Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog

There were no Scottish witches at West Beckham Old Allotments, stirring the cauldron, but there were plenty of wee beesties in the two ponds to keep David H happy all morning. The best was indeed the ‘eye of newt’ found in the folds of the new pond’s liner, when David went to try to minimise the damage some mammal had done by chewing the liner's protruding parts!

The newt – probably smooth or common newt 

The gnawed liner!

Hiding similarly in the liner’s folds in this pond was indeed a frog (or toad? It dived away so fast he could not tell). Otherwise, this new pond contained the same inhabitants as the larger pond, but fewer of them.

The main pond, now four years old, was really teeming with life. A single netful was always full of hundreds of tiny mayfly nymphs, of the family Baetidae (no common name and 20-odd species, impossible to tell apart without a microscope). The family is recognisable by three tails (like all mayflies), gills in a row on the side, and swimming fast and jerkily.

The pond, with well-vegetated edges 

Two Baetidae mayflies, with a common pond snail

Seventeen different animal and plant species were found, although none could be identified to species level as all were still small, hatched from eggs only a few weeks ago. The highlight was probably the Great Diving Beetle, found amongst the reeds which we had planted in the pond corner.

The great diving beetle – about an inch and half in length and a ferocious predator of small insects like the mayflies

Damselfly and dragonfly nymphs were also found, the former more common. Damselflies are sometimes confused with mayflies, as both they and the dragonflies (Odonata is their insect Order) have three appendages at the back end. The difference is that those of dragonflies are small and stumpy, whereas damselflies have large, flattened paddle-like tails. The mayflies tails are always cylindrical. All Odonata nymphs are predators so they’re surrounded by lovely food in the form of our mayflies.

The damselfly nymph with three paddles

Dragonfly with three stumps (sorry for the poor picture, it was a cold day!)

Another exciting addition to the pond’s inhabitants, (alongside all the boring and unidentifiable midge larvae) were two different kinds of case-bearing caddis larvae. Again, impossible to identify in the field, probably from two different families and sheer joy to behold steadily plodding all around the tray.

Perhaps from the family Leptoceridae

From the family Limnephilidae

Several species of lesser water boatman; one of greater water boatman, and small beetles, both adult and larvae, made up most of the collection, living in a rich, green pond, showing plenty of single-celled algae to keep the mayflies and tiny larvae alive for the dragonfly food.

We hope that the Turtle Doves, when they come to drink, will appreciate the ponds but until then, WBOA has definitely improved its biodiversity.

David Harper

February 20th 2024