Phloiophilus edwardsii Beetles found in north-east Cumbria from December 2017 to December 2018 (1 of 2)
1 INTRODUCTION
Over the one-year period from 19 December 2017 to 18 December 2018 I found a total of 55 Phloiophilus edwardsii beetles at the sites I regularly visit in north-east Cumbria. Photos of 14 of these have previously been uploaded to Flickr and a further eight have been submitted exclusively to iRecord. As there is relatively little county data for this species (See Section 3) I thought it might be worthwhile collecting together all of the available photos in a single montage (Photo 1) and producing a written summary of my observations.
2 IDENTIFICATION
I found my first Phloiophilus edwardsii on 19 December 17 on a fencepost at the edge of woodland in the Finglandrigg Wood Nature Reserve. As it was only about 2.5mm in length, it proved to be impossible to produce any decent shots with my bridge camera and so it was collected and examined later in the day under a microscope. It was eventually identified using Unwin's AIDGAP key* as a member of the Phloiophilidae family, with some of the critical anatomical features being as follows: filiform antennae with 3-segmented clubs; hind tarsi with no lobed or bi-lobed segments; five segments to the front, middle and hind tarsi (See photo of 19/12/17 for details).
Fortuitously, the UK Beetle Recording Scheme includes only a single species in this family, ie Phloiophilus edwardsii, and as this proved to be an excellent match photographically, there was no reason to question this identity.
Although only a handful of the 55 recorded specimens were examined under a microscope, this beetle is so distinctive (in particular the combination of size, patterning and antennal details - all of which can be easily checked with a magnifying loupe) that I have no doubt that all specimens have been correctly identified.
However, I feel obliged to point out that none of my reported sightings has yet been independently verified.
3 RECORDS
At the time I discovered my first Phloiophilus edwardsii, the Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre were still providing NBN Gateway with county records, and thankfully I took a copy of the relevant page from NBN Atlas (the CBDC later withdrew county records from this organization). The data consisted of just six entries, four of which related to specimens collected (not necessarily from Cumbria) over the period 1902 - 1922, and just two sightings, from February 1992 and October 2002. .
At the time of writing, NBN Atlas lists 141 national records for this species, the vast majority of which are for the southern half of the UK.
4 WHERE THEY WERE FOUND
The sites at which the beetles were discovered are listed below, along with with the total counts recorded over the 12-month period.
Low Ploughlands: 24
Finglandrigg Wood: 18
Kingmoor Sidings: 5
Kingmoor South: 2
Gelt Woods: 4
Talkin Tarn: 1
Farlam: 1
It should be noted that Low Ploughlands borders Finglandrigg Wood, and these two sites were visited weekly, weather permitting. Also the Kingmoor reserves are within walking distance of my Carlisle home and so these were checked out even more frequently. However, the remaining three sites are all in the Brampton area and were visited much less often.
From memory, all findings were made either under or in close proximity to mature broadleaf trees - oak and beech in particular. The vast majority were found on fenceposts (which I tend to focus on when searching for insects in general) with the rest on other man-made wooden structures, eg gateposts, bridge handrails etc.
5 WHEN THEY WERE FOUND
The monthly counts are shown in histogram form in Photo 2, which also includes dorsal and ventral views of a specimen found in Finglandrigg Wood on 15 October 18.
It can be seen that all sightings were made during the colder months of the year - with the counts peaking in December and January - which is consistent with the known behaviour of this insect. Interestingly, NBN Atlas includes records for every month, whereas I found nothing from April to September - despite the fact that the inspection frequency would have been somewhat higher over these months due to the more favourable conditions.
6 PHOTOS
Photographs were taken of only 22 of the 55 specimens recorded, and these are arranged in date order, from top left to bottom right, in Photo 1. The basic details are listed below.
