NOTES ON THE SUFFOLK LIST OF COLEOPTERA: 13 SEVENTEEN SPECIES NEW TO THE SUFFOLK LIST

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NOTES ON THE SUFFOLK LIST OF COLEOPTERA: 13 SEVENTEEN SPECIES NEW TO THE SUFFOLK LIST, SIX DELETIONS AND RECENT SIGNIFICANT RECORDS DAVID R. NASH The first part of this paper brings forward seventeen species of beetle (asterisked) which should be considered “New to Suffolk” for any Index to these Transactions as well as noting six which should be deleted (D). It concludes with details of some recent noteworthy records. All records are my own except where indicated. As in previous papers in this series, records are allocated to vice-county (VC25, East; VC26, West) and National Grid references are provided, with those assigned by me to old records being placed in square brackets. The national status for scarce and threatened species is given, following Hyman (1994) in his National Review; an explanation of these categories is provided in a previous paper in this series (Nash, 2003).

The national status assigned in early versions of English Nature’s Recorder database is given for most other species. Unless specifically mentioned, there are no Suffolk specimens of any of the beetles discussed in the Claude Morley/ Chester Doughty collection at Ipswich Museum (in the following account simply referred to as the Morley Collection).

CARABIDAE All references to “Luff” or Atlas in these species’ accounts refer to Luff’s Atlas (1998). *Omophron limbatum (Fabricius) RDB1 On 19 August 2003, Mark Telfer (Carabid Recording Scheme Organiser), Dave Boyce and John Walters visited the disused area of the aggregates extraction site near Cavenham where I had found Bracteon argenteolum (Ahrens) and Bembidion pallidipenne (Illiger) in 2002 (Nash, 2003). Mark sent me very detailed observations concerning the site and its beetles and these are incorporated in the following account; quotes given are from Mark’s ms.

The group concentrated their attention on the edges of the silt-lagoon where I had found B. pallidipenne. This lagoon has been formed on the edges of the working quarry as a result of industrial extraction of aggregates.

Washings heavily laden with silt, fall from a pipe into the silt lagoon where the silt is deposited. The level of the water in the lagoon is therefore affected by how much washing is being undertaken and by evaporation. On both weekends when I had visited, no washing would have been undertaken for at least 24–48 hours and the weather had been very hot; the visible water level began about 8 m from the boundary of the lagoon giving very much the impression of a lake drying up. In a photo taken by the group during their midweek visit when washing was being undertaken, water can be seen gushing out of the pipe with force and the visible water level has risen tremendously from my weekend visits, giving the impression of a turbulent river in flood.

The most numerous of the noteworthy species which they found, was the extremely distinctive, and almost orbicular species Omophron limbatum (Fabricius). Although it is reputed in the old literature to have occurred

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previously in this country, as far as I am aware, no undoubtedly genuine specimens from these islands have been detected in collections. It was discovered at Rye Harbour, Sussex in 1969 (Farrow & Lewis, 1971) and subsequently spread to the gravel pits of the Dungeness area. Martin Collier found it in Norfolk at Cranwich Pits in August, 2001 and it has been found at two other pits in that county since that time (pers. comm., M. Collier). O. limbatum requires fresh, fine, wet silty or sandy sediments, usually bare of vegetation for its development so whilst it thrives in new gravel workings, populations decline within a few years as fine particles are eroded away to a more stable gravel substrate. Allen (1971) observed the strange and apparently temporary immobilising effect which dry sand had upon some captive Omophron in a tank and found the behaviour did not occur after he had wetted the ½ inch deep sand. Omophron spends much of its time buried in the sand and I suspect was present on my visits but not detected because I was searching and splashing at the water’s edge - a technique which had revealed the beetle in profusion for me at Cranwich Pits – and not treading and “puddling” the quicksand higher up the shore near the “high tide” mark when the lagoon was filling up with water during the working week.

The Suffolk beetles struck Mark as being darker than those at Dungeness so several were collected for comparison. He found that the Cavenham specimens were clearly and consistently darker than those from Dungeness – as were my own Norfolk specimens from Cranwich Pits – indicating that the East Anglian colonies are the result of additional colonisation from the continent and not a range expansion of the Kent population.

