Insect thought extinct found in Edinburgh

The Bordered Brown Lacewing (Megalomus hirtus) has been rediscovered on Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh after having not been seen for over 30 years, and feared to be extinct in the UK. 

The last record was from Edinburgh in 1982. The new specimen was found by Mike Smith, an intern with Buglife as part of a project supported by the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). 

Mike Smith, Buglife intern says: “Finding the lacewing has been a really exciting start to my project and now we know that it’s not extinct, we can start learning more about it.

"We think it might live on Wood Sage but we’re not sure and so we need to investigate further to make sure that this rare Scottish insect has everything it needs to survive.”

Colin Plant, the national recorder for lacewings, who confirmed the identification, says: “The rediscovery of the Bordered Brown Lacewing in Edinburgh is really good news for biodiversity.

Continued ...

'Puma' Spotted On Arthur’s Seat By Police Helicopter

While searching through undergrowth for a missing mum with infrared camera, Inspector Whyte set eyes on what he is convinced was a puma

Yahoo News. – Mon, Jun 8, 2015

The big cat was reportedly sitting on Arthur’s Seat - the peak of a group of hills in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park - in 2012 by a police helicopter.

Inspector Nick Whyte was one of the officers on board the helicopter, that was dispatched to search for a vulnerable mother in the middle of the night after a two-year-old baby was discovered abandoned close to St Leonard’s police station.

While searching through undergrowth with infrared camera, Inspector Whyte set eyes on what he is convinced was a puma.

He told the Edinburgh Evening News: “We detected a very large heat source that we thought was possibly the mother.

“As I directed a female police officer towards it, the heat source got up and it turns out it was a big cat–we think a puma or something like that.”

Describing the animal as “three times the size”of a nearby female police officer, Inspector Whyte is certain this was no domestic cat.

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Unidentified Fluid Object baffles Scots boffins

BAFFLED hillwalkers fear ALIENS have landed — after mysterious slime started appearing in the countryside.

They have discovered a strange jelly... and some experts believe it’s landed from space.

The first report of an unidentified fluid object was in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh, triggering a flood of similar sightings.

Now National Geographic Channel documentary Wild X Files attempts to solve the mystery after they had the weird samples analysed by scientists.

Paranormal investigator Steve Mera is convinced he was dealing with aliens after a sample he collected DISAPPEARED.

He said: “I was dumbfounded. I had no idea what it was.

“I thought ‘let’s get some samples.’ The next morning, I saw the sample jar and I did a double take as there was nothing in it. It was there the night before, now it was empty.” Steve was sure he was dealing with star jelly left over from a meteor shower. He said: “It comes from space.”

Euan McIlwraith, presenter of BBC show Out Of Doors, added: “A call came into the studio from somebody who had been hillwalking and found this substance. We knew we were on to something strange.

“There are lot of people out there who believe it comes from the stars.”

Deer hunter Andy Malcolm thought the goo was stag sperm — but this was ruled out when perplexed fungal ecologist Dr Andy Turner found the samples contained NO animal DNA.

Continued:  http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/scotlandfeatures/4487849/Unidentified-Fluid-Object-baffles-Scots-boffins.html

Venomous banana spider in Edinburgh Asda supermarket

A venomous spider from Colombia has been found in a bunch of bananas by an Edinburgh shop worker.

The wandering spider, commonly known as a banana spider, was spotted crawling out of the fruit in Asda's Chesser branch on Tuesday.

A shop worker caught the female arachnid in a plastic jar before calling the Scottish SPCA.

The spider, with a 10cm leg span, was taken to the Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World where it later died.

Shop worker, Petra Merriman, 45, caught the spider.

She said her male colleagues had been "in panic" after discovering the spider.

She said: "All the boys were running round like headless chickens.

"One of the chaps who was putting a box of bananas in the display took a lid off a box and saw it was curled around a banana.

"We got a phone call in the back office saying come and deal with this spider.

"The guys all said 'I'm not going.' I said I would. I'm not arachnophobic at all."

'Shutting down'

She added: "I brought a pot with a secure lid down with me, and I just popped it in.

"I didn't have to touch it, I just put the pot underneath it.

"Nothing like this has ever happened here before."

Kevin Thom, of Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World, said: "It isn't deadly but its venom contains high levels of serotonin.

"If bitten you would experience pain, swelling, muscle spasms and flu-like symptoms which could be very unpleasant, depending on the amount of venom that was injected.

"These spiders can survive transport from abroad by shutting down and becoming very cold.

"They awaken when they warm up, which is often under bright shop lights.

"This female has possibly suffered shock in transit or it may simply have been her time to die."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-17139423