01 Finglandrigg Wood, 19 December 17 (M)
02 Kingmoor South, 23 December 17 (M)
03 Low Ploughlands, 26 December 17
04 Low Ploughlands, 12 January 18
05 Finglandrigg Wood, 16 February 18
06 Finglandrigg Wood, 15 October 18 (M)
07 Finglandrigg Wood, 13 November 18 (M)
08 Finglandrigg Wood, 23 November 18
09 Kingmoor Sidings, 1 December 18
10 Low Plouglands (1 of 5), 3 December 18
11 Low Plouglands (2 of 5), 3 December 18
12 Low Plouglands (3 of 5), 3 December 18
13 Low Plouglands (4 of 5), 3 December 18
14 Low Plouglands (5 of 5), 3 December 18
15 Farlam, 9 December 18
16 Talkin Tarn, 9 December 18
17 Kingmoor South, 11 December 18
18 Gelt Woods (1 of 4), 12 December 18
19 Gelt Woods (2 of 4), 12 December 18
20 Gelt Woods (3 of 4), 12 December 18
21 Gelt Woods (4 of 4), 12 December 18
22 Kingmoor Sidings, 17 December 18
Most of the shots were taken with my bridge camera with the insects alive, either in situ or temporarily placed on a piece graph paper; however, those marked with an (M) in the list above were photographed dead using the integral camera on my SX10D microscope.
7 MEASUREMENTS
Eleven specimens were measured, either by photographing the insect on a piece of mm-square graph paper or by using a calibrated microscope. The lengths were found to range from 2.5mm to 3.5mm, with a mean value of 2.85mm and (for what it's worth!) a standard deviation of 0.32mm. For the record, the individual values, arranged in date order, were as follows: 3.2, 3.1, 2.6, 2.5, 2.5, 2.6, 2.8, 3.0, 2.8, 3.5, 2.8.
8 COMMENT
It might seem a little surprising that one person - with no background in entomology - can find a total of 55 Phloiophilus edwardsii beetles within a 15km radius of Carlisle in the space of a year; whereas NBN Atlas currently only lists 141 records for the entire United Kingdom, accumulated over a period of several decades!
As I'm not aware of any identification difficulties with this species, I can only assume that the massive under-reporting is due to a combination of its small size, its relatively dull colouring, and that it's most often active during autumn and winter. On this last point, the fact that I check out at least 500 fenceposts per week, every week of the year (weather permitting), probably explains a lot!
9 FUTURE RECORDING
As this little beetle is not easy to photograph in situ (at least not with my camera!), and as it would appear to be locally common and widespread, in future I only intend to record sightings at new locations.
21 December 2018
* A key to the families of British beetles, D. M. Unwin, FSC Publications (2015)
Phloiophilus edwardsii Beetles found in north-east Cumbria from December 2017 to December 2018 (1 of 2)
1 INTRODUCTION
Over the one-year period from 19 December 2017 to 18 December 2018 I found a total of 55 Phloiophilus edwardsii beetles at the sites I regularly visit in north-east Cumbria. Photos of 14 of these have previously been uploaded to Flickr and a further eight have been submitted exclusively to iRecord. As there is relatively little county data for this species (See Section 3) I thought it might be worthwhile collecting together all of the available photos in a single montage (Photo 1) and producing a written summary of my observations.
2 IDENTIFICATION
I found my first Phloiophilus edwardsii on 19 December 17 on a fencepost at the edge of woodland in the Finglandrigg Wood Nature Reserve. As it was only about 2.5mm in length, it proved to be impossible to produce any decent shots with my bridge camera and so it was collected and examined later in the day under a microscope. It was eventually identified using Unwin's AIDGAP key* as a member of the Phloiophilidae family, with some of the critical anatomical features being as follows: filiform antennae with 3-segmented clubs; hind tarsi with no lobed or bi-lobed segments; five segments to the front, middle and hind tarsi (See photo of 19/12/17 for details).
Fortuitously, the UK Beetle Recording Scheme includes only a single species in this family, ie Phloiophilus edwardsii, and as this proved to be an excellent match photographically, there was no reason to question this identity.
Although only a handful of the 55 recorded specimens were examined under a microscope, this beetle is so distinctive (in particular the combination of size, patterning and antennal details - all of which can be easily checked with a magnifying loupe) that I have no doubt that all specimens have been correctly identified.
However, I feel obliged to point out that none of my reported sightings has yet been independently verified.
3 RECORDS
At the time I discovered my first Phloiophilus edwardsii, the Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre were still providing NBN Gateway with county records, and thankfully I took a copy of the relevant page from NBN Atlas (the CBDC later withdrew county records from this organization). The data consisted of just six entries, four of which related to specimens collected (not necessarily from Cumbria) over the period 1902 - 1922, and just two sightings, from February 1992 and October 2002. .
