Spiders were under the microscope at the February meeting.  Specimens on slides were compared with whole specimens with regard to the common identification features.  Often the power of a stereo microscope used to view a whole specimen is not enough to see features clearly, which are easily seen under the more powerful but shallow depth of focus of the compound microscope, e.g. to see if a foot is two or three clawed when disguised by hairs.  Whole spider specimens or parts can be slide mounted in a flat style for viewing under the compound microscope.  The specimen after being stored in 70% Iso – Propyl Alcohol (IPA) must first be gently warmed in 10% sodium hydroxide until the alcohol stops bubbling out; this must be done slowly to avoid rupturing the soft abdomen.  The solution is then cooled and warmed several times to allow full impregnation into the body.  The spider is put in water for 24hrs, then briefly into vinegar, this neutralises the alkali.  The spider should then be warmed and cooled in clean water; this allows the dissolved internal contents to be expelled.  The soft exoskeleton can now be placed on a slide and another slide placed on top to flatten the specimen.  The two slides are tied together with cotton thread and placed in 100%IPA for 24 Hrs.  Quarter parts of slides can be used which saves space.  When the thread is cut away the specimen is fully flat and dehydrated and can be mounted as desired.  The whole specimens at the meeting were viewed in shallow glass vessels under 70%IPA. 100 mesh glass beads were used in the vessel to hold the spider in a desirable orientation.
Literature used:
Collins Field Guide – Spiders.
The Country Life Guide to Spiders.
FSC 197 keys to The Families of British Spiders.
Biology of The Spider - RF Foelix.
British Spiders - Locket & Millidge.

Members examined several fungi samples were brought including Slippery Jack Suillus luteus a pored yellow fungus found in association with pine, in this case Scots pine.  The skeleton of a common lizard had been brought to an earlier Naturalists meeting and had made its way to us.  A small liverwort specimen from Ferncliffe road in Keighley turned out to be Lunularia cruciata.  Figwort stem which had been previously been wax embedded, cut into sections and slide mounted were de-waxed and stained using the WA3 stain.  Hand sectioning was attempted on the polypore fungi Slippery Jack.  The cap has a thin outer sticky coating over the yellow bulk tissue with pore tubes on the underside.  Hand sections through these tissues found that the outer coating was so mucal it merely smeared over the bulk tissue.  Success was achieved with transverse sections of the pore tubes as shown.  These are stained with Acridine red as used in WA3.  Also from the Slippery Jack the round club like cystidia were photographed.  Fungal spores were examined from an unidentified mushroom and these were decided to be without warts.  Before compiling this newsletter discussions took place with a member of the West Yorkshire Fungus Group who kindly let us use his picture from their meeting on the same night showing spores with warts.

Click here for slides

David Hodgson, a member of the Craven Pothole Club, focused his presentation on a series of caves near Arncliffe in Littondale.  Evidence indicated that, thousands of years ago, these underground chambers and passageways had all been connected.  The Victorians in the mid 19th century, were some of the first people to explore the area and, through a series of slides, it was possible to identify some of them as members of local families by their names being inscribed on some of the cave walls.  Mr. Hodsgon described a brooch (now in the British Museum) which had been found in a cave and thought to be about 2,000 years old.  Irish Deer antlers had also been discovered as well as some human bones.  Some of the underground passages were half a million years old and many of them were mostly dry except during floods explained Mr. Hodsgon. A key focus of the presentation were the Tissue and Herald moths to be found in Scoska Cave and into which Mr. Hodgson had spent many years researching, often in conjunction with the Natural History Museum.  The Tissue moth, whilst rare across the region, was actually in some abundance in this cave and no-where else.  Only one had been recorded in Yorkshire yet 176 were discovered in Scoska.  Tissues are said to vary in size but Mr. Hodgson said he had only found two distinct sizes.  These moths spend 9 months hibernating in the cave.  He continues to research into why this cave is so important to the Tissue moth.  A wide range of bats can also be found in certain of the caves such as Duabenton’s, Brandt’s, Whiskered and Brown long-eared.  Research was being carried out into the parasitic mites that are carried by bats.  Mr. Hodsgon also showed a picture of a store of hazelnuts left in a cave by woodmice.  Stoneland cave contained a large chamber with hundreds of fine stalactites suspended from the ceiling like fine chandeliers.  Mr. Hodgson described how he was working in co-operation with the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew regarding the wide range of fungi that existed underground.  Members heard how medical research was beginning to identify natural products from mammals such as bats including Draculin which came from vampire bat and contained anti coagulant properties.  Another benefit aimed at the visually impaired stemmed from bats’ special skills in echo location.  This was biomimicry which is leading towards the development of sensors being built into walking sticks which would warn the person holding the stick that they were approaching an obstacle in their path.

