Jacobaea vulgaris, syn. Senecio jacobaea, is a very common wild flower in the family Asteraceae that is native to northern Eurasia, usually in dry, open places, and has also been widely distributed as a weed elsewhere.
The Dornoch Firth is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north. The firth is designated as a national scenic area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland. The national scenic area covers 15,782 ha in total, of which 4,240 ha is the marine area of the firth below low tide. A review of the national scenic areas by Scottish Natural Heritage in 2010 commented:
By comparison with other east coast firths the Dornoch Firth is narrow and sinuous, yet it exhibits within its compass a surprising variety of landscapes. It is enclosed by abrupt rounded granitic hills clad in heather moor and scree, their Gaelic names of cnoc, meall and creag giving the clue to their character. Their lower slopes are frequently wooded, oakwoods being a noticeable feature of the area, but with other deciduous and coniferous species represented in plantations which vary from the policy plantings of Skibo Castle to the pines of the Struie Forest.
Loch Fleet is a sea loch on the east coast of Scotland, located between Golspie and Dornoch. It forms the estuary of the River Fleet, a small spate river that rises in the hills east of Lairg. The loch was designated a National Nature Reserve (NNR) in 1998, and is managed by a partnership between NatureScot, the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and Sutherland Estates. The NNR extends to 1058 hectares, including the Loch Fleet tidal basin, sand dunes, shingle ridges and the adjacent pine woods, including Balbair Wood and Ferry Wood. The tidal basin of the loch covers over 630 ha, and forms the largest habitat on the NNR.
The scaled quail, also commonly called blue quail or cottontop, is a species of the New World quail family. It is a bluish gray bird found in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States to Central Mexico. This species is an early offshoot of the genus Callipepla, diverging in the Pliocene.
Evelyn Cecil Muschamp d'Assis Fonseca (1899–1993) was a British dipterist of Brazilian birth. His birth-place is given as Peri-peri. His mother, along with her other children, had come to Britain by 1911, and set up house in Bristol. Around 1920 he became a student of engineering at the University of Bristol, and then developed a career, also in Bristol, as an aeronautical engineer and designer, continuing to reside in Bristol up to his death in 1993. How he developed an interest in entomology is at present not known.
Ord's kangaroo rat is a kangaroo rat native to western North America, specifically the Great Plains and the Great Basin, with its range extending from extreme southern Canada to central Mexico.
Delia flies are members of the Anthomyiidae family within the superfamily Muscoidae. The identification of different species of Delia can be very difficult for non-specialists as the diagnostic characteristics used for immature and/or female specimens may be inconsistent between species. Past taxonomic keys were not as comprehensive in their identification of Delia specimens; they were either too reliant on genetic characteristics, focused solely on a specific life stage, or were focused only on certain species. However current taxonomic keys aim to be more thorough by not only including morphological diagnostics for males, females, and immature specimens of various species, but also their genetic make-up or molecular barcode.
The dwarf tinamou, also known as the least tinamou, is a small, superficially partridge-like bird with short tail and wings, found only in Brazil. This tinamou is the only member of the genus Taoniscus and it is considered an endangered species.
The flock bronzewing, also known as the flock pigeon, harlequin bronzewing and the harlequin pigeon is a species of pigeon in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to drier parts of Australia.
The Eyrean grasswren is a small grasswren from the Passerine family Maluridae. This is a cryptically plumaged and uncommon bird endemic to arid regions of Central Australia. The species was discovered by F.W. Andrews in 1874 around the Macumba River at Lake Eyre, and named after the South Australian Surveyor General George Woodroffe Goyder.
The flora of Scotland is an assemblage of native plant species including over 1,600 vascular plants, more than 1,500 lichens and nearly 1,000 bryophytes. The total number of vascular species is low by world standards but lichens and bryophytes are abundant and the latter form a population of global importance. Various populations of rare fern exist, although the impact of 19th-century collectors threatened the existence of several species. The flora is generally typical of the north-west European part of the Palearctic realm and prominent features of the Scottish flora include boreal Caledonian forest, heather moorland and coastal machair. In addition to the native species of vascular plants there are numerous non-native introductions, now believed to make up some 43% of the species in the country.
The angulate tortoise is a species of tortoise found in dry areas and coastal scrub vegetation in South Africa. This tortoise is the only known member of the genus Chersina.
The crystal skipper is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae that is found only along a 30-mile (50 km) stretch of barrier islands in North Carolina. The skipper was first discovered in 1978 and the paper describing it as a full species was published in 2015.
Bothrops fonsecai, also known commonly as Fonseca's lancehead, is a species of venomous snake in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to Brazil.
Ireland is in the Atlantic European Province of the Circumboreal Region, a floristic region within the Holarctic.
Spiranthes diluvialis is a rare species of orchid known as Ute lady's tresses. The species name diluvialis means "of the flood". It is native to the western United States, where there are scattered, mostly small occurrences in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. An occurrence was recently discovered in southern British Columbia. The plant faces a number of threats to its existence. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Stevenston Beach is a Local Nature Reserve (LNR), located between Stevenston and Saltcoats in Scotland. It is situated on the coast, west of the Stevenston Burn. The park covers an area of 12 ha, and consists mostly of sand dunes, with an area of coal mining spoil derived from Auchenharvie Colliery No. 5 pit which produced Ladyha' coal. It is ranked as the fifth most important sand dune system in Ayrshire. The dunes are also designated as a wildlife site by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
Epeolus cruciger, the red-thighed epeolus, is a species of cuckoo bee from the family Apidae. It is endemic to Europe, where its main host is the common colletes, although other species of Colletes mining bees have been recorded as hosts.
Coul Links is an area of sand dunes in Sutherland, on the east coast of Scotland. It is located between Golspie and Dornoch, lying just to the north of the small village of Embo. The links are considered unusual within Scotland in displaying a complete transition from the foredune to dune system and coastal heathland. They also include habitats such as flooded slacks and seasonal lochs. The links lie on the eastern side of Loch Fleet, and form part of the Loch Fleet Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the Dornoch Firth and Loch Fleet Special Protection Area (SPA), and the Dornoch Firth and Loch Fleet Ramsar site, but are outwith the Loch Fleet national nature reserve (NNR). Between 1985 and 2010 the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) managed Coul Links under an agreement with the landowner, however the agreement was not renewed when it expired. The SWT continues to be involved in the management of the adjacent Loch Fleet NNR.
Poecilobothrus majesticus is an extinct species of fly in the family Dolichopodidae that was endemic to Great Britain. The species is known from a single male specimen collected near the Essex coast in Walton-on-the-Naze in 1907, and it was formally described by E. C. M. d'Assis-Fonseca in 1976. It has not been recorded for over 100 years, so it is therefore considered to be extinct.