The most significant and exciting of their finds, however, was confirmation that B. argenteolum was breeding at the site – I had only found a dead, spent individual in the autumn of the previous year. They found that the beetle “was reasonably common on the fine wet quicksand sediments of the silt lagoon where 10 individuals were seen by splashing within a small area.

There was clearly much more suitable habitat for the species but it seemed best to leave some of the area undisturbed. This clearly indicates a breeding population. B. argenteolum was found only on the freshest silty sediments about 4 inches above the water table. Standing on this habitat and jiggling about turned the ground into quicksand. O. limbatum and B. pallidipenne were found more widely on the silt-lagoon but were commonest on the freshest sediments with B. argenteolum.”

At Cavenham, in addition to the three species discussed above, the group found several Stenolophus teutonus (Schrank) sheltering amongst trailing Juncus vegetation or in Juncus tussocks growing in the stable, wet, sparselyvegetated sand around the lagoon. This pre-dates my Brantham find (Nash, 2005) by over a year and represents a new vice-county record. It also provides further support for my view expressed there concerning the transportation of species with aggregates.

Although all four of the above discussed beetles are winged and could have colonised Suffolk by flight, Mark concurs with my views expressed when discussing the occurrence of these species at the pit (Nash, 2003 p. 40) that, on balance, it is likely that the presence of these beetles was wholly or partly the result of transportation by the aggregates industry. I am in full

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agreement with his suggestion that B. argenteolum and the dark form of O. limbatum are recent importations from the continent.

The concluding paragraph of Mark’s ms. in which he reflects on the future of this assemblage of rare or notable beetles would appear a fitting way to end this particular account: “It seems likely that the silt-lagoon habitat would rapidly dry out and stabilise if the outflow stopped, and that these specialist beetles, especially B. argenteolum, would soon be lost as a result. Given the highly artificial habitat that they occupy this is perhaps an outcome that conservationists should accept.”

(I have already reviewed the Suffolk history of B. pallidipenne referred to above (Nash, 2003). To this can now be added its first known post-1970 occurrence in VC25 viz. 3 September 2007, three on sandy shore of coastal lagoon, Covehithe Broad (TM5280) and on 7 September two more on sand by a similar lagoon at Walberswick N. N. R. (TM4872); P. Whitton. *Dyschirius angustatus Ahrens RDB3 BAP D. angustatus is a rare carabid which occurs on bare sand near water, usually on the coast. Luff shows that since 1900 it has only been recorded from the Solway region, Sussex and north-east Scotland.

On 10 July 2005 a singleton was found under a leaf rosette of common stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium (L.) L’Hérit) on freshly disturbed sandy soil at R.S.P.B. Minsmere, VC 25 (TM4767) by Nigel Cuming (teste DRN).

Given the known restricted distribution of the beetle, it seems highly probable that its occurrence with us is the result of recent migration from the continent.

(D) Dyschirius obscurus (Gyllenhal) RDB2 D. obscurus was added to the Suffolk list on the strength of specimens taken at Flixton sandpit (Collier, 1987). Recent re-examination of these specimens has shown them to only be D. thoracicus (Rossi) (M. Collier, pers. comm.).

D. obscurus should therefore be removed from our list.

(D) Bembidion semipunctatum Donovan Na Whilst browsing Luff’s Atlas, I was very surprised to find that the map for B. semipunctatum showed a recent Suffolk record from TM34. This beetle has a distribution almost totally based around the Severn estuary although there is an old record from Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire. The Monks Wood dataset used for the atlas indicates that the species was collected at Bawdsey Marshes in 1984 by Howard Mendel. Howard informs me that he has never collected the species anywhere in Suffolk and it would appear likely that a mistake occurred, either when filling in a Carabid Scheme record card, or else when transferring data from a card into electronic form. The Suffolk dot for this species should therefore be considered erroneous and discounted. *Philorhizus (formerly Dromius) vectensis (Rye) RDB3 P. vectensis is a very rare species found on partly vegetated dry sand or shingle. With the exception of one old inland record it is shown in the Atlas to be restricted to the south coast of England from Kent to Cornwall.

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Recently, whilst determining the unidentified carabids in the collection of the late B. J. MacNulty at The National Museum of Wales at Cardiff, Martin Luff discovered a male specimen (det. genitalia) labelled “Tuddenham, Suffolk, 17. 10. 65”. MacNulty published many records of insects which he described as from “Tuddenham, Suffolk” and these must all be referred to the Breck locality of that name – VC26, [TL77].

