Another NEW species for Alderney, a species also unrecorded across the other Bailiwick Islands (Guernsey Sark & Herm) and indeed in the Channel Islands full stop.
Confirmation was received this morning that an Ichneumon wasp – Eutanyacra picta that we discovered in one of the Observatory moth traps last week is a first record not just for Alderney but for the entire Channel Islands. The recent high pressure and soaring temperatures were perfect conditions for unusual species to disperse further afield and this parasitic wasp was an exciting find, a rare insect, it appears to have just one UK record and a handful of historical records in Europe.