Insect and Invertebrate Review 2006-2007Author(s): Roy AndersonSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 29, Part 1 (September 2008), pp. 66-69Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20764441 .

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Annual Reviews

Annual Reviews

Insect and Invertebrate Review 2006-2007*

Roy Anderson 1 Belvoir Park, Newtownbreda, Belfast, BT8 7BL

This year was even quieter than last for book

publication. The state of Ireland's bees by Una

Fitzpatrick et al. (2006a) chronicled the state of the larger Hymenoptera in Ireland. This was

aimed mainly at schools and the wider public rather than a specialized audience. More detailed accounts of Irish bees are displayed online in a new website hosted by Trinity College Dublin:

http://www.tcd.ie/Zoology/research/Bees/. A

regional Red List of Irish bees appeared in man

uscript form in late 2006 (Fitzpatrick et al.

2006b) and is exemplary for anyone wishing to establish a credible red data list for a specialist group within the Irish fauna. This was followed in 2007 by a paper in which conservation priori ty as against red data listing is comprehensively explored (Fitzpatrick et al. 2007). It is one thing to publish a Red List, quite another to evaluate threat status in a way that can be acted upon. The

larger Hymenoptera are undoubtedly in a parlous state with several species steeply declining in

response, it appears to me, to the relentless dete

rioration of habitats. Although not specifically stated in the above works, the ongoing eutrophi cation of the wider environment from intensive

agriculture seems to be the main culprit. Key food plants, particularly clovers and other nitro

gen-fixing Leguminosae species, are made less

competitive in the overflow of nutrients from

farming. Nor is the problem a local one as nitro

gen from intensive livestock units can travel long distances in rain. The decline of nitrogen-fixing plants has serious knock-on effects for dependent fauna. Added to the continuing physical destruc tion of flower-rich meadows, including sand dune habitats turned into golf courses or affected

by amenity pressures, the outlook looks grim for

many of our most characteristic and well-loved

insects.

Information continues to proliferate

on

obscure and heretofore neglected groups of insects. Dealing first with Hymenoptera,

Ronayne and O'Connor (2006) have provided a

* Excluding Lepidoptera

species list of Irish Aculeata with many new records. In part preparation for this, O'Connor

(2007) brought forward a record of Ceraphron nigriceps in the NMI collection taken by Stelfox at Buckroney, Co. Wicklow. O'Connor and

Ronayne (2007) added the strepsipteran Stylops melittae making a total of four of these

hymenopteran parasites known from Ireland, S. melittae being the only one to stylopize Andrena. The Irish sawflies (Symphyta) are updated by Speight and O'Connor (2007) with three species new to Ireland, and several species are added to the Irish list of Hymenoptera, Scelionidae by O'Connor and Mineo (2006, 2007). Regarding Diptera, more information is now available on Irish Chironomidae in western and upland lakes, thanks to Declan Murray and co-workers

(Murray 2006, Murray and Baars 2006, Murray and Murray 2006). The lesser fruit flies

(Drosophilidae) are reviewed by O'Connor et al.

(2007) in this journal, in which also O'Connor and Chandler (2006a) bring forward two new

species of Agromyzidae and the same authors

(2006b) review and update the Irish Lonchaeidae. Ashe et al. (2007) report the dis

covery of an unusual ceratopogonid Dasyhelea saxicola from short-lived limestone rock-pools in

Wales and western Ireland. Finally, Tom Gittings (2006) has brought forward a first record of the

hoverfly (Syrphidae) Lapposyrphus lapponicus in

Ireland, a northern species traditionally associat ed with the Scottish Highlands but now known from Co. Kerry. Tom also added the soldier fly Odontomyia angulata (Stratiomyidae) to the Irish list from L. Skeardeen in Clare (Gittings 2007).

This species is endangered (RDB1) in Britain and is associated with groundwater-fed lakes sub

ject to seasonal fluctuation.

Alvin Helden continues his one-man crusade to enhance knowledge of the Irish cicadellid and

delphacid leafhoppers (Hemiptera) in a series of articles in this journal and Entomologists Monthly

Magazine (Helden 2006a, 2006b, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c). In comparison the Irish Heteroptera are a relatively well-known group, even historically, but Berend Aukema from the Netherlands and co-workers, have managed

to add no fewer than

eleven land and water bugs to the Irish list in a recent paper (Aukema et al. 2006). These include several terrestrial species that in Britain have a

strong southern bias and are listed as localized or rare (Globiceps fulvicollis, Tytthus pubescensy

Drymus pilicornis). These could scarcely have been expected in Ireland but similar oddities are

66 Irish Naturalists' Journal 29 No. 1 2008

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Annual Reviews

apparent in recent Coleoptera records and have

yet to be explained. Among the water bugs Mesovelia furcata, otherwise known from south

east England, is added to the Irish list from

Castlegregory, Co. Kerry and the enigmatic upland corixid Arctocorixa carinata recorded

from Wicklow, having been very recently con firmed as an Irish native from mountains in

Donegal, Galway and Sligo (McCormack et al.

