|
Red Moor (nature Reserve)
Red Moor (, meaning ''moor of reeds'') is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological characteristics, near Lanlivery in mid Cornwall, England, UK. Geography The SSSI, notified in 1979, is located mainly within Lanlivery civil parish, north-west of the town of Lostwithiel. The similarly named hamlet of Redmoor is directly east of the reserve.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The nature reserve is owned by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust/Cornwall Trust for Nature. History The river coursing out of the north of the site, a tributary of the River Par, was found to flow through tin-bearing gravels by the early mediaeval period. This part of Red Moor was mined for loose tin until the end of the 19th century and the oxidised metal is thought to give the moor its descriptive name. This SSSI used to belong to the ''Red Moor– Breney Common SSSI'', the two sites having split in the 1986 revision where bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helman Tor
Helman Tor () is a granite hill in mid Cornwall, UK with several separated tors, and is designated as a (non-statutory) County Geology Site (with similar criteria to a County Wildlife Site). The hill also has a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Helman Tor is also the name of the largest nature reserve managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust which includes Breney Common (a Special Area of Conservation) and Red Moor. The Wildlife Trust aims to rewild the reserve, including potentially releasing beavers, as well as long-horn cattle and Cornish black pigs. Helman Tor, along with Breney Common, Red Moor and Belowda Beacon, is part of the Mid Cornwall Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest. It lies on the Saints' Way, a long-distance footpath completed in 1986. It is the northern end of a granite ridge. There are at least three rocking stones ( logan stone) on the ridge. There is a prehistoric hill fort and a stone hut circle settlement on the site. There is evidence of walls co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 described species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described arthropods and 25% of all known animal species; new species are discovered frequently, with estimates suggesting that there are between 0.9 and 2.1 million total species. However, the number of beetle species is challenged by the number of species in Fly, dipterans (flies) and hymenopterans (wasps). Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae (ladybirds or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aquatic Insects
Aquatic insects or water insects live some portion of their life cycle in the water. They feed in the same ways as other insects. Some ''diving'' insects, such as predatory diving beetles, can hunt for food underwater where land-living insects cannot compete. Breathing One problem that aquatic insects must overcome is how to get oxygen while they are under water. Almost all animals require a source of oxygen to live. Insects draw air into their bodies through spiracles, holes found along the sides of the abdomen. These spiracles are connected to tracheal tubes where oxygen can be absorbed. All aquatic insects have become adapted to their environment with the specialization of these structures ;Aquatic adaptations # Simple diffusion over a relatively thin integument # Temporary use of an air bubble # Extraction of oxygen from water using a plastron or blood gill # Storage of oxygen in hemoglobin and hemocyanin molecules in hemolymph # Taking oxygen from surface via breathing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly
The scarce blue-tailed damselfly or small bluetail (''Ischnura pumilio'') is a member of the damselfly family Coenagrionidae. The species occurs throughout Europe except in the north. To the east it occurs from Asia Minor to Siberia, to the south the range extends to Morocco, the Azores and Madeira. The typical male has a black abdomen with a bright blue spot on tail ( segments 8 and 9). It is very similar to the blue-tailed damselfly, ''Ischnura elegans The blue-tailed damselfly or common bluetail (''Ischnura elegans'') is a damselfly, belonging to the family Coenagrionidae. Subspecies and varieties Subspecies and varieties include: *''Ischnura elegans ebneri'' Schmidt, 1938 *''Ischnura eleg ...'' but on that species the blue spot is mostly on segment 8. Females undergo a change of colour as they mature. The immature female is bright orange, the ''aurantiaca'' phase, but matures to a greenish-brown. References Ischnura Damselflies of Europe Articles containing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damselfly
