1st March - Hotham Coleoptera

I was working down in East Yorkshire today, once again the weather was a cold north-easterly with heavy showers. Around lunchtime I had finished one of my sites near Hotham and found a load of deadwood on the edge of a plantation to check. Coleoptera highlights below -

Coleoptera

Uleiota planatus was found with regularity today from several dead broad-leaf logs, beneath bark. This species is Nationally Notable A and is exceptionally rare in Northern England. Looking at its records there are likely less than 5 county records of this beetle, making it a significant find. Primarily associated with dead-broadleaved wood, often in damp situations, the adults are thought to be predatory with larvae feeding on a mixture of fungi and small insect larvae.

This 10 Spot Ladybird was my first record of the species this year, having had a slow start. This pale individual was found hibernating beneath the lifted bark on a dead tree stump. This is only my 3rd ladybird species of the year (along with Harlequin and 7 Spot) which was nice, hopefully this list will increase once it warms up a bit.

Numerous Endomychus coccineus larvae were found beneath the bark of a long dead tree, with large flakes of bark coming off it, possibly a cherry. This species commonly known as the False Ladybird is a scarce species in this region, it is associated with fungus, on which both adults and larvae feed. Its interesting how not only does the adult look like a ladybird but the larvae also looks like a ladybird larvae too. This larvae had just moulted with its old skin seen below it in the photo. I have been trying to find this species closer to me for sometime.

Demetrias atricapillus is a small colourful carabid primarily found within nettle beds and open grassland. This individual was found beneath some bricks next to a small watercourse. This species climbs the stems of plants in search of aphids, on which it feeds, during the summer months.

Carabus nemoralis is a leviathan of a beetle, typical of the genus. This individual was found in a suspended dead scots pine log laid against another tree trunk. This species is locally common, and certainly seems more common in East Yorkshire than North Yorkshire in my experience. This beetle occurs in a wide mixture of habitat types, only really avoiding excessively peaty/acidic sites. Overwintering deep within decaying wood is typical of this species, which is a nocturnal predator of a range of insects, insect larvae, worms and molluscs.

Cryptolestes duplicatus was incredibly interesting as it is almost certainly a new species for Yorkshire. This was present within a decaying oak stump with a number of other saproxylic beetles. The nearest record to this is in Nottinghamshire, although it is inevitably overlooked due to its size and saproxylic nature. Like many of these beetles you have to search for them to find them, rather than just chancing on one running along a path, for example. This species is noted as being found beneath the bark of deciduous trees.

Litargus connexus is another saproxylic species which is associated with fungus infected wood. In the case of this species there is a strong association with King Alfred's Cakes fungus, and therefore a close association with Ash. Several of these beetles were however found beneath oak bark today. This species appears to be uncommon in Yorkshire with just a handful <5 of records possibly making this a VC61 first.

Biphyllus lunatus is interestingly another saproxylic species associated with King Alfred's Cakes and a species I regularly record from Fordon Banks in association with this fungus on Ash. This is not a particularly common species, with a local distribution across much of England. Interestingly as with the above species this beetle was recorded from an Oak log with no King Alfred's Cakes present. This was just presumably overwintering animals, feeding on neighbouring Ash trees.