2006). In a subsequent paper Cuppen and Nelson (2007) added Mesovelia griseola to the Irish list from Lough Graney, Co. Clare.

Moving to the Coleoptera, a number of addi tions to the fauna have been reported. Before

considering these it is worth drawing attention to the capture of a single specimen of the very rare Lebia crux-minor (Carabidae) in Co. Sligo by Martin Cawley (2007). This brings the total of Irish sites to five and suggests that this species is

thinly but widely distributed across western

Ireland, although its ecology in Ireland is still

largely unknown. Some of the faunal additions are associated with forestry and therefore with exotic conifers. This applies to Pissodespini and P. castaneus, banded pine weevils that have a poten tial for damage in commercial forestry opera tions. Counter-intuitively both have been record

ed from the west rather than the climatically more suitable east, P. pini from Scots and lodge pole pines in Fermanagh and Tyrone and P. cas taneus from Corsican and maritime pines in Co.

Sligo (Clawson and Anderson 2006). These dis coveries and perhaps the discovery of

Lapposyphus lapponicus in Kerry, underline the effect of human activity upon faunas and the likelihood of more introductions via land-based activities. There were also several additions recorded from semi-natural woods. The most

interesting of these is the discovery of

Mycetophagus multipunctatus in Reas Wood, Co. Antrim (Anderson 2007). The genus Mycetophagus has not previously been recorded in Ireland although there are seven British species. Is this a new arrival and the start of a trend or has it simply been overlooked until now? I guess the former. Another in this category is Atomaria pul chra (Cryptophagidae) reported from Rostrevor Oak Wood (Anderson and Clawson 2006a)

although here there is a better chance of this

species having previously been overlooked because of its small size and cryptic habitats.

McCormack et al. (2006) summarize collec tions of Coleoptera, aquatic Heteroptera and

Araneae collected from western Irish mountain

summits in 2004. Reference has already been made to Arctocorixa carinata but other significant finds are recounted in this paper. These include a first record of the ground beetle Nebria nivalis in Ireland, a species found widely but rarely on summits in the north of Britain and probably negatively affected by global warming. It is asso ciated with the margins of ice sheets in northern

Europe. Leistus montanus and Patrobus septentri onis have previous Irish records but the latter has not been seen since the early 20th century

- both were recorded from Ben Bury in western Connemara. Choleva fagniezi (Leiodidae) is an addition to the Irish Leiodidae, from Ben Bury plus Lavagh More and Lavagh Beg in Donegal. Surprisingly this species does not appear to be tied to montane habitats in Britain. Other addi tions to the Irish Coleoptera list include the small

weevil Trachyphloeus aristatus reported by Stephen McCormack (2007) from grassland in Phoenix Park Dublin and the saltmarsh rove bee tle Carpelimus halophilus (Staphylinidae) found

by Jervis Good (2006) at Clonpriest, Co. Cork. There were several additions from synanthropic {i.e. disturbed) environments: Anthrenus sarnicus

from domestic carpeting in Belfast (Anderson and Clawson 2006b); Carpophilus marginellus from a food preparation area and walls in a pub lic house restaurant at Hillsborough, Co. Down

(Moore and Anderson 2006); Korynetes caeruleus in an antique shop in Belfast; and Gibbium psyl loides in a store-room at the Ulster Folk and

Transport Museum at Cultra, Co. Down (the two latter in Nash and Anderson (2007)).

Regarding aquatic faunas, Garth Foster

(2006) has contributed notes on the genus Hydrochus in Ireland. A project to review the con servation status and map Ireland's aquatic

Coleoptera was mentioned in the last review and work is continuing. A Red Data List has been finalized and plans for producing an atlas drawn in outline form. Available data sets are already acquired and will be used to produce maps by the National Biodiversity Data Centre at Waterford as one of its first tasks.

The Acari or mites are an important group both for energy transformations and biodiversity in soils particularly in forested environments, but little studied in Ireland. Arroyo and Bolger (2007) report a study of mite faunas in Sitka

Spruce stands and give three species new to Ireland. Only two papers dealing with spiders are reviewed. The first, by McCormack et al. (2006), reporting pitfall-trapping

on western mountains

Irish Naturalists' Journal 29 No. 1 2008 67

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Annual Reviews

found several upland rarities with one species, Meioneta mossica, added to the Irish list.

Oxborough (2007) also added Meionota mollis to the spider list and gave a number of new distri bution records.

Activity in reporting non-arthropod inverte brates has been very subdued during the year. Moorkens (2006) has made a valuable contribu tion to assessing the threat status of Irish non

marine Mollusca that no doubt will lead to a

fully fledged Irish Red List. Meanwhile an all Ireland recording scheme for non-marine mol

luscs is brewing and preliminary plans have been laid to acquire data from various sources, includ

ing the Conchological Society. Collation and

map generation will again be conducted through the Data Centre.

References

ANDERSON, R. and CLAWSON, S. (2006a) Atomaria pulchra Erichson (Cryptophagidae) new to Ireland. The Coleopterist 15: 100-101.