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies (which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Epiprocta) but are usually smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along the body when at rest, unlike dragonflies which hold the wings flat and away from the body. Damselflies have existed since the Late Jurassic, and are found on every continent except Antarctica. All damselflies are predatory insects: both nymphs and adults actively hunt and eat other insects. The nymphs are aquatic, with different species living in a variety of freshwater habitats including acidic bogs, ponds, lakes and rivers. The nymphs moult repeatedly, at the last moult climbing out of the water to undergo metamorphosis. The skin splits down the back, they emerge and inflate their wings and abdomen to gain their adult form. Their presence on a body of water indicates that it is relatively unpolluted, but their dependence on fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterised by a pair of large, multifaceted, compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural coloration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the closely related damselflies, which make up the other odonatan infraorder ( Zygoptera) and are similar in body plan, though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold their wings folded at rest, al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osmunda Regalis
''Osmunda regalis'', or royal fern, is a species of deciduous fern, native to Europe, Africa and Asia, growing in woodland bogs and on the banks of streams. The species is sometimes known as flowering fern due to the appearance of its fertile fronds. Description Royal fern is a large perennial herb with stout ascending rhizomes that over many years build up a woody, trunk-like base covered by interwoven roots, 1 m or more high. The fronds, or leaves, arise directly from this rhizome and are very large, typically up to 120 cm but exceptionally as much as 400 cm long and 30-40 cm broad. Each frond is bipinnate, with 5–9 pairs of pinnae up to long, each pinna with 7–13 pairs of pinnules long and broad. Many of the fronds have a terminal fertile portion, where the blade is reduced almost to the midrib and densely covered with brown sporangia. The fronds are at first covered with golden-brown hairs which quickly disappear, leaving a smooth, pale green surface to the leaves. V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceratocapnos Claviculata
''Ceratocapnos claviculata'', the climbing corydalis, is a weak scrambling plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is endemic to Europe, growing mostly near the Atlantic fringe. References BSBI Species Accounts - Ceratocapnos claviculata {{Taxonbar, from=Q160220 Fumarioideae Plants described in 1984 Flora of Europe [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potentilla Palustris
''Comarum palustre'' ( syn. ''Potentilla palustris''), known by the common name marsh cinquefoil,Streeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins also purple marshlocks and swamp cinquefoil, is a waterside rhizomatous subshrub. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout cool temperate Asia, Europe, and North America, particularly in northern regions. It is most commonly found on lake shores, marshy riversides and stream margins, often partly submerged with foliage floating. It is a parent of some ''Fragaria''–''Comarum'' hybrids, ornamental plants produced by crossing with strawberries. Description The stem is green to reddish-brown, finely hairy at first, low sprawling and vine-like, with long trailing stems up to long or more, scrambling over other plants and occasionally reaching a height of but usually lower.Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. 1989. ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. The stems root r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eriophorum Vaginatum
''Eriophorum vaginatum'', the hare's-tail cottongrass, tussock cottongrass, or sheathed cottonsedge, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands throughout the Holarctic Kingdom. It is a 30–60 cm high tussock-forming plant with solitary spikes. Description ''Eriophorum vaginatum'' is a 30– to 60-cm-high tussock-forming plant with extremely narrow, almost hair-like leaves. On the flowering stems there is a single, inflated leaf-sheath, without a lamina, hence the species epithet ("sheath" is "vagina" in latin). The inflorescence is a dense, tufted, solitary spike. Fruiting stems elongate considerably, reaching well above the leaves. Distribution and habitat ''Eriophorum vaginatum'' occurs throughout much of the boreal and arctic zones of Eurasia and North America. It prefers acidic, moist to wet, peaty soil and may be dominant in bogs, poor fens and the heathlands of Western Euro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narthecium Ossifragum
''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in elevation. It produces spikes of bright yellow flowers in summer. The bright orange fruits have been used as a colourant to replace saffron by Shetland Islanders.Richard Mabey ''Flora Britannica'' Despite the plant's English name "bog asphodel", it is not particularly closely related to the true asphodels. In addition to other forms of pollination, this plant is adapted to rain-pollination. The Latin specific name ''ossifragum'' means "bone-breaker", and refers to a traditional belief that eating the plant caused sheep to develop brittle bones. The probable origin of this story is that sheep eating a calcium-poor diet are likely to develop bone weakness, and ''N. ossifragum'' favours acidic low-calcium soils. Description Bog asphodel is a tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