The occurrence of otherwise coastal species in the Breck is well-known, but it is somewhat puzzling that, despite well over a century of carabid collecting in the area coupled with considerable recent pitfall trapping for those same beetles, the species has not been found since and no other specimens from anywhere in the Breck have come to light in private or museum collections. The Tuddenham beetle may have been an individual translocated to the site by thermals or human agency or else, if part of a breeding population, it would appear that this is (or was) extremely localised.

DYTISCIDAE *Hydrovatus cuspidatus (Kunze); (D) H. clypealis (Sharp) A few years ago (Nash, 2001) I added Hydrovatus clypealis (Sharp) to our list on the basis of an example taken at Blythburgh in May 1988 which had been reported to the national recording scheme for water beetles. When details of this capture were first published in 1990 I assumed – given the long-time popularity of aquatic beetles with collectors over the last two centuries or more – it was a new arrival, rather than an overlooked Suffolk resident.

Recently, as a result of discovering a second Hydrovatus in Britain (cuspidatus (Kunze)) the captor of the Suffolk beetle has re-examined and dissected it and has found that it is the new species which was found by him in Kent in the summer of 2005 (Drake, 2006). Two further examples have recently been captured in a dyke at Sharp Street in Norfolk (Foster et al., 2007). The new species has not yet been assigned any formal British status, but it is more widespread in central Europe than clypealis. H. clypealis should therefore be removed from our list.

PTILIIDAE (See earlier papers in this series and White Admiral 67, Summer 2007 for general comments on this family) *Ptinella errabunda (Johnson) This extremely tiny beetle (0·8–0·9 mm) was not described until relatively recently (Johnson, 1975) and is possibly a native of New Zealand where related species are found. It is the commonest and most widely distributed of our eight Ptinella species and I have the following records: post-1975, The King’s Forest, VC26 (TL87); H. Mendel.

20 April 1979, under oak branch bark, Shrubland Park, Coddenham, VC25 (TM1252). *Baeocrara variolosa (Mulsant & Rey) Unknown Baeocrara variolosa appears to be a widely distributed, but scarce, species in this country (C. Johnson, pers. comm.). On the continent, according to Besuchet (1989), it is found especially in hollow Abies stumps, but also occurs under conifererous twigs/brushwood as well as in carrion and old heaps of

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hay. In this country, however, it is perhaps recorded most frequently from horse dung and on 18 August 1998, I sieved a few from horse dung near the River Box, Boxford, VC26 (TL9540). *Acrotrichis dispar (Matthews, A.) Notable Acrotrichis dispar is a woodland species found chiefly in dung and rotting fungi. It occurs widely, but locally, in England and is also recorded from Wales and Scotland. A few were taken with Baeocrara – see above. *Acrotrichis rosskotheni Sundt (fraterna Johnson) Unknown Acrotrichis rosskotheni is widely distributed in this country and occurs most frequently in leaf litter (but not in marshes, fens etc.) often with the very closely similar, but more common, A. intermedia with which it was once confused (Johnson, 1975). I have the following records: 31 May 1982, sieved horse dung, Shrubland Park, Coddenham, VC25 (TM1252); C. Johnson.

4 June 1982, sieved R. Deben shore detritus, Sutton, VC25 (TM2748).

22 September 1998, sieved from quite dry ditch litter, Horringer Park, Ickworth, VC26 (TL8162).

None of the above ptiliids are represented in the Morley Collection.

SCYDMAENIDAE (D) Microscydmus minimus (Chaudoir) RDB3 and Euconnus pragensis (Machulka) RDB1 These two very rare little beetles were added, new to the county and to the Staverton Park list of coleoptera, by Welch (1986).The beetles had been collected by funnel extraction from pieces of wood from a decaying oak bough collected in the park by a visiting New Zealand coleopterist, Charles Watt, on 21 June 1985.

