The Isles of Scilly are an archipelago 45 km (28 mi) off Land's End, Cornwall. Little of the fauna on, above or in the seas surrounding the isles was described prior to the 19th century, when birds and fish started to be described. Most records of other animals date from the 20th century onwards.
Historical overview
There are few pre-19th-century records for animals.[citation needed]William Borlase published The Natural History of Cornwall in 1758, commenting on the number of rabbits, and Jonathan Couch's A Cornish Fauna gave an account of some the animals known in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. In the 19th century, following the fashion of the time, birds were shot and stuffed, especially by Augustus Smith and his predecessors on Tresco. Egg collecting was allowed and in the Natural History Museum there are, in the collection, forty-five eggs taken between 1880 and 1936 from Annett, even though it was a bird sanctuary.[1] Newspapers recorded some of the fish caught but there was little recording of other groups of animals.
It was in the 20th century when regular accounts can be found for other animal groups following visits from naturalists who often published their observations in the scientific literature. For example, William Bristow visited the islands on three occasions from 1927 to 1934, recording spiders including on some of the uninhabited islands.[2] The Cornwall Bird Watching and Preservation Society published bird reports from the 1930s onwards and the Isles of Scilly Bird Group (founded 2000) took over publishing their own annual reports – Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review – which included other groups of animals such as the diptera.
Planarian (flatworms)
Fourteen species of terrestrial flatworms have been recorded in Britain and Ireland with five found on the Isles of Scilly. Only three or four of the fourteen species are native with two recorded on Tresco.[3][4]
The Australian flatworm (Australoplana sanguinea) – a flatworm from Australia and New Zealand and first found on Tresco in 1960. Now found in many parts of Britain. Feeds on earthworms.
Australopacifica coxii – a flatworm from Australia and found on Tresco in 1975. Feeds on earthworms.
Kontikia andersoni – found on Tresco in 1984; it is native to Australia and/or New Zealand.[5]
The Atlas of the Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland published in 1996 listed just three species; blue-tailed damselfly, common darter (both breeding residents) and the migrant hawker. The pools can be slightly brackish at times and only species that can tolerate these conditions can establish populations on the islands.[9]
Steve Jones compiled a list which was published in the Cornwall Dragonfly Group Newsletter (numbers 6–8) and the list below is based on that information. In comparison, at that time, Cornwall had 23 breeding species and 28 species recorded.[10]
Blue-tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans) – can tolerate brackish conditions and breeds on St Agnes, St Mary's and Tresco.
Migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) – increased sightings since the mid-1990s on St Agnes, St Mary's and Tresco.
Southern hawker (A. cyanea) – recorded on St Mary's in October 1992 and October 1996 and from Tresco also in October 1996.
Common hawker (A. juncea) – Great Pool, Tresco in October 1992.
Emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator) – individuals seen on St Mary's, September 1992 and August 1996.
Green darner (A. junius) – At least two individuals (male and female) were found on St Agnes on 10 September 1998 (just one day after the first record for the Western Palaearctic in Cornwall, the previous day). There was a male on St Mary's during the following week and a female on Tresco on 30 September and the next day.
The Orthopteroids have been recorded in Scilly since 1890 and specialists have visited the islands since 1989 to give, what is considered, complete coverage of these insects. The list below is taken from Orthopteroid Insects on Scilly (2001) with additional records referenced.[11]
Dark bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera) – one seen on Tresco in 1906.
Grey bush-cricket (Platycleis albopunctata) – resident on Bryher and a probable Allerød pioneer. The numbers in the colony fluctuates.
Long-winged cone-head (Conocephalus fuscus) – a recent resident, discovered in 1990 on St Martin's and St Mary's, on Gugh and St Agnes in 1994 and Tresco in 1996.
Short-winged cone-head (Conocephalus dorsalis) – a recent resident, the first confirmed record was from St Agnes in 1992 and found on St Mary's in 1996 on Lower Moors. Three known populations including Lower Moors, St Mary's.
Common groundhopper (Tetrix undulata) – probably introduced on horticultural material and found in Tresco Abbey Gardens in circa 1960. Since found on Abbey Pool where there is a large population.
Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) – there are records going back to the 19th century and one was found on St Mary's in the autumn of 1988.
Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) – one found on St Mary's in October 1998.
Field grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) – a probable Allerød pioneer, resident, widespread and numerous on the Annet, Bryher, Great Arthur, Great Ganilly, Great Ganinick, Gugh, Little Arthur, Little Ganilly, Menawethan, Northwethel, Samson, St Agnes, St Helens, St Martin's, St Mary's, Tean and Tresco.
Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis) – an established introduction and until the early 20th century was a widespread indoor pest. Still found in some premises on St Martin's, St Mary's and Tresco.
In 1992 Michael Hicks and John Hale began to regularly record the moths on St Agnes using a mercury vapourmoth trap, initially in the central part of the island and later also on the coast and Gugh. Previously moths had been recorded by visitors on short stays. Their book recorded 213 species of macro moths, 171 species of micro moths and 28 species of butterflies.[14] The list below is taken from Hicks and Hale (1998) with additional records referenced.
Yellow v moth (Oinophila v-flava) – in Britain and Ireland the moth is found usually indoors in, for example, wine cellars and warehouses, where the larva feeds on wine corks and fungus.[15] Larvae were found under the flaking bark of Pittosporum crassifolium by Robert Heckford in 1986 at Old Town Bay, St Mary's.[16]
Spindle ermine (Y. cagnagella) – recorded, on St Agnes, at light in August 1994. The food plant, European spindle (Euonymus europaeus), is not found on the islands.[17]
Diamond-back moth (Plutella xylostella) – can be abundant and numbers reinforced by migration. When walking among crops can have hundreds flying ahead of each footfall.
C. laricella – the only record for this larch miner is by the bibliographer, Francis Jenkinson on St Agnes before 1894.[19] Larch has not been recorded on the islands.[17]
Nothris congressariella – common and widespread on the islands, the larvae feed between spun leaves of balm-leaved figwort (Scrophularia scorodonia) and was first recorded on Tresco in 1957. At that time it was not known from anywhere else in Britain and Ireland. Has since been found on the Channel Islands (1982), near Newquay (1987) and Lundy Island 1995.[21]
Loxostege sticticalis – first recorded in the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes on 18 August 1996.
Uresiphita gilvata – first recorded in the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes on 18 August 1996.
Sitochroa palealis – first recorded in the Isles of Scilly on St Agnes on 12 October 2001. A second was trapped in the same field on 20 October 2001.[24]
Etiella zinckenella – one on 20 July 1996 on St Agnes was the fourth for Britain and the first for the Isles of Scilly. A second was recorded on 19 October 2018, also on St Agnes.[25]
Flame carpet (Xanthorhoe designata) – fairly common throughout Britain; the first two Scillonian records were found on 18 August 2000 (St Mary's) and a second on 2 September 2000 (St Agnes).[26]
Spurge hawk-moth (Hyles euphorbiae) – the first confirmed record was photographed by David Hunt, in 1972, at Tresco Abbey Gardens and thought to have arrived on imported plants.[26]Henry Harpur-Crewe visited in 1877 and "described it to the gamekeeper, who is a very observant man, and he said he was almost sure he had seen it".[21]
Bedstraw hawk-moth (Hyles gallii) – first Scillonian record on Tresco (27 July 1945).[21]
Hoary footman (Eilema caniola) – first Scillonian record on Tresco (16 September 1974), second on St Mary's (5 September 1986) and the third on 18 August 2000.[21][26]
Great dart (A. bigramma) – rare immigrant, three were caught on 10 August 1997 during a period of migrant activity. The first Scillonian record was one caught on St Mary's by B Elliot (24 August 1995).
Radford's flame shoulder (Ochropleura leucogaster) – rare vagrant. The individuals caught on St Agnes (30 October and 21 November 1997), were the 6th and 7th British records and a new record for the Isles of Scilly.
Lesser yellow underwing (N. comes) – common, about half of specimens are ab. sagittifer Cockane.
Broad-bordered yellow underwing (N. fimbriata) – rare, one on 29 September 1994 was a new Isles of Scilly record. A second was caught on 29 September 1995 and a third on 9 July 2001; all on St Agnes.[24]
Lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing (N. janthe) – common
Least yellow underwing (N. interjecta caliginosa) – rare, one on St Agnes (12 August 1994) was the first Scillonian record since the 1880s.[21]
Marble white spot (Protodeltote pygarga) – rare, one on St Agnes (1 July 1994) a first for the Isles of Scilly.
Pale shoulder (Acontia lucida) – rare, one on St Agnes (10 August 1995 was a new Isles of Scilly record and the third British record for the 20th century.
Scar bank gem (Ctenoplusia limbirena) – rare, one on St Agnes (13 September 1997) was a first for the Isles of Scilly and the thirteenth British record.