This year’s topic was “Save Our Birds of Prey” which was presented by David Tompkins, a volunteer worker for the Royal Society of Protection of Birds (RSPB), who is based in Leeds.  Mr. Tompkins, using an RSPB slide presentation, briefly described the history of the protection of wild birds which started in the 16th century with King Henry VIII in order to protect his falconry activities.  Over the centuries towns and cities have become cleaner and tidier and thus scavengers, such as Red Kites, became extinct in this country.  The fish in our seas, lochs and lakes provided food for both the Osprey and the White Tailed Eagles.  This need brought them into direct conflict with human beings and to their extinction here by the early 1900s.  Society members learned that there were currently 15 protected birds of prey, including the Merlin and the Sparrowhawk.  There was now only one Golden Eagle in the Lake District.  But there are several successes in protecting these threatened species including the re-introduction of Red Kites (7 UK sites), including their successful re-introduction at Harewood House near Leeds which produced over 100 chicks. Both Osprey and White Tailed Eagle now delight visitors to various sites across the UK.  Mr. Tompkins said that the protection of certain birds under various UK and European laws is difficult to both monitor and enforce.  There are still a minority of unscrupulous people who persist in killing birds by poisoning, trapping, shooting, stealing eggs or trampling on young birds.  Amongst the techniques used in the dealing with these crimes are CCTV and Police Wildlife Officers.  However, persecution still persists in many parts of the UK.  The taking of Racing Pigeons by Peregrine Falcons and Sparrowhawks is still a big issue.  Recent research has shown that this amounted 4% of Racing Pigeons.  A debate took place amongst members concerning the continuing illegal killing of certain birds of prey by a small minority of landowners and their gamekeepers.  This is contrary to current legislation.  The debate demonstrated some of the political and emotional feelings that surround the subject.  The RSPB is committed to working with landowners and other interested agencies, finding new approaches to arrive at sensible and enforceable ways of protecting birds.  An example is the providing of food at feeding stations for Hen Harrier, on some shooting estates, during the most vulnerable times for Red Grouse chicks.

Eight members viewed various specimens, the liverwort Conocephalum conium caused some discussion as it looked very close to Marchantia polymorpha but shows no gemma cups. Images of flora from a trip to Embsay reservoir were viewed and identified.  A full pinned male specimen of the dragonfly, Broad Bodied Chaser was examined and mushroom spores of Shaggy Scalycap were stained with meltzers stain and viewed under the compound microscope at x 400.  Attempts were made to view cystidia on the mushroom gills which were finally brought into view by gently tapping a cover glass over the gill which was placed on a slide and flooded with meltzers stain. The cystidia of the Shaggy Scalycap are described as clavate with a mucronate apex.
Ref:  Encyclopaedia of fungi of Britain and Europe - Michael Jordan

At the September meeting of the Microscope Group Mother-in-law tongue leaves, fern spores, flesh fly feet, a bumble bee sting and plant gall sections were examined using a portable microscope.  In addition, mosses and liverworts were identified from a wall in the Grass Wood area.Autumn is the season of rust fungi.  These often appear as discoloured blotches and spots on the upper surface of plant leaves.  The culprit is found on the underside in the form of “rust-coloured” pustules. Here is a fine example found on the leaves of the Sloe (Prunus spinosa).  This is known as the teleuto spore stage. The spores are uninucleate and are covered with prickles (echinulate), not very clear in the photographs.

