Wanted: Evidence of rare oily-kneed beetles
The larvae of the Short-Necked Oil Beetles lurk among flowers waiting for a passing bee to carry them back to its nest, where they feed on all the pollen the bee has collected.
The species' name comes from the stubby shape of the adult beetles and their habit of secreting an oily yellow-orange substance from their knee joints when alarmed.
The organisation behind the appeal, Buglife, said Scottish populations of the insect have been found in flower-rich habitats in the Hebrides.
There were no reports of Short-Necked Oil Beetles in the UK for almost 60 years after 1948 and habitat loss was blamed for bringing the species to the brink of extinction.
They were rediscovered in Devon in 2006 and on the Isle of Coll in 2009.
Since then in Scotland, populations have been found on Tiree, Islay, Barra and Uist.
Short-Necked Oil Beetles are one of 37 species being prioritised for conservation efforts under the Species on the Edge programme led by government agency NatureScot.
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Other species on the list include birds such as the Arctic Tern and Curlew, as well as Daubenton's Bat, the Great Yellow Bumblebee and Scottish Primrose.
Workshops have been held in Uist and Barra to help islanders identify the beetles.
Sally Morris of Buglife Scotland, said: "We're looking to raise awareness of the species and find out a lot more about its needs, its ecology, abundance and distribution.
"We have five species of oil beetle in the UK.
"Three are found in Scotland and the Short-Necked Oil Beetle is the rarest."
She said the species is vulnerable to extinction.
The beetle's lifecycle relies on solitary bees, species which do not live in colonies and have nests tended by a single female.
The beetle larvae are only a few millimetres long and have hook like feet to snag on to a passing bee to be carried back to the burrow where the bee has built its nest.
Later, after feasting on the contents of the nest, the insects emerge as adults.
Only about one in 10,000 larvae make it to adulthood.
Ms Morris said: "Oil beetles need flower-rich habitat and sites with areas of bare ground for borrowing, both for the oil beetles themselves and for the solitary bees that they parasitize."
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Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Emancipation Day talk to highlight Haldimand's Black history
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Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
She lived through more than a century
Renfrew – One of, if not the oldest, living woman in Renfrew County, left this earthy world Monday after having spent 107 years here. Grace Merchand passed away through the night at Bonnechere Manor in Renfrew where she had been a resident for the past several years. A longtime resident of the Eganville area, she was instrumental in the elementary education of many of the young men and women in schools from Denbigh to Petawawa, beginning in this area in 1946. A year later, she married Griffith native, L.T. Merchand of Griffith, and after relocating to Eganville, the couple operated the Royal Pines Pavillion dance hall, overlooking Wilber Lake on Hwy. 60 west of the village. In 2023, Leader staff writer Debbi Chrisrtinck interviewed Mrs. Merchand on the occasion of her 105 birthday at the time. On that occasion, Ms. Christinck noted Mrs. Merchand still had the beautiful, almost impish smile and twinkle in her eye which had carried her through for over a century as the daughter of Scottish immigrants who was orphaned at a young age and went on to have a full life in the Ottawa Valley, teaching, hosting dances, enjoying the outdoors and sharing her infectious love of life. 'You have to have a sense of humour,' she noted then. 'It's much nicer to have a smile.' Bonnechere Manor hosted a party in her honour that day, where she especially enjoyed the piper and was tapping her toes to the music, a fallback to her Scottish heritage. 'The young people I know put on a party for me,' she said. 'It was very nice and I have all these flowers.' For most people are 'young people' when compared to Grace, Ms. Christinck penned. She was born when WWI was still in full swing and the Spanish Influenza was gripping the world. In her lifetime, she saw another World War and another pandemic which swept the globe. In her personal life she experienced the early loss of both parents and was widowed right when she was looking forward to enjoying her retirement with her husband. 'Those are blows which might have been caused to make some people bitter, but not Grace,' Ms. Christinck wrote. 'She looks back on her life full of love and gratitude. 'She has kept a joy for life and enjoyed good health, living on her own well past 100 until more recently when she moved first to a retirement home and then to the Manor,' her story continued. She was born on March 2, 1918, in Toronto as Grace Wiseman to a young Scottish couple – her father was from the Highlands and her mother from Glasgow. She recalled her parents came to Canada in search of opportunity and were encouraged to find work in the Toronto area. 