencing, identification verification and voucher specimen curation. We briefly explore some lessons learned from the pilot phase of DToL and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    Carcelia laxifrons Villeneuve, 1912 is added to the British list based on reared
    Introduction On the 19 August 2009 HB visited Denge Wood in Kent to collect flies. The day was sunny and warm, and in a large woodland clearing an area of wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) fringed with bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)... more
    Introduction On the 19 August 2009 HB visited Denge Wood in Kent to collect flies. The day was sunny and warm, and in a large woodland clearing an area of wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) fringed with bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) (TR106522) was busy with hoverflies and large numbers of the common Tachinid Tachina fera. At rest on a bracken frond was a fly which was clearly a Tachinid but which HB did not recognize. Using the keys in Belshaw (1993) he identified it as a male Linnaemya rossica (Zimin, 1954). Belshaw notes that this species is “usually found in cool montane areas with pine forests” – a description which is very far from fitting Denge Wood – and gives its British distribution as Northern England, Northern Scotland and Woolwich Wood in Kent. The four records from this last location all date from the 1950s and were taken by d’Assis Fonseca.
    Wyatt & Sterling (1988) introduced Townsendiellomyia nidicola (Townsend) (Tachinidae) and Parasarcophaga uliginosa (Kramer) (Sarcophagidae) to the British list based on material reared from the Brown-tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea)... more
    Wyatt & Sterling (1988) introduced Townsendiellomyia nidicola (Townsend) (Tachinidae) and Parasarcophaga uliginosa (Kramer) (Sarcophagidae) to the British list based on material reared from the Brown-tail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) (Lepidoptera, Lymantriidae) collected from various sites in southern England. Other tachinid parasitoids reared included Compsilura concinata (Meigen), Pales pavida (Meigen) and a series of 10 specimens from Dungeness in Kent identified as Carcelia lucorum (Meigen) using Van Emden (1954).

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