New records for Siagonium quadricorne Kirby and Atheta fungicola (Thomson) and Athetacrassicornis (Fab.) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) added to the Irish listAuthor(s): Roy AndersonSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 29, Part 2 (December 2008), pp. 134-135Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20764476 .

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Field Records - Insects

in Brittany; whereas the species currently occurs

in small, scattered colonies in south-west

England. As the main foodplant of the species is

Dactylis glomerata (Cocks-foot) (Fox et al. 2006

op. cit.), it is reasonable to expect that its area of distribution will also increase in Ireland.

Christopher J. Wilson Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, North Slob, Co. Wexford

James Goodwin

Fardystown, Co. Wexford

Ken Bond

Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Cork

Siagonium quadricorne from the characteristic male frontal projections (quadricorne-, four

horned) on one of the specimens. Found with these specimens were two ($ and $) of an unidentified Quedius subgenus Microsaurus close to Q. aetolicus Kraatz, but not that species. This taxon is currently under investigation. Hydebank

Woods are part of the Purdysburn Estate in south Belfast, and are adjacent to Belvoir Forest which . is well known for its saproxylic fauna. Since Belvoir is a well-researched locality the possibility of a readily identified beetle such as Siagonum having been overlooked in the area is small. Recent range expansion from the south in

response to a warming climate best explains its

discovery at Hydebank. A single female oi Atheta fungicola (Thomson)

was taken in a different part of Hydebank Woods

(J339678) on the same day. This species is unusual in that, although it belongs to a group of

very similar species, it has a distinctive character

making it easily recognized - several abdominal

tergites are raised shallowly into parallel ridges towards their hind margins to give a somewhat crenulate appearance. It has a controversial history in Ireland. Its inclusion in the Irish list is sup ported by a single record, for Lambay Island, Co. Dublin (Haibert, J.N. 1907 Irish Naturalist 16:

47-52) in which the specimen was determined by W.E. Sharp "with some reserve" as Homalota

ignobilis Sharp (a name subsequently reduced to

synonymy with A. fungicola). A secondary problem was created by Anderson (R. 1997 Research and Development Series No. 97/11: 52. Environment & Heritage Service, Northern

Ireland) who mistakenly attributed several Irish records to fungicola when Atheta crassicornis

(- fungicola sensu (Kraatz) non (Thomson)), a much commoner

fungal associate, was intended.

A further unfortunate consequence was that

Atheta crassicornis was omitted from a recent Irish list of Coleoptera (Anderson, R., Nash, R. and

O'Connor, J.P. 1997 Irish Coleoptera. A revised and annotated list. Special Supplement to the Irish Naturalists' Journal, Belfast). The first record for crassicornis confirmed by a modern author is that of Welch (R.C. 1986 Coleoptera

from Northern Ireland recorded during the Forest

Entomology Group Meeting, 30 June-4 July 1986. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Monks Wood) for Castlewellan Forest, Co. Down. On this basis it can now be added to the list.

Although reputedly common in Britain (one can again not rule out confusion with related

New records for Siagonium quadricome Kirby and Atheta

fungicola (Thomson) and Atheta crassicomis (Fab.) (Coleoptera:

Staphylinidae) added to the Irish list

I can find only three published records for the

saproxylic (dead wood) staphylinid Siagonium quadricome Kirby in Ireland. Anderson (R. 2001

Coleopterist 10: 59) quoted a historical record

given by Johnson, W.F. and Haibert, J.N. (1902 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 6(3): 535 827) for Borris, Co. Carlow and added a site at Fota Island Wildlife Park, East Cork , where a

single male was found under bark on fallen Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The third record, over looked by Anderson (2001 op. cit.), was given by

O'Mahony for Louisa Bridge, Royal Canal, Co. Kildare, where specimens were found in a bracket

fungus on poplar in August 1942 (O'Mahony, E. 1943 Entomologists Monthly Magazine 79: 61).