At the time of writing, NBN Atlas lists 141 national records for this species, the vast majority of which are for the southern half of the UK.
4 WHERE THEY WERE FOUND
The sites at which the beetles were discovered are listed below, along with with the total counts recorded over the 12-month period.
Low Ploughlands: 24
Finglandrigg Wood: 18
Kingmoor Sidings: 5
Kingmoor South: 2
Gelt Woods: 4
Talkin Tarn: 1
Farlam: 1
It should be noted that Low Ploughlands borders Finglandrigg Wood, and these two sites were visited weekly, weather permitting. Also the Kingmoor reserves are within walking distance of my Carlisle home and so these were checked out even more frequently. However, the remaining three sites are all in the Brampton area and were visited much less often.
From memory, all findings were made either under or in close proximity to mature broadleaf trees - oak and beech in particular. The vast majority were found on fenceposts (which I tend to focus on when searching for insects in general) with the rest on other man-made wooden structures, eg gateposts, bridge handrails etc.
5 WHEN THEY WERE FOUND
The monthly counts are shown in histogram form in Photo 2, which also includes dorsal and ventral views of a specimen found in Finglandrigg Wood on 15 October 18.
It can be seen that all sightings were made during the colder months of the year - with the counts peaking in December and January - which is consistent with the known behaviour of this insect. Interestingly, NBN Atlas includes records for every month, whereas I found nothing from April to September - despite the fact that the inspection frequency would have been somewhat higher over these months due to the more favourable conditions.
6 PHOTOS
Photographs were taken of only 22 of the 55 specimens recorded, and these are arranged in date order, from top left to bottom right, in Photo 1. The basic details are listed below.
01 Finglandrigg Wood, 19 December 17 (M)
02 Kingmoor South, 23 December 17 (M)
03 Low Ploughlands, 26 December 17
04 Low Ploughlands, 12 January 18
05 Finglandrigg Wood, 16 February 18
06 Finglandrigg Wood, 15 October 18 (M)
07 Finglandrigg Wood, 13 November 18 (M)
08 Finglandrigg Wood, 23 November 18
09 Kingmoor Sidings, 1 December 18
10 Low Plouglands (1 of 5), 3 December 18
11 Low Plouglands (2 of 5), 3 December 18
12 Low Plouglands (3 of 5), 3 December 18
13 Low Plouglands (4 of 5), 3 December 18
14 Low Plouglands (5 of 5), 3 December 18
15 Farlam, 9 December 18
16 Talkin Tarn, 9 December 18
17 Kingmoor South, 11 December 18
18 Gelt Woods (1 of 4), 12 December 18
19 Gelt Woods (2 of 4), 12 December 18
20 Gelt Woods (3 of 4), 12 December 18
21 Gelt Woods (4 of 4), 12 December 18
22 Kingmoor Sidings, 17 December 18
Most of the shots were taken with my bridge camera with the insects alive, either in situ or temporarily placed on a piece graph paper; however, those marked with an (M) in the list above were photographed dead using the integral camera on my SX10D microscope.
7 MEASUREMENTS
Eleven specimens were measured, either by photographing the insect on a piece of mm-square graph paper or by using a calibrated microscope. The lengths were found to range from 2.5mm to 3.5mm, with a mean value of 2.85mm and (for what it's worth!) a standard deviation of 0.32mm. For the record, the individual values, arranged in date order, were as follows: 3.2, 3.1, 2.6, 2.5, 2.5, 2.6, 2.8, 3.0, 2.8, 3.5, 2.8.
8 COMMENT
It might seem a little surprising that one person - with no background in entomology - can find a total of 55 Phloiophilus edwardsii beetles within a 15km radius of Carlisle in the space of a year; whereas NBN Atlas currently only lists 141 records for the entire United Kingdom, accumulated over a period of several decades!
As I'm not aware of any identification difficulties with this species, I can only assume that the massive under-reporting is due to a combination of its small size, its relatively dull colouring, and that it's most often active during autumn and winter. On this last point, the fact that I check out at least 500 fenceposts per week, every week of the year (weather permitting), probably explains a lot!
9 FUTURE RECORDING
As this little beetle is not easy to photograph in situ (at least not with my camera!), and as it would appear to be locally common and widespread, in future I only intend to record sightings at new locations.
21 December 2018
* A key to the families of British beetles, D. M. Unwin, FSC Publications (2015)