Notes on the Suffolk list of Coleoptera: 3 Cucujidae and Silvanidae

NOTES ON T H E SUFFOLK LIST OF COLEOPTERA: 3 CUCUJIDAE AND SILVANIDAE DAVID R .

NASH

U n l i k e t h e L a t h r i d i i d a e which f o r m e d the subject of my last paper in this series, the beetles t r e a t e d here are much m o r e readily identified, and belong to a section of o u r C o l e o p t e r a which has received greater attention from w o r k e r s . All o u r native or regularly imported C u c u j i n a e , L a e m o p h l o e i n a e , a n d Silvaninae are either subcortical and p r e d a t o r y — a t least in the larval S t a t e — o r are associated with stored products, old straw etc. Some of the species discussed have almost certainly always b e e n present in Suffolk; others a r e likely t o be m o r e recent arrivals which are in the process of extending their previously m o r e restricted distribution in this country. All species listed, with t h e e x c e p t i o n of Cryptolestes pusillus, should be recognised as new to Suffolk in t h e I n d e x to these Transactions.

CUCUJIDAE Pediacus depressus ( H e r b s t ) D r . B . J. M a c N u l t y exhibited adults labelled as this rare species at a meeting of t h e British E n t o m o l o g i c a l and Natural History Society on April 23rd, 1970 ( M a c N u l t y , 1970). T h e y had b e e n reared in J u n e , 1969 from p u p a e collected u n d e r b a r k of old cut o a k trunks in Suffolk. N o precise locality was given. In a c o m m u n i c a t i o n of the s a m e d a t e (loc. cit.), however, Mr. A . E. G a r d n e r e x p r e s s e d s o m e d o u b t as to the correctness of the determination of these s p e c i m e n s . S u b s e q u e n t l y , D r . MacNulty re-checked the specimens a n d published p h o t o g r a p h s which confirmed that his original determination had been c o r r e c t ( M a c N u l t y , 1971). A useful s u m m a r y of the British history of this species has b e e n published (Allen, 1956a).

O u r o t h e r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the genus—dermestoides F . — w a s also cons i d e r e d a rarity at the turn of the Century, but is now not u n c o m m o n in s o u t h e r n E n g l a n d (including Suffolk) and the Midlands.

Cryptolestes duplicatus (Waltl) Six e x a m p l e s of this local and usually u n c o m m o n species were taken f r o m the e n d s of cut o a k a n d beech t r u n k s at Shrubland P a r k , B a r h a m (TM 1252) on M a y 3 I s t , 1979. This is the only time I have ever f o u n d the species.

Cryptolestes pusillus ( S c h o e n h e r r ) M o r l e y ' s r e c o r d of this species (as Laemophloeus minutus Ol.) (Morley, 1940) n e e d s verification, not only because of the previous confusion between this species a n d C. turcicus (Grouvelle) (vide Lefkovitch, 1959: 96), but also b e c a u s e of the description of a very closely allied new species, C. pusilloides (Steel a n d H o w e ) since Morley's death (Steel and H o w e , 1955).

Notolaemus

unifasciatus

(Latreille)

T h e first S u f f o l k specimen k n o w n to m e of this rare, distinctive C u c u j i d was Trans.

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taken by Mr. C. S. B a r h a m when it flew onto his clothing at Blackstock W o o d s , C a m p s e y Ash (TM 3356) on July 23rd, 1961. My first encounter with the species was at Shrubland Park, Barham (TM 1252) on June 25th, 1977 when seven examples were found beneath the bark of a fallen beech. I found a f u t h e r specimen on the end of an oak log in the same locality on May 3Ist, 1979.

Joy (1932) gives its distribution as England south to Worcester but it has since been shown to occur further north in both Lincolnshire (Hunter and J o h n s o n , 1966) and Northamptonshire (Skidmore, 1972).

Leptophloeus clematidis (Erichson) This beetle must be considered the rarest of our native Laemophloeinae. First recorded by Fowler (1899) f r o m Gravesend, D a r t f o r d , and Henley, it was later f o u n d at Higham (Fowler and Donisthorpe, 1913). Subsequently, it would a p p e a r to have been lost sight of as a British species.