Together these records suggest a south-easterly

range, running from Cork to Kildare and Dublin. It has been searched for repeatedly in the northern part of Ireland but without success. In Britain the species is said to be local in old wood land of southern counties reaching as far north as

Scarborough in east Yorkshire (NBN Gateway. Online at: http://www. searchnbn.net. Date

accessed: 25 June 2008). On 25 October 2007, while examining the

bark on a fallen mature Sycamore {Acer pseudoplatanus L.) at Hydebank Woods

(J342677), Belfast, two medium-sized elongate linear Staphylinidae, both with reddish elytra,

were pooted. These were identified in the field as

134 Irish Naturalists'Journal 29 No. 2 2008

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Field Records - Insects / Botanical Notes

species), Atheta fungicola is clearly one of the rarer staphylinids living in and around fungi in Ireland. The female specimen was part of a large

mixed bag of Staphylinidae extracted from

decaying Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea (Vahl. ex Fr.) Kummer), under Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) at Hydebank. Identity was confirmed by com

parison of the spermatheca with figures in

Strand, A. and Vik, A. (1964 Norsk Entomologisk Tidsskrifill: 327-335). Roy Anderson 1 Belvoir View Park, Belfast BT8 7BL

A second Irish record of

Phytomyza fallaciosa Brischke

(Diptera: Agromyzidae) In Ireland, Phytomyza fallaciosa Brischke has only been recorded from Co. Clare (Spencer, K.A. 1972 Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 10(5g): 1-136). In a collection of Irish

Diptera collected by JPOC, PJC found a female of this species. The specimen was identified using (Spencer, K.A. 1976 Fauna Entomologica Scandinavia 5 (1 and 2). Scandinavian Science Press, Leiden). The details of this second Irish record are as follows:

WEXFORD: Oaklands near New Ross

(S7125), ? 3 August 2005, swept in mixed

woodland, JPOC.

The larva of P fallaciosa forms a linear mine in various species of buttercup (Ranunculus) (Ranunculaceae). The mine normally starts at the

apex of the leaf, winding backwards and forwards and thus forming a secondary blotch which

quickly turns brown. Pupation is internally in the mine. The known hosts in Britain are the Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris L.), the Bulbous Buttercup (R. bulbosus L.) and the

Creeping Buttercup (R. repens L.). Phytomyza fallaciosa is widespread and common in much of

Europe.The Oaklands specimen has been pre sented to the National Museum of Ireland. P. J. Chandler 606B Berryfield Lane, Melksham, Wiltshire SN12 6EL J. P. O'Connor National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Botanical Notes

The Cauliflower Ash Gall on Fraxinus excelsior L. (Ash) in

Ireland

The first reported occurrence of the Cauliflower Ash Gall in Ireland was made by Dr J.P. O'Connor, National Museum of Ireland, Dublin

(O'Connor, J.P., Wistow, S., Ashe, P. 1994

Cecidology 9: 75-77.). The first actual collection was obtained from a tree near the Castleknock

Gate, Phoenix Park, Dublin on 8 December 1992 (fide].?. O'Connor).

The gall causer is a mite, Eriophyes firaxinivorus (Nalepa). The mites are predated by a midge larva, a dipteron, Arthrocnodax fraxinella (Meade). O'Connor (2007 pers. comm.) points out that the midge plays no part in gall formation and that some galls have no midge populations. In the course of field work O'Connor and co

workers found that despite the wide distribution of the Ash in Ireland, galls are scarce or absent from "apparently suitable sites". The gall is wide

spread and locally common in Great Britain. In

France, the galls are common, often abundant,

and found on E excelsior and E ornus L.

(Dauphin, P. and Aniotsbehere, J., 1997. Les

galles de France. Memoirs de la Societe Linneenne de Bordeaux.)

A study of gall causing mites (Eriophyoidea) in Ireland was published in 1999 (O'Connor, J.P, O'Connor, M.A., Ashe, P. and Wistow, S.

1999 Irish Naturalists Journal 26: 241-248). This

paper reviews all the published records and

provides information on distribution and host

plants The vice-comital distribution of H2, 8, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 32 is being augu

mented by further field observations.

Independently the gall was found by the writer in 2005 in the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin 9 (Ol537), and in 2006 in Parnell

Square, Dublin 1 (Ol535), in St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 (Ol633) and in the forecourt of

dwellings on Pembroke Road, Dublin 4

(01732). The Cauliflower Ash Gall is rust-brown in

colour, asymmetric in shape varying from round to oblong. The surface is uneven and may be described as warty. Gall-clusters up to 3 cm across have been collected. The stalk bearing the structure is the stalk of the samara. The galls are

Irish Naturalists'Journal 29 No. 2 2008 135

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