Eleven members of Cross Hills Naturalists’ Society enjoyed a day in the Ribblehead area, starting at the railway station where leaders Jean Kendrew and Allan Butterfield talked about the building of the Settle-Carlisle railway.  Members looked at the exhibition at the station and afterwards visited the Natural England nature reserve at the nearby quarry.  The flora and ferns which had colonized the quarry were examined before members walked above the quarry face to look at the remains of what is thought to be a farmstead from Viking times.  From this vantage point good views of the surrounding landscape were observed, as was Ribblehead viaduct and sites of the shanty towns built during the construction of the railway in the 1870s.  Some members returned via Ingleton and enjoyed the floriferous roadside verges on the way.

A recent bat walk through Sutton Clough organized by the Cross Hills Naturalists’ Society was judged to be a success. The weather was warm and dry after a deluge of rain the previous day.
Altogether 23 people, including several children, and parents met at the Sutton Senior Citizens Social Centre for a preliminary chat by Chloe Bellamy and Chris Scott, two research students from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at Leeds University.  Chloe and Chris, who lead the walk, are researching into the behaviour and characteristics of bats. They distributed a number of bat detectors to members of the group.
The party entered the Clough just as the light was beginning to fade and, from the start, the detectors were clicking and identifying the presence of numerous bats flying rapidly above. Chloe and Chris were able to offer advice and guidance to the group as they walked further into the Clough.  “We were pleased that there were so many bats foraging around and, on occasions, within feet of us” said Chloe “We have been able  to confirm that the group had identified numerous common pipestrelles and a number of Myotis bats which would have been be whiskered or Brandt’s bats. During an earlier visit we had picked up brown long-eared bats, but their calls are very quiet and perhaps we missed them on the walk. The roar of the water in the Clough causes bats some confusion”.
After further stops along the way, at about 11.30pm, the Group returned back to Sutton. The organiser of the walk and the two leaders both agreed that it had been rewarding to have made contact with so many bats and that the children in the group had shown a high degree of interest.

The third annual foray to control the invasive, exotic plant Himalayan Balsam in Holme Beck between Cowling and Glusburn began with an afternoon's activity by members of the Cross Hills Naturalists Society led by Madeleine Beaufoy.  Himalayan Balsam is a serious threat to native plants and river banks, so its eradication is important.
It was decided to continue with the clearance of areas around Carr Head, where it was satisfying to note that the stands of balsam were, following active measures for the past two years, gradually diminishing.  There was, however, plenty to do.  The two groups worked with a will, clearing stands among the undergrowth of the banks and completely routing the invasion of Carr Head Lane roadside where six bags of wet and therefore viable roots were brought away.
All agreed, over refreshments, that the afternoon had been very well spent.
Should anyone wish to help in this on-going activity,please contact Madeleine Beaufoy  01535 633349.

Marjorie Burnett and Jean Kendrew led a field meeting recently to Dale Head Church and Stocks reservoir.  A considerable time was spent in the churchyard admiring the profusion of summer flowers and afterwards time was spent in the church looking at the displays showing the work involved in the reservoir construction.  Some members walked from the church to Stocks reservoir in order to look at the rich roadside verge vegetation.  After lunch members visited the hides from which Greylag, Canada and Barnacle Geese were seen, some with juveniles.  Cormorants, Shelduck, several Herons, Oystercatchers, Redshank and Common Sandpipers were some of the other species observed.  Joyce Boden thanked the leaders for a very enjoyable visit.