'As it happened a doctor was asked to start a home in Whitby for people with mental health issues and they worked there, so I spent my young life in Whitby,' she recalled. Her father died when he was 27 of cancer, so she doesn't remember him. She was only five months old. 'My mother remarried to a single man, a very nice person,' she said. They moved to a horseracing farm and Grace joked she began to love reading when she would read the horse racing accounts in the newspaper. 'I was going to a rural school and it was about a mile and half walk on the highway, so you had to be careful,' she said. Tragically, her mother died when she was still young and her stepfather's sister stepped in to help and take care of Grace. She has fond memories of her time with her stepfather and his sister who provided for her and was thankful to them. 'They were lovely people,' she recalled. As a teenager, Grace decided to be a teacher and enrolled in Toronto Normal School for her teaching qualifications. Her first job was in Prospect, which is near Brooklyn, Ontario, just north of Oshawa. It was in the 1930s and she was not much older than her pupils. 'It wasn't easy to find a job then when you were young and inexperienced,' she recalled. 'I applied for another job and ended up in Denbigh.' From then on, the Ottawa Valley was her home, teaching from Denbigh to Petawawa. Many of her students kept in touch with her. 'They are all grown up now for sure but sometimes they come to the door once in a while to let me know they think of me,' she said in the interview. Grace also developed a life-long friendship with the late Len Hopkins, the former MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, and his family. They were teachers together in the rural schoolhouse and the friendship was solidified during her years teaching in Petawawa as well. She loved being a teacher and working with the students and was considered a pioneer for the idea of outdoor classrooms long before their time. 'She worked to bring the classroom outdoors and to work with the natural interests of the children,' Ms. Christinck wrote. 'She retained her love of the outdoors throughout her life. 'We live in a beautiful area, especially in the fall,' she said. As a young teacher she fell in love with L.T. Merchand who was as tall as she was small and they married in 1947. He was from the Griffith area originally and they soon built their home outside Eganville where they bought a few acres. They had a bush lot near his family homestead and on the highway outside Eganville they ran a popular dance hall called the Royal Pines Pavilion. Many recall it as the best dance hall in the Valley and the couple also had an overnight cabin to keep tourists and a small store. Dances were held on Friday nights and it was all lots of fun, she recalled. 'When we bought the property, we decided there was no place nearby for entertainment, so my husband and another man built the dance hall,' she said. 'We met a lot of nice people there through the years.' The dance hall was a large building, 40 by 80 feet, and was also used for wedding receptions. Bands came from all over to the dance hall, which would be crowded with dancers. The couple thrived with the fun and activity. Her husband was ideally suited to running the dance hall, she said. He had a presence about him and people responded well to him, she recalled. 'He did things in a quiet way,' she said. 'He was a good person to manage people.' All the while, she continued teaching and by the 1950s she was in Petawawa, where she would stay most of the week, returning home on weekends. During the dance season she would make sure to come home on Wednesday nights to help. Tragically, her husband died shortly after she retired from teaching in the 1970s. Grace stayed in the home and enjoyed her retirement. Active in the Association of Retired Teachers, she also spent time travelling, reconnecting with family in Scotland and New Zealand and always had a keen interest in people around her. At the time of the interview, she was using a walker and her hearing was not as good as it used to be, but she still enjoyed reading and her memory was particularly strong about her early years, particularly her childhood and early married life. For those who might be looking for a secret to making it to 105, she joked she washed her face with cold water. She added she never expected to live so long since both her parents died young. Having a good outlook on life is very important, she believed. 'My mother was an unusually knowing and fine person,' she said. 'I learned from her how she dealt with anything upsetting. She had a good sense of humour.' A funeral mass will be celebrated Friday in St. James Catholic Church, Eganville at 11 a.m. Visitation will take place from 10 a.m. until the time of the funeral Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
New York Post
23-07-2025
- New York Post
Science and local sleuthing identify 250-year-old shipwreck on Scottish island