I first began questioning the authenticity of the Staverton records when Hyman’s (1994) National Review appeared. Discussing the national status of these two species, Hyman commented under each that the recent reported capture in Suffolk “may be based on a mislabelled specimen”. Recently, the situation has been clarified for me by Peter Hammond (in litt. 29. 12. 2004) who collected at some sites with Charles Watt on his 1985 visit and was involved with the processing and identification of material from Watt’s samples. It appears that Watt had mixed up the origins of some of his bags of field samples. Thus, a sample purportedly from Richmond Park contained a long series of a North American ciid beetle; Watt had recently collected in North America. One of the “Staverton” samples was more-or-less definitely established to be from a trip he made to Windsor Great Park – the only known site in this country for Euconnus pragensis. In view of this, it is recommended that all of Watt’s Staverton records should be discounted.

STAPHYLINIDAE (D) Dropephylla gracilicornis (Fairmaire & Laboulbéne) Notable Another of Watt’s “Staverton” captures reported by Welch (1986) – see above.

As pointed out by Welch (loc. cit.), this beetle was not previously recorded from East Anglia. As far as I am aware, this still remains the case.

Morley has no specimens in his collection.

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*Xylostiba bosnicus (Bernhauer) In a previous paper in this series I published a record of Xylostiba monilicornis (Gyllenhal) taken at Rougham Park in October 1997 which appeared to confirm the 150 year-old, unique Suffolk record (Nash, 2003). At that time, only one species of the genus was considered to occur in this country.

However, in a recent paper Xylostiba bosnicus is added to the British List with examples having been found between 1999 and 2003 in Berkshire, Warwickshire, and Oxfordshire (Allen & Booth, 2005). Examination of my specimen shows that it is bosnicus – as appear to be the other recent published southern records for monilicornis which I cited in my paper. The beetle has recently been reported from Norfolk (Collier, 2007).

NITIDULIDAE *Amphotis marginata (Fabricius) RDBK The rarely recorded nitidulid Amphotis marginata (4–5 mm) lives with the ant Lasius fuliginosus (Latreille) and is always found in or in the neighbourhood of this ant’s nest which is usually made in old tree stumps or large, rotten fallen branches and trunks. Amphotis belongs to the most highly evolved group of coleopterous myrmecophiles, the so-called “true guests” as designated by Donisthorpe (1927). In many cases, these beetles are not just licked by the ants, but they and their larvae are also fed and tended by them despite the beetle’s larvae preying on the ant’s brood (see Fig. 1). The adult beetle looks like a piece of bark and often occurs under the bark of trees inhabited by the host ant. This resemblance to a natural object helps protect the beetle from outside enemies. When attacked or frightened by its hosts the beetle protects itself by crouching flat (like an upturned rowing boat) and retracting its antennae and legs under the wide margins of the elytra and thorax. Hyman (1994) cites Amphotis from the “Plymouth district”, East Sussex, West Kent, Surrey, North Essex, Berkshire, West Gloucestershire, Shropshire and Derbyshire before 1970 and only Surrey in the period since 1969. I can now record the beetle from both vice counties: 27 August 2000, five in L. fuliginosus runs under heather mats beneath pine and another found there in 2003, Thetford Warren, VC26 (TL8484); D. Hance.

Figure 1. Amphotis in food begging pose (Drawing by F. W. Frohawk from Donisthorpe, 1927)

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2 June–5 July 2005, one in pitfall trap near L. fuliginosus runs under pine, Ipswich Golf Course, Purdis Farm, VC25 (TM2143).

There are no specimens in the Morley Collection.

LATRIDIIDAE *Corticaria inconspicua Wollaston Nb The mould-feeding Corticaria inconspicua comes extremely close to C. alleni Johnson, a species only relatively recently described and which I added to our list some years ago (Nash, 1980). C. alleni is usually associated with ancient deciduous woodland whereas inconspicua occurs in a variety of natural habitats – woodland, moorland, fens etc., as well as synanthropic ones. It should be remembered, however, that alleni could be brought into a barn or woodyard feeding on moulds under the bark or on the ends of cut logs etc. so great care is required in the determination of these two beetles. At the time of my original paper on latridiids (loc. cit.) I had not met with inconspicua but shortly after it was published I found it in chicken meal refuse in an old barn at Cottage Farm, Little Blakenham,VC25 (TM1149) on 29 May 1982.

To my original published record for alleni (a Notable species) I can now add the following recent ones: 3 July 1998, one on cut log in woodpile, Ickworth Park, VC26 (TL8162).