This Leptophleous appears to be parasitic exclusively upon the Scolytid Xylocleptes bispinus ( D u f t . ) , a beetle which is only found in the dead stems of Clematis vitalba L. Whilst searching dead stems of Clematis infested with Xylocleptes at Little B l a k e n h a m , near Ipswich (TM 14) on April 17th, 1977,1 f o u n d L. clematidis in some numbers beneath the peeling outer bark and also, in lesser n u m b e r s , in the galleries of the Scolytid. Further specimens were noted in the same place in April 1978 and 1979. A more detailed account of this discovery has appeared elsewhere (Nash, 1980).

SILVANIDAE Oryzaephilus mercator (Fauvel) This species was found abundantly with Ahasverus advena (Waltl) on Copra f r o m the Seychelles at Ipswich Docks (TM 1644) on May 3Ist, 1979 by Mr. H. Mendel. Of t h e two Oryzaephilus species on the British list, both of which are associated with stored products, mercator appears to be much less frequently e n c o u n t e r e d than surinamensis (L.). Only the latter species has occurred to me at Ipswich Docks. I an unaware of a previously published Suffolk record for mercator, although it is quite possible that the beetle has been noted in one of the journals devoted exclusively to economic entomology.

Silvanus bidentatus (Fabricius) At o n e time considered among our rarest native Coleoptera with a very restricted distribution in this country, Silvanus bidentatus appears to be gradually extending its ränge and is now known to occur in at least ten widely-separated localities (Allen. 19566; Nash, 1975, 1979). The discovery of a Single specimen under bark of a felled beech trunk at Shrubland Park.

B a r h a m ( T M 1252) on May 31st, 1979 was not, therefore, totally unexpected.

U n d e r warm conditions the beetle moves quite rapidly. and considerable speed and dexterity is required in order to secure the insect before it drops from a log or disappears into a crevice.

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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 18, Part 3

Acknowledgements I thank Messrs. C. S. Barhain and H . Mendel for allowing me to include their unpublished records.

References Allen, A . A . (1956a). Pediacus depressus (Hbst.) (Col., Cucujidae) in Berks, and Sussex; with a summary of its British history. Entomologist's mon.

Mag. 92, 212.

Allen, A . A . (1956b). Silvanus bidentatus F. (Col., Silvanidae) in Berks, and K e n t ; with a summary of its British history. Ibid, 211.

Fowler, W . W . (1889). The Coleoptera ofthe British Islands, vol. 3. Reeve & Co. Fowler, W. W. and Donisthorpe, H . (1913). The Coleoptera of the British Islands, vol. 6 (Supplement). Reeve & Co. H u n t e r , F. A . and Johnson, C. (1966). Further notes on Coleoptera associated with old trees in Grimsthorpe Park, Lines. Entomologist's mon.

Mag. 102,285.

Joy, N. H . (1932). A Practical Handbook of British Beetles. Witherby.

Lefkovitch, L. P. (1959). A revision of the European Laemophloeinae (Col: Cucujidae). Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 111, 95.

MacNulty, B. J. (1970). Report of Society meeting, 23rd April, 1970—Exhibits: Specimens of Pediacus depressus (Hbst.) from Suffolk. Proc. Brit. ent. Nat. Hist. Soc. 3, 94.

MacNulty, B. J. (1971). Report of Society meeting, 22nd October, 1970— Exhibits: Diagnostic comments etc. on Separation of our Pediacus spp.

Ibid 4 , 9 .

Morley, C. (1940). Neotropic Beetles in Suffolk. Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 4, 190.

Nash, D . R . (1975). Silvanus bidentatus (F.) (Col., Silvanidae) in Wiltshire.

Entomologist's mon. Mag. 110 (1974), 201.

Nash, D . R. (1979). Silvanus bidentatus (F.) (Col., Silvanidae) new to Suffolk. Ibid. 114(1978), 197.

Nash, D . R. (1980). Leptophloeus clematidis (Erichson) (Col., Cucujidae) discovered in Suffolk. Ent. Ree. 92, 120.

Skidmore, P. (1972). Miscellaneous Notes on some Insects in the Doncaster Museum Collections—2. Entomologist 105, 180.

Steel, W. O . and Howe, R. W. (1955). A new species of Cryptolestes Col.: C u c u j i d a e associated with stored produets. Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (B) 21, 107.

David Ridley Nash, 266 Colchester R o a d , Lawford, near Manningtree, Essex C O l l 2 B U .

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