Bird's wing (Dypterygia scabriuscula) – the first for the Isles of Scilly was one caught on St Agnes on 19 August 2001.[24]
Dog's tooth (Lacanobia suasa) – first Scillonian record on 19 June 2000 at St Agnes.[27]
Pale pinion (Lithophane hepatica) – the first Scillonian record was one on St Mary's 27 May 1974 and the second on St Agnes 8 April 2000.[21][26]
Porter's rustic (Athetis hospes) – first recorded in the UK at Kynance Cove, Cornwall the second, third, and fourth UK records were all from the same St Agnes field; 14 September 1993, 31 August 1998 and 5 September 2000.[26] A fifth UK record was caught on 11 October 2001.[24]
Possible species
Small white-line dart (Euxoa crypta) – A small sample of an Euxoa species was collected in 1993 and sent to David Agassiz for genitalia dissection, which confirmed that the small white-line dart probably occurred on St Agnes. It remains a 'possible' because of identification problems.
Butterflies
A Cornwall Butterfly Atlas published in 2003 listed 26 species of butterflies recorded on the islands. Eleven are resident or likely to be resident.[28]
Pale clouded yellow (Colias hyale) – seen in 1900 when it was said to be common and also one in 1968. The ab. helice of clouded yellow can be mistaken for this species so identification from individuals seen in flight are unreliable.[21]
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) – A total of six brimstone have been recorded. Three seen in August 1911, on an unnamed island.[30] A male seen on St Agnes on 15 September 1977 and another male flying on Peninnis Head, St Mary's on 24 April 1984.[31] The last seen was on St Martins on 27 September 2013.
Red-barbed ant (Formica rufibarbis) – known locally as the St Martin's ant. Only found in the Isles of Scilly and Chobham Common, Surrey. where it is close to extinction. In the June 2007 the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) found over 40 nests on Chapel Down, St Martin's and also nests on some of the Eastern Isles. The ZSL collected 34 queens for a captive rearing programme with the aim of releasing at least 40 captive-reared nests, yearly, into the wild at Chobham.[35]
In 1931 Kenneth Blair published a list of over 500 beetles, collated from collections and published papers. Below is listed some of the species a visitor is likely to see on a visit.[a][9]
The common frog (Rana temporaria) is known from Tresco and Higher Moor, Lower Moor and Porthloo on St Mary's. Bones were identified from a 10th- to 13th-century site at Lower Town, St Martins.[2] Giant, albino tadpoles, suffering from a mineral deficiency, resulting in a form of gigantism were found in the pool on the cricket pitch, also on St Martin's.[37] Bones of a toad were found from a 17th-century occupation site at Steval Point Battery, St Mary's.[38]
Spectacled warbler (Sylvia conspicillata) – first Scillonian record on 15 October 2000 on Tresco[40]
Eurasian bullfinch ((Pyrrhula pyrrhula)) – bred on Tresco in the late 1970s and early 1980s[40]
Introductions
Golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) – introduced to Tresco in the 1970s, the population was reduced to one male in the 1980s before further releases.[40]
Reptiles
Slowworms (Anguis fragilis) have been present around Great Popplestone Bay on Bryher since the 1960s.[2]
The Mammals of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, an atlas published by the Cornwall Mammal Group lists 56 species for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, but most of the mammals found in Cornwall are missing from the islands. These include European badger (Meles meles), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), stoat (Mustela erminea), weasel (Mustela nivalis) and most other small mammals such as the voles.[2][42]
European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) – Known to have been on the islands in 1176 and recorded from Tresco in the 1470s. Both John Leland and William Borlase both commented on the large populations. On all the main islands, except Bryher, and also on some of the uninhabited including Annet and Great Ganilly.[2]
European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) – Introduced to St Mary's in the 1980s they now present a threat to ground-nesting birds, beetles and shrews.[42]
Lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens) – In July 1924 W N Blair found an unknown species of shrew on Gugh and sent it to the mammal expert, Martin Hinton, at the British Museum. This specimen, held at the museum, is the type for the species. Ten years earlier H N Robinson found an unknown rodent at Old Town, St Mary's and sent it to Mr F W Smalley "who had the largest collection of rodents in the country".[44]
Whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinusor) or Brandt's bat (Myotis brandtii) – recorded on Tresco by Cornwall Bat Group in 1997.[45]
Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) – recorded on Bryher, St Mary's and Tresco by Cornwall Bat Group in 1997 and Tresco has at least one roost in 2000.[45]
Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) – seen on a daily basis until the 1950s and still seen in calm weather, but no longer as frequently as in the past.[46]
Common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) – there has been a resident group in Cornish/Devon waters since 1991.[46]
Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) – sightings infrequent and one was washed up on Porthlow beach 20 February 2000. (The main bycatch in the tuna drift nets in the Atlantic Ocean).[46]
^Turk, Stella (1995). "Flatworms". Biological Recording in Cornwall and the Scillies. 1. Pool, Redruth: Institute of Cornish Studies: 6–7.
