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Saproxylic quality
Posted by Graeme Lyons , Thursday, 5 May 2011 20:02
Just a quick one as I have had a long day out in the field and have lots to identify. I found one fantastic species today but I need to key it out, it's one of the big red and black Ampedus click beetles and it's either rare or very rare, watch this space. I spotted this Anaglyptus mysticus walking down a Beech snag. Gotta be one of the nicest beetles out there. I also saw my first Black-headed Cardinal Beetle of the year which is also a nationally scarce species.
I also found this elytron in the base of a red-rotten oak, pretty sure it's from Opilo mollis, a species I am yet to see but it's fairly distinctive and I don't think there is anything else that shape and pattern with yellow hairs.
Not forgetting these strange flat beetles with long antennae that live under Beech bark, Uleiota planata, it's down as Na but I have heard that it has undergone a range expansion. Everything on this post is nationally scarce! I'll do part two of this blog tomorrow with confirmation of the Ampedus with any luck (they are harder to key out than I first thought!).
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Nice one..