ANDERSON, R. and CLAWSON, S. (2006b) Anthrenus sarnicus Mroczkowski

(Dermestidae) new to Ireland. The

Coleopterist 15: 122. ANDERSON, R. (2007) Mycetophagus multi

punctatus Fabricius (Mycetophagidae) new to Ireland. The Coleopterist 16: 100.

ARROYO, J. and BOLGER, T. (2007) Oribatid

(Acari: Oribatida) and ganasid (Acari: Gamasida) mite communities in an Irish Sitka

spruce Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr stand with three first records for Ireland. Irish Naturalists'

Journal 2%: 452-458. ASHE, P., O'CONNOR, J.P. and CHANDLER,

P.J. (2007) Dasyhelea (Dasyhelea) saxicola

(Edwards) (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) new to Ireland and Wales from limestone rockpools,

with a review of its ecology and distribution.

Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 143: 113 126.

AUKEMA, B., HERMES, D.J., NELSON, B. and O'CONNOR, J.P. (2006) Eleven land and water bugs new to the Irish list (Insecta: Heteroptera). Irish Naturalists' Journal 28: 327-333.

CAWLEY, M. (2007) Lebia crux-minor L.

(Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Co Sligo. Irish

Naturalists'Journal 28: 466-467. CLAWSON, S. and ANDERSON, R. (2006)

The banded pine weevils Pissodes pini (Linnaeus, 1758) and P castaneus (DeGeer,

1775) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) estab lished in Ireland. Entomologists Gazette 57: 269-270.

CUPPEN, J.G.M. and NELSON, B. (2007) Micronecta griseola Horv?th, a new water

boatman for Ireland (Heteroptera: Corixidae). Irish Naturalists Journal 28: 410-413.

FITZPATRICK, ?., MURRAY, T.E., PAX TON, R.J. and BROWN, M.J.F. (2006a) The state of Ireland's bees. Environment and

Heritage Service, Belfast and National Parks and Wildlife Service, Dublin.

FITZPATRICK, ?., MURRAY, T.E., BYRNE, A., PAXTON, R.J. and BROWN, M.J.F. (2006b) Regional Red List of Irish bees. Higher Education Authority, Ireland. MS obtainable from una.fitzpatrick@gmail.com.

FITZPATRICK, ?., MURRAY, T.E., PAX TON, R.J. and BROWN, M.J.F. (2007) Building on IUCN regional Red Lists to pro duce lists of species of conservation priority: a model with Irish Bees. Conservation Biology 21: 1324-1332.

FOSTER, G.N. (2006). Notes on the status of Irish Hydrochidae (Coleoptera). Irish

Naturalists'Journal 28: 309-312. GITTINGS, T. (2006) Lapposyrphus lapponicus

(Zetterstedt, 1838) a hoverfly (Diptera, Syrphidae) new to Ireland. Irish Naturalists

Journal 28: 301. GITTINGS, T. (2007) Odontomyia angulata

(Panzer, 1798) a soldierfly (Diptera, Stratiomyidae) new to Ireland. Irish

Naturalists'Journal 28:419. GOOD, J.A. (2006) Carpelimus halophilus

(Kiesenwetter) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) a salt marsh beetle new to Ireland. Irish

Naturalists'Journal 2%: 342-343. HELDEN, A. (2006a) Kybos populi (Edwards,

1908) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) an aspen feeding leafhopper new to Ireland. Irish

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(Aguriahana) germari (Zetterstedt), a species of typhlocybine leafhopper new to Ireland.

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European species of Megophthalmus Curtis

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68 Irish Naturalists' Journal 29 No. 1 2008

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Annual Reviews

HELDEN, A. (2007c) Three species of Edwardsiana Zakhvatkin (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae) new to Ireland.

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MURRAY, D.A. (2006) Conchapelopia hittmairorum Michiels and Spies, 2002

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MURRAY, D.A. and BAARS, J.R. (2006) Four Chironomidae (Diptera, Insecta) new to Ireland from remote upland lakes. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society 30: 298-301.

MURRAY, D.A. and MURRAY, W.A. (2006) Notes on six Chironomidae (Diptera, Insecta) new to Ireland from Co. Mayo. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society 30: 293-297.

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O'CONNOR, J.R, CHANDLER, PJ., ASHE P., SPEIGHT, M.C.D. and NASH, R. (2007) A review of the Irish lesser fruit-flies (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Irish Naturalists Journal 28: 506-516.

O'CONNOR, J.P. and MINEO, G. (2006) Irish records of Telonemus heydeni Mayr and T othus Haliday (Hym., Scelionidae). Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 142: 184.

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O'CONNOR, J.P. and RONAYNE, C. (2007). Stylops melittae Kirby (Strepsiptera, Stylopidae) new to Ireland Entomologist's

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Further distributional records of Irish Aculeata (Hymenoptera), and a species list for Ireland. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society 30: 28-91.

SPEIGHT, M.C.D. and O'CONNOR, J. (2007) Records of Irish sawflies

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Irish Naturalists' Journal 29 No. 1 2008 69

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