1 August 2000, one on cut oak plank in woodyard, Shrubland Estate, Coddenham ,VC25 (TM1252).

CHRYSOMELIDAE *Luperomorpha xanthodera (Fairmaire) A native of China, L. xanthodera is around 5 mm long with almost black elytra and legs and a yellow-orange thorax. Despite having been described in 1888, its life history still appears to be unknown.

Specimens of this exotic flea beetle were first found by Colin Johnson on pale coloured, containerised garden centre roses near Preston in June 2003.

They were subsequently found by him in other garden centres in Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Staffordshire – predominantly on pale Rosa sp. but also more rarely on other pale-flowered genera such as Astilbe, Cistus and Helianthemum (Johnson & Booth, 2004).

Having kindly been sent specimens by him, I resolved to be on the lookout for the beetle in our county and eventually on 23 May 2007, I captured two (out of four individuals seen) on white patio roses (Pearly Queen) grown as standards at Bypass Nurseries, Capel St Mary near Ipswich, VC25 (TM0937); a further three were seen on 12 June in the same place.

When disturbed, most of our native Alticinae (flea beetles) use their often strongly thickened hind femora to leap (“ping”) off at any angle or direction without taking flight. L. xanthodera on the other hand – which has only moderately thickened hind femora - appears (from my limited observations) to launch itself into almost instantaneous, sustained flight redolent of a coccinellid, making it very difficult to capture once disturbed. *Chrysolina americana L. Despite its specific name, this attractive beetle is a native of the Mediterranean area although it has been introduced into America; it feeds principally on

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rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.). It was first reported in this country by Johnson (1963) from Cheshire but this finding of six adults inside a kitchen which had lavender growing in the adjacent garden, was almost certainly as a result of accidental importation; the homeowners had just returned from a holiday in Portugal where americana is common. Adults were first found in the open in this country on rosemary plants at the R. H. S. Garden at Wisley, Surrey in 1994 and since that time it has become established in several areas, principally in the south east of the country, but also in N. Essex and Norfolk.

Although the beetle has fully developed hind wings, it has not been observed to fly and the beetle is principally being dispersed by the horticultural trade with any spread from an introduction site being determined by the availability of suitable food plants in immediately adjacent areas into which adults may crawl (see below).

Recently, it has been increasingly found on a variety of other garden Labiates (although not necessarily observed feeding on them) probably being attracted to them when the preferred host nearby has been defoliated.

It was only a matter of time before it was found in Suffolk and on 18 June 2007 adults were found by Viola Tuckey on recently planted lavender at Barley Farm, Lower Holbrook VC25 (TM1735). For a photo of these see White Admiral 68, Autumn, 2007.

There is also a thriving population on lavender in Howard Mendel’s garden at Martlesham Heath Village, VC25 (TM2344). This appears to have arisen from his accidental release a few years ago of a number of adults from Richmond Park, and the beetle now occurs in an adjacent garden.

CURCULIONIDAE *Apion (Kalcapion) semivittatum Gyllenhal Na A. semivittatum is a small, extremely local weevil which occurs plentifully where found. Morris (1990) gives its distribution as E. and W. Kent, E. Sussex, S. Essex and Wiltshire.

The larvae of semivittatum feed in the stem nodes and peduncle of Annual Mercury (Mercurialis annua L.), a common weed of waste places, gardens etc.; it is the only British Apion which develops on this plant.

Since finding the beetle new to Wiltshire in a Salisbury garden in 1987, I have been looking out for it in Suffolk. For the last few years, I have allowed a metre long patch of M. annua to grow through the 10 mm shingle in the narrow border outside my conservatory at Brantham,VC25 (TM1234) and watched out for the tell-tale pinhole feeding holes of an Apion sp. These were first observed on 8 July 2006 and tapping the plants produced several semivittatum. Adults, presumably overwintered, were observed on the white conservatory walls in the early spring sunshine of 2007 and tapping later revealed adults on plants with “holed� leaves from August to mid-October.

Both here and in Wiltshire I have only obtained beetles from somewhat stunted plants whose growth had probably been affected by the damaging effects of the weevil larvae.

Since writing the above, the beetle has been found by Howard Mendel in another locality: viz. 29 October 2007, on M. annua, Warren Heath Industrial Estate,VC25 (TM2042).

