How far would you go for a first for Sussex?
Author Graeme Lyons
Picture the scene. I'm walking quietly through a heathery glade at Graffham Common
Looking a little closer, I noticed it lacked the horns at the back of the elytra, which meant it was the scarce one on pine. Before putting it in a pot, I needed to get a decent photo, so I placed it on some pine bark and began snapping away. Little did I know that I had knelt down in a wood ants nest. I suddenly found ants crawling all over me, heading down my trousers and before I knew it, I had been bitten in the worst place you could possibly be bitten by an ant! I held still until I had taken the shot but it wasn't as good as it could have been with all the shaking...
... I got back to the office and confirmed the ID as Pogonocherus fasciculatus. A new species for me! I checked the Sussex Biodiversity Records Centre
It doesn't get any better than that as far as I am concerned!