Allan Butterfield led a small party of Cross Hills Naturalists’ Society recently viewed the sunrise from the vantage point of Earl Crag, Sutton-in-Craven.  The fast moving low clouds cut out long distance views but gave glimpses of iridescent clouds high in the west.  They noted the flowering fuchsia bush which was first noticed 20 years ago. The party recorded Curlew, Pheasant, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Lapwing, Little Owl, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Linnets and Crow.

Mosses, liverworts and grasses were the main areas of study, some sections were cut from the grasses and these were compared with publicised photograph.  It was decided that staining was really essential to allow the vascular components and tissues to be clearly differentiated. Grass stems and panicles were photographed from samples collected from the local area, False Oat grass is common, along with Cocksfoot, Yorkshire Fog, Meadow Foxtail and Crested Dog’s- tail, several Bromes were also viewed. The image, Fig1, shows the inner membrane lip or ligule and also the curved and pointed auricles. Fig 2 shows a Meadow Foxtail spike with wavy yellow stigmas and pink / mottled stamens just starting to split and shed their pollen.  From amongst the bryophytes a liverwort was photographed showing the characteristic double leaf tips.

At the end of May, nine members of Cross Hills Naturalists’ Society enjoyed an afternoon walk on the north side of Glusburn valley, led by Allan Butterfiled.  The layout of the allotment award of 1778, imposed on the earlier farming patterns, was discussed and architectural details on some of the buildings were noted.  The earlier enclosures at West Closes were viewed along with field gates, post and rail, and lime gates.  On the return journey the well defined river terraces were viewed at Birks where lime working and burning had taken place from the glacial drift.  Curlew, lapwing, bluetit and heron were observed during the afternoon.

At the 2009 May meeting of the Microscope Group members studied mosses and liverworts from Ingleton.  A hedgehog pellet was also looked at and new natural history publications were discussed and examined.

At the April meeting of the Microscope Group several mosses from Spittle Ings were identified by a group of members.  Other people examined moths, ants and spiders.  The species list produced by Adrian Norris, of slugs and snails taken to the Society’s last Winter meeting was circulated.  The display at BrackenHall Countryside Centre, Baildon, by Bradford Botany Group, was publicised amongst the members present.

Slugs and Snails - March 2009

Slugs and Snails were on the agenda for the Nats’ final lecture in their Winter Programme.  The evening’s slide presentation was given by Adrian Norris who is the Recorder for both the Yorkshire and National Conchological Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Mr. Norris began by demonstrating the many references to pearls and shells in the world of classic art and romance such as the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. He also informed members how important snail slime was in the production of cosmetics and was actually sold in the some countries as a face cream! The Horn of Plenty is also a well recognised icon and is based on a  sea shell.
The method of observing and recording snails was described by Mr. Norris and he showed members a series of grid maps known as the National Atlas of Snails. The number of snails reduced the further north in the U.K. and this was due to the production of soot into the atmosphere particularly in industrial areas such as Sheffield. Snails do not like soot!   Malham was a local area which was well observed and records fed into the regional and national data.
Mr. Norris then referred to the eating of snails as a delicacy but revealed that if the dish contained green sauce then we were, in fact, eating common garden snails (cornu aspersum).  In return, snails like beer, said Mr. Norris, and showed a picture of a bottle bank delicately laced with the trails of several snails who had obviously found some dregs of beer.
Global warming was now clearly affecting the migration of snails. U.K. snails were slow movers but new arrivals to our shores moved much faster and this was leading to some kind of competition between the different species. Other problem areas included the fast growth of zebra mussels in the Great Lakes in the U.S.A and the damage they can cause crops all over the world. A totally white “Ghost Slug” had been found in the Bristol area and its origins are completely unknown. And, of course, said Mr. Norris, snails were the hosts of liver fluke in sheep.
Mr. Norris demonstrated his presentation throughout with slides of the many species of slugs and snails that inhabit our world – some as small as a pinhead.
Some snails are becoming extinct and, with so few observers and recorders, it was likely that the reasons would never be known.