Lomechusa paradoxa Gravenhorst, a new British host and L. emarginata (Paykull) (Staphylinidae), recent Devon records

摘要

Historical records for Lomechusa emarginata (Paykull) in Devon seem to pre-date1950. Material held in the Natural History Museum, London record it fromCountisbury, Lynemouth, August 1897 in the C.J. Saunders collection (accessionlabel BM 1947-234) this being an additional record to that of Donisthorpe atCountisbury in October 1912 (VC 04) (Donisthorpe, 1946). Other Devon material inthe collection includes Braunton, March 1911 from the H.C. Dolman collection (BM1919-17) and Haytor, S.D., 19 April 1917 by P.J. Pearce in the D. Sharp collection(BM1932-116). Keys caught an individual that landed on his collar at South Brent(Donisthorpe, 1927) although this is not referred to in his notebook (Keys, 1880-1941). Fowler (1888) refers to its occurrence in "Devonshire" likely attributable tothe J.J. Reading record from Plymouth where it was recorded with Formica rufaLinnaeus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) (Fowler 1906). Other pre-1950 records aredetailed in the Devonshire Association records (Ashe et al 2009) and for LundyDonisthorpe (1913). Keith Alexander recorded L .emarginata beneath a rock in aFormica fusca Linnaeus nest on open heath at Oxen Tor, Lyn Cleave, Exmoor(SS7249; VC 04) on 16 May 1991, this appears to be the first post 1950 record. Ifound one example of L. emarginata in the nest of Myrmica ruginodis Nylander(Hymenoptera: Formicidae) whilst searching ant nests under rocks for theircoleopteran occupants at Aish Tor, Dartmoor, South Devon (VC 03; SX7070) on 27April 2002. On 6th April 2008 two further individuals were encountered at the samesite, one in a F. fusca nest and the other in an adjacent M. ruginodis nest suggestingthe beetles had yet to fully migrate to the Formica nests.