Denizens of the Dark

Chris Bentley
, 04 March 2020
Denizens of the Dark
Meta merianae

At this time of the year there is always much excitement around the appearance of the first bumblebee or the first butterfly, and why not? It's a signal that the year is advancing and the cold, dark days of winter are behind us. But for every one of these brash, bright daylight show-offs there are many more which shun the light and live in the dark!

Compost bins, for instance, are excellent places for an invertebrate to develop. The decaying material provides ample food as well as giving off heat as it decays. Emptying the office compost bin earlier in the year I came across several species of fly, including one or two moth flies (below) so-named because their wings are covered in scales or flattened hairs giving them the appearance of tiny moths. The larvae of these flies feed on bacteria in decaying material, often around drains and an alternative name for this group is drain flies or sewer gnats.

Rxpsychodid

Whilst not strictly associated with compost, there were several species of spider in the compost bin, including, Meta merianae (top), a species usually associated with dark, damp places such as caves, culverts and cellars. Despite the fact that it was mid-winter all the individuals I came across were adult and this highlights a feature of many invertebrates that live in sheltered habitats - they tend to be much less seasonal than species which occur in less sheltered environments, with adults and young found at all times of the year. 

Rxphilosc

Even on the bare shingle, an extremely harsh and unforgiving habitat at any time of the year, there is always something to be found.  Checking wheatear nest boxes recently I came upon several species of woodlouse nestled amongst the rocks. Most of these were Philoscia muscorum (the three largest individuals in the image above) a very common species which occurs in a range of habitats. The image also shows a pill woodlouse (the smaller individual at the top, probably Armadillidium vulgare), a species that can role into a ball when disturbed. I also found several  Porcellionides cingendus (below), In the UK this species tends to be concentrated in the south-west, though I find it quite regularly at Rye Harbour, particularly on the poorly vegetated shingle.

RxPorcellionides cingendus 020320

Another beastie I uncovered while checking nestboxes was the tiny rove beetle Drusilla canaliculata (below). Again, this is a very common species in a range of habitats in the UK, and a species I see regularly at Rye Harbour. It is quite distinctive with its red body and black tail end and in common with its much larger relative, Devil's coach horse, it will raise its rear end when threatened as though it is about to sting (though neither species can!). This species is often found near ants nests as the adults prey on ant larvae and pupae.

Rxdcanaliculata

 

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783258020.52890 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783258020.55650.0275Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783258020.55660.0001Server address: 216.73.216.170
1783258020.55660Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783258020.55660Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/denizens-of-the-dark
    [s] => denizens-of-the-dark
    [1] => denizens-of-the-dark
)
1783258020.5570.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783258020.5580.0011 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783258020.56060.0025 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783258020.56120.0007INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783258020.56440.0031 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22653467
1783258020.56490.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22653467
1783258020.56550.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-05 13:27:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-05 13:27:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783258020.56680.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='denizens-of-the-dark')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:27:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783258020.56930.0025 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783258020.56980.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1995 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:27:00'
1783258020.57060.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783258020.57140.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783258020.57220.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=88 LIMIT 1
1783258020.57260.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=70 LIMIT 1
1783258020.57310.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=36 LIMIT 1
1783258020.57350.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=66 LIMIT 1
1783258020.57410.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783258020.57430.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783258020.57510.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:27:00' AND postSlug='denizens-of-the-dark'
1783258020.59610.0209Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783258020.59660.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783258020.59820.0016Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783258020.59850.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783258020.59960.0011 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783258020.60120.0016 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783258020.60440.0032 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783258020.60520.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783258020.60770.0024Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783258020.60770.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783258020.60850.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783258020.6090.0005 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783258020.61140.0024 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783258020.61250.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783258020.61310.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783258020.61610.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783258020.61720.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783258020.62010.0029 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783258020.62070.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783258020.6210.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='9' LIMIT 1
1783258020.62190.0009Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783258020.62230.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='denizens-of-the-dark')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-05 13:27:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783258020.62470.0023 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783258020.62530.0006 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783258020.62890.0036Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783258020.63010.0012 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1995 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783258020.68440.0543 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783258020.68460.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783258020.68480.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='9' LIMIT 1
1783258020.68560.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783258020.68670.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783258020.68750.0008 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783258020.69010.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783258020.69090.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783258020.69310.0022 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783258020.69430.0013 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783258020.69510.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783258020.69570.0006 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783258020.69820.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783258020.69880.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783258020.7010.0022 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783258020.70450.0035 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783258020.70540.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783258020.70610.0007 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783258020.70880.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783258020.70950.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783258020.71180.0022 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783258020.71460.0028 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783258020.71550.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783258020.71630.0007 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783258020.71870.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783258020.71950.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783258020.72160.0021 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783258020.72320.0016Request time: 0.1961
1783258020.72320Process time: 0.1959
1783258020.72320Memory: 1.6291