The Biological Recording Company was commissioned by Kingston Council to deliver five Field Recorder Day events at the Hogsmill Valley in south-west London between 2023 and 2025. Four of the five Field Recorder Days were focused on a particular taxonomic group: botany, earthworms, beetles and pollinators, respectively. The fifth event was a ‘General Field Recorder Day’ in which participants were invited to record any taxonomic group they wished. A sixth Field Recorder Day was also delivered in the Hogsmill Valley as part of the FSC BioLinks project during 2022 (this is included in reporting here).
The ‘Hogsmill Valley’ is a series of five neighbouring green spaces and nature reserves along the Hogsmill River, a chalk stream in the London Borough of Kingston. The five constituent sites are, from North to South: Rose Walk, Elmbridge Meadows, Hogsmill Wood, Southwood Open Space and Six Acre Meadow. Of the five events delivered, some only focused on one or two of these sites, whereas others covered all of them.
This blog shares some highlights from the Hogsmill Valley Biological Recording Project.
Chaetolonchaea pallipes (Diptera: Lonchaeidae)
A genus and species new for Britain from Hogsmill Valley!
During the Pollinator Field Recorder Day on 01/05/2024, fly specialist Martin Harvey collected a species of Lonchaeidae that was unfamiliar to him.
Through consultation with other dipterists with experience of the family, they eventually determined the specimen to be Chaetolonchaea pallipes, a species (and genus) not previously recorded from the UK.
This family of flies is not well recorded in Britain and Europe, and so the exact provenance of Martin’s specimen is unclear.
The leading theory, however, is that the specimen likely represents an accidental anthropogenic introduction rather than an arrival triggered by the warming climate.
As such, this discovery is largely of academic interest, and no specific conservation measures are recommended. The specimen was swept from the grassland in Six Acre Meadow.
MacGowan, I. and Harvey, M. (2025) Chaetolonchaea pallipennis (Zetterstedt) (Diptera, Lonchaeidae) a new genus and species for the British Isles. Dipterists Digest 2025 32, pp. 26-29. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/392402489_Chaetolonchaea_pallipennis_Zetterstedt_Diptera_Lonchaeidae_a_new_genus_and_species_for_the_British_Isles
Project Achievements
Across the six events, 94 attendees contributed a total of 888 species occurrence records, representing a total of 392 different species.
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us at our events at Hogsmill Valley. It was great to have so many people – both local residents and enthusiasts from further afield – outside enjoying this fantastic series of green spaces. A big thanks in particular to Elliot Newton for commissioning these events, and to our specialists Mark Spencer, Tony Madgwick, Gino Brignoli, Keiron Brown and Wil Heeney for their knowledge and guidance. Finally, thank you to the London Natural History Society for helping to promote the events.
Report
You can read the full report covering all of our recording and achievements from Hogsmill Valley below:
Photos
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