RECENT, NOTEWORTHY COLEOPTERA FROM SUFFOLK ROSS PIPER
Introduction
From the searing, almost Mediterranean, Summer of 2022 to the wash-out of 2023, our insects have faced some significant climatic challenges over the last couple of years. For most of the Spring and Summer months I am carrying out fieldwork in places other than Suffolk, so most of my contributions to these observations stem from work at Ickworth Park in 2022 as well as some casual records. Regardless, there have been a number of interesting records, some of which add to the Suffolk Coleoptera list.
I’m probably biased, but beetles are fascinating animals and I encourage anyone with an established or nascent curiosity in nature to take a closer look at them. New resources for beetle identification appear online all the time and you can find them year-round if you look in the right places. You don’t really need much in the way of equipment to find them, although a sweep net, beating tray, sieve and small containers are perhaps the most useful bits of kit to buy or make. Beyond these, the only other thing you need is a microscope, which can be expensive, but there are lots of reasonably priced new and second-hand ones out there.
There are over 4,000 species in the UK and new ones are colonising every year. Gathering information on the distribution of these species is important, but we also need to understand their ecology as this information is lacking for the vast majority of them. Where exactly do they live? What do they eat? What eats them? What other species do they interact with and how? These are just a few of the questions you can help to answer. For more information on getting started or developing your interest in beetles, please get in touch.
Ickworth Park Saproxylic Beetle Survey
I find the assemblage of beetle species associated with deadwood really fascinating, mainly because such a dizzying array of species are associated with this habitat. In the UK alone, approximately 650 beetle species representing 53 families are dependent on dead or decaying wood for all or part of their life cycle. On the whole, we know very little about the distribution and ecology of these species.
This led me install some flight interception traps at Ickworth Park in the Summer of 2022. These traps were in place from May until and September and they yielded 93 saproxylic beetle species, 48 of which were new to the site. Twenty-one of these 48 species have a conservation status. Tony Allen and Roger Booth helped with the identification of the species. Although the site is principally known for its ancient Oaks, the tree that yielded the most species was a large, pollarded Beech in the estate woodland (Fig. 1). Thirty-six beetle species were recorded in the trap on this tree. Perhaps the most interesting species caught during this survey was the staphylinid Stichoglossa semirufa (Erichson) (Fig. 2). One individual was collected in the June-July sample from an Oak in the parkland with a large rot hole (TL 81932 61710). Nationally, this species is only known from six other records spread between 1898 and now. Next to nothing is known about its habitat requirements, but for it to be
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 59 (2023)
encountered so infrequently suggests that it has very specific habitat requirements. As far the author knows, this is the first record of this species from Suffolk.
Figure 2. Stichoglossa semirufa. A single individual of this very poorly known staphylinid was collected at Ickworth Park in 2022.
Other species of note from the Ickworth survey include single individuals of the click beetles Calambus bipustulatus (Linnaeus) (Fig. 3) and Procraerus tibialis (Lacordaire) (Fig. 3). Nine individuals of the pleasingly elongate ship-timber beetle Lymexylon navale (Linnaeus) (Fig. 3) were collected in the trap on a recently dead, standing oak in parkland near the main entrance. This species may be undergoing a range expansion. The females of these beetles inoculate their eggs with the spores of a yeast species (Endomyces sp.). The larvae hatch and tunnel into the wood, creating a habitat for the yeast, which is what they eat. They keep the tunnels free of frass and dust, promoting air flow for the growth of the yeast. This behaviour makes them one of the few species that ‘farms’ another species for food.
The false darkling beetle Phloiotrya vaudoueri (Mulsant) (Fig. 3) was recorded from Oak. This species is fairly widespread, but like so many other beetle species, its ecology is very poorly known. Only a single individual was found.
The scirtid Prionocyphon serricornis (Müller) (Fig. 3) is an interesting character. Soft and ovate with bulging eyes, the adults fly well. The larvae, in contrast, are more-orless amphibious animals of the very wet hollows that can sometimes form in old deciduous trees. It’s thought the larvae consume detritus and decaying leaves that accumulate in these wet hollows. Two individuals were recorded from the large, pollarded beech.
The tiny Euplectus tholini (Guillebeau) (Fig. 3) is an easily overlooked pselaphine staphylinid. Members of this sub-family often turn up in flight-interception traps, drawn to decaying wood by a bouquet of aromas. Exactly what these beetles do is unknown, but the adults are thought to feed on mites. Only a single individual was found.
Scraptia testacea (Allen) (Fig. 3) is a slender, soft-bodied beetle that skitters and jumps when disturbed. The adults are typically found on flowers near deadwood,
especially those of Hawthorn and umbellifers. Exactly where and how the larvae live is very poorly known, but they probably consume decaying organic matter in deadwood habitats. Five individuals of this beetle were found.
To my eyes, Colydium elongatum (Fabricius) (Fig. 3) is a very handsome beast. Its glossy, extremely tough exoskeleton looks to have been intricately carved or machined. The cylindrical body is an adaptation to its way of life; a life spent prowling the galleries and tunnels of other saproxylic beetles. Thought to feed on fungi and assorted organic matter they’re also probably opportunistic predators, partial to other beetles, especially bark beetles. Five individuals of this beetle were found during the survey.
Opilo mollis (Fig. 3) is one of the chequered beetles (Cleridae). It is almost unknown from much of East Anglia. As with other species in this family, O. mollis is an active predator of other insects. Adults can be seen hunting at night on the surface of old, dry wood or beneath peeling bark. The larvae are also predatory, seeking out the larvae of other saproxylic beetles, such as ptinids, melandryids, bostrichids, cerambycids, and scolytids.