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*Otiorhynchus armadillo (Rossi) Otiorhynchus armadillo is closely related to the well-known garden pest Otiorhynchus sulcatus, the so-called “vine weevil.” Unlike the latter which is parthenogenetic, armadillo reproduces sexually. First found in Britain in 1998 but initially considered a vagrant imported with house plants, O. armadillo has subsequently been found, often in large populations, in seven vice-counties of England, Wales and Scotland (Barclay, 2003). A second very similar-looking species, O. salcicola Heyden, has also been establishing itself since 2000 but appears to currently have a more restricted distribution centred on south-west London.

Both these beetles new to our fauna were probably introduced from southern Europe with ornamental plants. As they can breed outdoors and survive a British winter, they are likely to be capable of establishing breeding populations in most synanthropic situations into which they are introduced.

Otiorrhynchus are not winged, however, so any spread from a site to which they have been introduced will be slow despite the mobility and longevity of the adults.

On 5 July 2007, I found what I took to be typical otiorhynchine feeding notches on the edges of the leaves of ivy growing on an old wall of the walled garden at Chantry Park, Ipswich (TM1134); subsequently, I beat dozens of both sexes of O. armadillo (det. ♂ genitalia) from the ivy. *Lixus scabricollis Boheman Lixus scabricollis is an elongate, cylindical, moderate-sized (4·5–6 mm) weevil which develops in the stems of sea beet Beta vulgaris spp. maritima (L.) Arcang.

It was first found in this country at Grain, West Kent in 1987 and added to our list shortly afterwards (Heal, 1992). Since its discovery, records have been published for Essex, East Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset and South Wales. Given that sea beet is common and widely distributed, there can be no doubt that the weevil will continue to spread along our coast and perhaps also inland as it has been found on common beet (Beta vulgaris L.) on the continent.

On 19 September 2006, I found several examples by grubbing and sieving old roots and lower stem parts of sea beet which was growing profusely on the sea wall just past the marina at Shotley Gate, VC25 (TM2534). *Ips sexdentatus (Boerner) Naturalised The bark beetle Ips sexdentatus chiefly attacks scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in this country and, at between 5·5–8 mm, is our second largest bark beetle.

During the 19th Century it was considered a rare species but has gradually become more widely distributed and frequent as a result of the extensive planting of conifers by the Forestry Commission and others.

On 17 October 1999, Nigel Cuming found it commonly under the bark of recently felled coniferous timber in The King’s Forest,VC26 (TL8374). It is quite possible that other records are hidden in the economic forestry journals and reports to which I do not have access.

Morley never found this beetle.

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Other recent noteworthy records Calosoma sycophanta (Linnaeus) Vagrant This large (24–30 mm) and beautiful carabid is black with a bluish lustre and has the elytra brilliant green, often with a reddish hue. In Central and Southern Europe it lives in both coniferous and deciduous woodlands and is a ferocious predator with both larvae and adults climbing trees in search of caterpillars.

C. sycophanta has long been afforded a place in our catalogues and checklists as a migrant to these shores, with the first British specimen being taken by George Crabbe (1754–1832) who, whilst best-known as a poet, was also a good naturalist with a particular interest in botany and entomology. From studying Crabbe’s biographical details, this capture in his home town of Aldeburgh was made, almost certainly in my opinion, prior to 1780 although his capture was not published until much later with Stephens in his Illustrations (1827–1835) referring to it having taken place “several years since”. Stephens states also that the beetle was subsequently found at Southwold. Curtis (1823–1840) refers to it having been found in 1829 in considerable numbers along the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk (Lowestoft) and Sussex with some beetles found floating in the sea or feeding on putrid fish; any found alive, he believed, were “invariably in an exhausted state” – presumably as a result of their flight from the continent. Morley in his Coleoptera (1899a) referred to these captures and, although he ascribed what he said about them to Curtis and Stephens, he failed to quote these authors properly and was later forced (1899b) to grudgingly accept and clarify his mistake. The only other capture reported by Morley in his Coleoptera was that of William Garneys at Lowestoft in around 1857; Morley’s own annotated copy of this shows that he knew of no subsequent captures in the county.

I am not aware that there has ever again been such a large scale invasion of Britain by this species as occurred in 1829 and apparently again in some of the next few succeeding years. It would be interesting to know what circumstances led to it occurring at this time. Fowler in his magnum opus on British Coleoptera (1887) very curiously omits all reference to these significant and undisputed East Anglian captures, citing reliable British captures of the beetle from only south and south-east coast localities.