^Turk, S M; Tompsett, P E (2009). Planarians or Flatworms (Turbellaria). In Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (2nd ed.). Praze-an-Beeble: Croceago Press. p. 158. ISBN978-1-901685-01-5.
^"Kontikia flatworms". GB non-native species secretariat. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
^ abBristowe, W S (1929). "Spiders of the Scilly Isles". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 149–164.
^Bristowe, W S (1935). "Further notes on the spiders of the Scilly Islands". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 219–232.
^Smithers, P (2009). Spiders, Harvestment and Pseudoscorpions. In CISBFR, Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (2nd ed.). Praze-an-Beeble: Croceago Press. pp. 161–173. ISBN978-1-901685-01-5.
^ abParslow, Rosemary (2007). The Isles of Scilly. Insects and Other Terrestrial Invertebrates. London: Harpur Collins. pp. 286–325. ISBN978-0-00-220151-3.
^Pellow, Keith (2001). "Dragonflies on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000 (1). Isles of Scilly Bird Group.
^Haes, E Christopher M (2001). "Orthopteroid Insects on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000 (1): 178–184.
^Heckford, Robert (1987). "Lepidoptera recorded in the Isles of Scilly in May, 1986". Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation. 99: 268–270.
^ abcFrench, Colin N; Atkinson, Mary G; Murphy, Rosaline J (1999). Flora of Cornwall: atlas of the flowering plants and ferns of Cornwall with notes on some species recorded on the Isles of Scilly. Camborne: Wheal Seton Press. ISBN9780953461301.
^ abcdefghiSmith, Frank H N (1997). The Moths and Butterflies of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Wallingford: Gem Publishing Company. pp. 179–217. ISBN0-906802-07-5.
^Sterling, Phil; Parsons, Mark; Lewington, Richard (2012). Field Guide to the Micro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland. Gillingham, Dorset: British Wildlife Publishing. ISBN978-0-9564902-1-6.
^Turner, Hy J (1934). "Polychrosis littoralis subsp. annetensis n.ssp. a new form of a microlepidopteron". Entomological Record. 46: 52.
^ abcdefghHicks, Mike (2002). "Moths Report 2001". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2001 (2): 172–4. ISSN1474-4937.
^Clancy, Sean (2019). "Occurrences of the Rarer Immigrant and Adventive Moths in 2018". Atropos (Migration review 2018): 3–9. ISSN1478-8128.
^ abcdefgHicks, Michael E (2001). "Moths on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000 (1): 176–7.
^Smith, Frank H N (2002). "A supplement to the Moths and Butterflies of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly". Entomologist's Gazette. 53: 213–237.
^Wacher, John; Worth, John; Spalding, Adrian (2003). A Cornwall Butterfly Atlas. Newbury: Pices Publications. pp. 123–5. ISBN1-874357-23-4.
^ abcdefgHicks, Michael (2001). "Butterflies on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000 (1). Isles of Scilly Bird Group: 173–4.
^Adkin, Banaiah W. "Colias edusa and Sphink convolvuli at Scilly". Entomologist. 44: 324.
^Penhallurick, Roger D (1996). The Butterflies of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Truro: Dyllansow Pengwella. ISBN0951578510.
^Harpur Crewe, H (1877). "Entomology at Tresco and the Isles of Scilly". Entomologist. 10: 295–297.
^Parslow, Rosemary (2007). The Isles of Scilly. London: HarperCollins. p. 309. ISBN978-0-00-220150-6.
^Cooper, Andrew (2006). Secret Nature of the Isles of Scilly. Dartington: Green Books. pp. 187–8. ISBN978-1-903998-51-9.
^The red-barbed ant (undated leaflet). St Mary's: Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust.
^Blair, Kenneth G. "The beetles of the Scilly Islands". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 4: 1211–1258.
^ abcdMawer, Dave (2001). "Bats on Scilly". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000 (1). Isles of Scilly Bird Group: 167–173.
^ abcdMartin, Amanda (2001). "Cetaceans in Scillonian Waters". Isles of Scilly Bird and Natural History Review 2000 (1). Isles of Scilly Bird Group: 165–7.