With the exception of the Nationally Rare Procraerus tibialis and Euplectus tholini and the very poorly known Stichoglossa semirufa, all the other species mentioned here from Ickworth Park are Nationally Scarce.
Cryptocephalus rufipes new to Suffolk and C. moraei from Needham Market.
On 1 June 2023 I was at the Alder Carr Farm play area near Needham Market with my daughter. I was probably supposed to be admiring her prowess on the swings, but my attention was caught by a small beetle sitting on a leaf of the willow screening surrounding the play area. From the markings I initially thought it was a Zeugophora,
but as I got closer, I realised it was a Cryptocephalus. This genus of leaf-beetles is very important to me as I spent a lot of time studying them during my PhD. Even better, this one was new to me. I collected the beetle and at home identified it as C. rufipes (Fig. 4), which was first found in the UK in 2018 (Telfer 2019), probably making its way into the country via the horticultural trade. This trade is probably responsible for its spread from where it first turned up in Essex. Along with this record, the species has also turned up in Norfolk.
Cryptocephalus moraei (Fig. 5) has been rarely recorded from Suffolk, but during a visit to the abandoned farmland above the Chalkpit in Needham Market with Adrian Knowles on 6 July 2023, a single female of this beetle was found on the foodplant –Hypericum perforatum. There is a record of this species from Lion Meadow, which is very nearby and, as the foodplant is common throughout this area, it is likely the beetle is found through a swathe of this calcareous grassland and open scrub site.
Figure 5 Cryptocephalus moraei female. A single female was found on a calcareous grassland/ open scrub site to the south of the Chalk Pit in Needham Market.
Rhynchites auratus new to Suffolk
This stunning weevil was found by Adrian Knowles on 24 May 2023 near Flatford. More details on this find can be found on p. 98 (see cover photo).
Chlorophorus herbstii in Sudbourne
The timber trade has long been a source of interesting beetle records, albeit typically of vagrants. In Sudbourne, on 30 July 2023, Dan Hicks photographed the Longhorn Beetle Chlorophorus herbstii, which turns up occasionally in imported timber. With climate change, we can expect to see this species and others begin to colonise the UK in the coming years.
Myrmecophilous beetles associated with the Jet Ant Lasius fuliginosus
Martin Rejzek visited the Suffolk part of Barnham Common on 17 June 2023 to see what beetles could be found in and around nests of the Jet Ant. He found 19 beetle species in total, although only a small number of these are considered to be truly myrmecophilous, i.e., dependent on an ant species for all or part of their life cycle. Steve Lane kindly helped Martin with some of the species identifications.
Of note, are the myrmecophilous species, as they are rarely recorded and two of these may represent county firsts. A single specimen of the Rove Beetle Pella lugens (Fig. 6) was found, which may be a county first. Pella laticollis (Fig. 6) was also found by sieving leaf litter in the vicinity of the ant runs outside but not far from the nest. This species was the most numerous beetle in this particular Jet Ant nest.
In a Chinese Study, the larvae of another species in this genus (Pella maoershanensis) were observed feeding on dead ants in the host’s nest (Song & Li, 2013). The adults of this species were never observed in the host’s nest, only near it, which suggests they have not evolved the sophisticated chemical mimicry that allows them to dupe the hosts.
A single specimen of Thiasophila inquilina (Staphylinidae) (Fig. 6) was also found at Barnham Common, which may be another county first. This Rove Beetle is also
myrmecophilous; it has a restricted range in the UK with only a few records from the South-East. A related species (T. angulata) has been reported to forage on both live and dead food items accumulated by the host, as well as on the host’s eggs and larvae (Zagaja et al. 2014).
Oxypoda vittata (Fig. 6), a relatively rare myrmecophilous Rove Beetle, was also found. Martin found these beetles by sieving leaf litter in the vicinity of the ant runs outside, but not far from, the nest. The very fast-moving beetles are easy to spot in the sieved material. The biology of this species is unknown. Given the lack of specialised morphology or structures for the production and dissemination of chemicals that disguise the adult beetle or appease the hosts and the presence of the adult beetles outside rather in the nest, we can assume it may be similar to the previous species in terms of how it lives. The adults are probably opportunistic omnivores around the nest, while the larvae may be able to prowl the nest itself, feeding on dead and moribund worker ants.
Other beetle species of note from the leaf litter around the nest include Ocalea badia (Staphylinidae), Cryptophagus saginatus (Cryptophagidae) and Ceutorhynchus constrictus (Curculionidae).
Cosmobaris scolopacea new to Suffolk
During a SNS visit to Havergate Island on 10 August 2023, Martin Collier found specimens of the weevil Cosmobaris scolopacea (Fig. 7), the first time it has been found in Suffolk. In the UK, this weevil is principally a coastal species, the larvae mining the stems of various plants.
References
Song, X. & Li, L. (2013). Description of Pella maoershanensis sp. n. (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae) associated with Lasius spathepus from Guangxi, South China. Zookeys. 2013; (275): 17–21.
Telfer, M. (2019). Cryptocephalus rufipes (Goeze, 1777) (Chrysomelidae) new to Britain. The Coleopterist 28(4): 149–154.
Zagaja, M., Staniec, B. & Pietrykowska-Tudruj, E. (2014). The first morphological description of the immature stages of Thiasophila Kraatz, 1856 (Coleoptera; Staphylinidae) inhabiting ant colonies of the Formica rufa group. Zootaxa 3774(4): 301–23.
Ross Piper
Ashburnham Farm
Needham Road
Barking
Suffolk IP6 8HJ
coleoptera@sns.org.uk