On 20 June 1997, elytral fragments of at least two C. sycophanta were found in Thetford Forest Park, VC26 (TL8187) (Miquel, 2005). They were thought to be the remnants of a small predator’s meal. No other evidence of the beetle was found during the three year period when Miquel was visiting the park. Since this capture was reported, other carabidologists have visited the locality but, as far as I am aware, have failed to find further evidence of the species. The adult beetle can live from 2–4 years and being an excellent flier could easily have reached the locality in a series of “hops”; all three post-1970 records shown by Luff in his Atlas are, in fact, from inland localities.

C. sycophanta is pictured in many “popular” guides to European beetles (e.g. Harde, 1998) and Suffolk naturalists should keep a look out for it in case it has established itself in the county.

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Ocypus fuscatus (Gravenhorst) Nb In Morley’s original catalogue of our beetles”(1899a) were 187 species whose inclusion was based upon unsatisfactory data or which had not been taken in the county for over fifty years. Amongst these was Ocypus fuscatus, a medium-sized (12–15 mm) staphylinid species stated to occur in the “London district, and Suffolk” by Stephens in his Manual (1839). According to Hyman in his National Review (1994) the species is widely distributed but has not been recorded from East Anglia, and occurs locally in a variety of habitats from fens to downland and on a range of soils including alluvial or sandy coastal soils.

On 3 October 2006, Nigel Cuming found a long-dead Ocypus fuscatus (teste DRN) on an embryonic soft cliff where the sea had eroded the dune area above high water mark at Sizewell, VC25 (TM4765). This appears to be the first reported capture of the beetle in Suffolk since the time of Stephens over a century and a half ago. Interestingly, the beetle was also found in 2006 new to Norfolk – a single example in a pitfall trap on the Stanford Training area near Thetford (Sage, 2007). Given the relatively large size and distinctiveness of this beetle, there can be little doubt that it is truly scarce in both Suffolk and Norfolk.

The beetle is not represented in the Morley collection.

Odontaeus armiger (Scopoli) Na O. armiger is a close relative of the familiar dung-feeding Dor beetle (Geotrupes sp.) and is widely distributed in southern Britain but rare, occurring very locally on grassland and heathland on chalky or sandy soils. Its biology is poorly known but it appears to be largely subterranean and sometimes occurs around rabbit burrows. Although it has been found under dry cow dung and sheep droppings and in the vicinity of rabbit burrows, it is probably not a dung feeder and may well feed on subterranean fungi. Whilst much of its existence is almost certainly spent underground, Odontaeus may occasionally be found crawling by day or flying over suitable habitat in the evening.

O. armiger (Plate 2) is sexually dimorphic with males having a long curved horn on their head and the front of the thorax horned on each side and with two small central teeth; in females the forehead horn is missing and the front of the thorax has three small teeth. Whilst its current specific name of armiger meaning “bearer of arms” may seem apt, the older epithet applied to it of mobilicornis seems even more so because, whilst many beetles, particularly exotic ones, are armed with horns on head and thorax, not all are possessed of a horn which is capable of individual mobility as is the spectacular horn on the male’s head of this species. The mature insect is normally of a black or pitchy colour but immature specimens occur which are ferruginous. Small males have the forehead horn much shorter and the thorax horns and teeth more or less obsolete. Immature examples of the latter form were originally considered a separate species –Bolbocerus testaceus Fabricius.

Odontaeus was first recorded from the county by Stephens in his Manual (1839) where he states that Bolbocerus testaceus Fab. has been found “In Norfolk and Suffolk, flying”.

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The beetle was not recorded again in the county until Morris (1962) pitfalltrapped three examples during July and August 1962 in the Deadman’s Grave area near Icklingham [TL7774]. His useful account in our Transactions contains errors in relation to our local list and highlights the need for care when accepting records quoted in the literature without checking original sources whenever possible.

