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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 39
*Cryptopleurum subtile Sharp Local Cryptopleurum subtile, originally described from Japan, was added to the British List by Johnson (1967) who found specimens in Cheshire and Merioneth in 1966; the species had first been recorded in Europe (Germany and Scandinavia) a few years earlier. The beetle is now widespread in both this country and at least northern and central Europe, as well as in North America. It is found in decaying organic matter such as compost, dung and dungheaps with specimens also being frequently attracted to light. Whilst sieving rotten potatoes from a heap in a field at Wangford (TL 7583) on 25 September 2002, I took a single specimen of C. subtile. PTILIIDAE I do not accept the view of Hyman & Parsons (1994) who suggest the downgrading in status of the two species discussed below on the grounds that the species are very small and difficult to identify. Accordingly, the status originally assigned them by Welch in Shirt (1987) is maintained here. *Microptilium pulchellum (Allibert) RDB 1 Microptilium species occur in damp marshy places. M. pulchellum was originally included in older British lists purely on the basis of two 18th century specimens without data taken by G. R. Waterhouse, but its status was confirmed when four specimens were taken at Bradfield, Berkshire in 1906 (Joy, 1906). After this, the species was not found again until 1980 when it was rediscovered in a flooded gravel pit at Earith, Hunts by John Owen (two exx.) and Colin Johnson in 1981 (many exx.) (Johnson, 1987). In addition to the above captures, Johnson (loc. cit. and pers. comm.) reports identifying three specimens sieved by Paul Hyman from damp leaf litter around a dried up pond at Red Lodge Warren near Barton Mills (TL 67) on 14 June 1985. *Acrotrichis cephalotes (Allibert) (=chevrolatii (Allibert) RDB 1 Johnson (2003) has recently shown that the species for long known as chevrolatii Allibert does not fit that author’s original description of his species and has designated the name chevrolatii auctt. as a synonym of cephalotes (Allibert). Acrotrichus cephalotes is a grassland species associated with old dungheaps by farms and is one of the rarest British beetles. It was only known from late 19th century specimens from Knowle and Edgbaston in the W. G. Blatch collection at Manchester Museum until three specimens were found by Colin Johnson in an old dung heap near Greno Wood in West Yorkshire on 1 October, 1974 (Johnson pers. comm.; Johnson, 1990). On 8 August 1980, Michael Darby found a male and female in a garden compost heap (cow, rabbit and pig dung, straw and grass) at Ilketshall St. Margaret v.c. 25 [TM 38] but failed to find the beetle in a neighbouring, older farmyard heap (chiefly cow dung and straw) (Darby, 1981). SCYDMAENIDAE *Euconnus duboisi Méquignon (=murielae Last) Vagrant This tiny little beetle was originally described as new to science from specimens found in Surrey in 1942 and 1944 (Last, 1945) but was later discovered to be conspecific with E. duboisi, a species found by M. Dubois at Versailles and described by Méquignon (1929). Following Last’s discovery,
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 39 (2003)