When a schoolboy going for a run found the ribs of a wooden ship poking through the dunes of a remote Scottish beach, it sparked a hunt by archaeologists, scientists and local historians to uncover its story. Through a mix of high-tech science and community research, they have an answer. Researchers announced Wednesday that the vessel is very likely the Earl of Chatham, an 18th-century warship that saw action in the American War of Independence before a second life hunting whales in the Arctic — and then a stormy demise. 4 A close-up of the 3d model of the Sanday Wreck, which has recently been identified as the Earl of Chatham. Wessex Archaeology / SWNS 'I would regard it as a lucky ship, which is a strange thing to say about a ship that's wrecked,' said Ben Saunders, senior marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, a charity that helped community researchers conduct the investigation. 'I think if it had been found in many other places, it wouldn't necessarily have had that community drive, that desire to recover and study that material, and also the community spirit to do it,' Saunders said. Uncovered after 250 years The wreck was discovered in February 2024 after a storm swept away sand covering it on Sanday, one of the rugged Orkney Islands that lie off Scotland's northern tip. It excited interest on the island of 500 people, whose history is bound up with the sea and its dangers. Around 270 shipwrecks have been recorded around the 20-square-mile island since the 15th century. Local farmers used their tractors and trailers to haul the 12 tons of oak timbers off the beach, before local researchers set to work trying to identify it. 4 Ben Saunders, Senior Marine Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology studies a timber sample used for the scientific analysis of the Sanday Wreck. Archaeologists have identified a 250-year-old shipwreck as a former Royal Navy vessel. Historic Environment Scotland / SWNS 'That was really good fun, and it was such a good feeling about the community – everybody pulling together to get it back,' said Sylvia Thorne, one of the island's community researchers. 'Quite a few people are really getting interested in it and becoming experts.' Dendrochronology — the science of dating wood from tree rings — showed the timber came from southern England in the middle of the 18th century. That was one bit of luck, Saunders said, because it coincides with 'the point where British bureaucracy's really starting to kick off' and detailed records were being kept. 'And so we can then start to look at the archive evidence that we have for the wrecks in Orkney,' Saunders said. 'It becomes a process of elimination. 'You remove ones that are Northern European as opposed to British, you remove wrecks that are too small or operating out of the north of England and you really are down to two or three … and Earl of Chatham is the last one left.' 4 Saunders from Wessex Archaeology supervises the Sanday Wreck timbers as they are placed in a freshwater tank to preserve them. Orkney Islands Counci / SWNS Wars and whaling Further research found that before it was the Earl of Chatham, the ship was HMS Hind, a 24-gun Royal Navy frigate built in Chichester on England's south coast in 1749. Its military career saw it play a part in the expansion — and contraction — of the British Empire. It helped Britain wrest control of Canada from France during the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s, and in the 1770s served as a convoy escort during Britain's failed effort to hold onto its American colonies. Sold off by the navy in 1784 and renamed, the vessel became a whaling ship, hunting the huge mammals in the Arctic waters off Greenland. Whale oil was an essential fuel of the Industrial Revolution, used to lubricate machinery, soften fabric and light city streets. Saunders said that in 1787 there were 120 London-based whaling ships in the Greenland Sea, the Earl of Chatham among them. 4 The Sanday Wreck on the shores of Sanday in February 2024. Wessex Archaeology / SWNS A year later, while heading out to the whaling ground, it was wrecked in bad weather off Sanday. All 56 crew members survived — more evidence, Saunders says, that this was a vessel blessed with luck. Community effort The ship's timbers are being preserved in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre while plans are discussed to put it on permanent display. Saunders said that the project is a model of community involvement in archaeology. 'The community have been so keen, have been so desirous to be involved and to find out things to learn, and they're so proud of it. It's down to them it was discovered, it's down to them it was recovered and it's been stabilized and been protected,' he said. For locals, it's a link to the island's maritime past — and future. Finding long-buried wrecks could become more common as climate change alters the wind patterns around Britain and reshapes the coastline. 'One of the biggest things I've got out of this project is realizing how much the past in Sanday is just constantly with you — either visible or just under the surface,' said Ruth Peace, another community researcher.