Morris (op. cit. p. 245) states: “Both Eeles and Morley (1899) give the only Suffolk record as Stephens’ in 1864. The beetle was taken flying, but other details and the locality were not recorded”. Eeles (1961) when reporting a capture of the beetle from Oxfordshire states “1864, Suffolk; 1893, Norfolk” in a list of all known British records of Odontaeus which had been provided for him by the scarabaeid specialist E. B. Britton. I am confident that there is no published record of Odontaeus being captured in Suffolk in 1864 nor of one for Norfolk in 1893. Instead, these dates apply to the publication dates of works in which the beetle is stated to have occurred in those two counties and to which Britton had access. I consider that the Suffolk date refers to the second edition (1862) of John Curtis’ monumental, privately printed British Entomology (1823–1840) whilst that for 1893 refers to James Edwards’ list (1893–1894) of the Coleoptera of Norfolk. At the time of Curtis, actual publication dates were not always as stated on the title page (see Freeman, 1980 pp. 11–12). This may explain the two year discrepancy between the date given by Eeles and the date of the second edition of Curtis. Alternatively, an error of transcription may have been made by either Britton or Eeles. It appears that Morris accepted Eeles’ information as correct, consulted Morley (1899a, p. 66) – but not Stephens (1839) – and seeing that Morley stated “In Suffolk, flying (Ste. Man.)” considered this as further elaboration upon Eeles’ sparse information. Stephens Manual, however, had appeared in 1839 (not 1864) and as that author had died in 1852 it rules out an 1864 capture or publication by him.

Almost all recent records of O. armiger appear to derive from captures at MV light traps for moths and on 23 May 2007, a male was found by Neil Sherman in his trap on Ipswich Golf Course, Purdis Farm, VC25 (TM2043).

There are no specimens in the Morley collection.

Atomaria fimetarii (Fabricius) Nb Further to my record of this species in the last paper in this series (Nash, 2005), I can now add a second county record from a new 10 km grid square: 13 October 2006, one in stipe of inkcap, Ipswich Golf Course, Purdis Farm, VC25 (TM2043) I have also been told of a capture in the Suffolk Breck in the 1980s but have so far been unsuccessful in getting confirmation of this from the purported captor.

Lycoperdina bovistae (Fabricius) RDB3 Lycoperdina bovistae is a very local and rarely recorded species. It develops in puffballs and adults usually occur on or in the larval food, in both shaded and unshaded situations according to the species of puffball utilised. Adults are

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also found more rarely in some other fungi or in association with mouldy plant detritus etc.

The beetle was placed on our list by Morley (1899a) on the basis of a singleton which he swept at dusk in Bentley Woods (Old Hall Wood) near Ipswich on 19 October 1895.There appear to have been no further examples recorded until I found a single specimen in Lycoperdon pyriforme Schaeff. ex Pers. growing on an ancient stump in Bentley Long Wood (TM1039) on 27 December 1974.

To these records can now be added the following recent ones : 29 July 2004, three sieved from mouldy grass cuttings beside ride near my earlier capture, Bentley Long Wood (TM1039).

21 April 2006, a single example on a puffball in an open sandy area, East Bergholt, VC25 (TM0934) and others bred the following month from puffballs collected at the time (see Nash, 2004 for a more detailed discussion of these captures, biology etc.).

Acknowledgements I thank: Nigel Cuming, Howard Mendel, Viola Tuckey and Peter Whitton for allowing me to include their unpublished records; Mark Telfer for a ms. with records of, and observations upon, the beetle assemblage at Cavenham and a copy of the Monk’s Wood data set for the carabid Atlas; Peter Hammond for his comments on Watts’ “Staverton” beetles; Martin Collier for information on his unpublished Norfolk records etc.; Colin Johnson for helpful discussion and identification or confirmation of ptiliids and Corticaria spp.; Tony Drane for a photocopy from Curtis and helpful discussion; Jerry Bowdrey, Natural History Curator, Ipswich and Colchester Museums, for facilities and access to the Morley collection; Brian Levy, National Museum of Wales at Cardiff for an electronic file of MacNulty’s Suffolk beetle records and Martin Luff for details of MacNulty’s P. vectensis.

Finally, I am grateful to the following for permission to record on their property or that in their care: Peter Scotcher, Ipswich Borough Council (Chantry Park); Neil Sherman, Conservation Officer, Ipswich Golf Club for photo and record of Odontaeus and help with pitfall trapping; Stuart Warrington (Regional Officer, National Trust); Lord Blakenham (Cottage Farm); Lord de Saumarez (Shrubland Estate); Mr. O. Eley (East Bergholt Estate); Mr. M. Steward (Bentley Long Wood).

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David R. Nash 3 Church Lane Brantham Suffolk CO11 1PU

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