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Herefordshire

The jewel in Herefordshire's crown is the ancient deer park of Moccas Park. This site is the subject of a recent detailed monograph on its wildlife, in which can be found much useful information on its rare dead-wood associated beetles.

The best-known rarity is the eponymous Moccas Beetle Hypebaeus flavipes [RDB1] (Melyridae) which may be tapped from the lower branches of only one or two ancient oaks Quercus in June and July. Diligent searching in and around red-rotten heartwood of ancient oak trees in June or July may with luck turn up Malthodes brevicollis [RDB1] (Cantharidae), Lymexylon navale [RDB2] (Lymexylidae) and the very rare anobiid Xyletinus longitarsis [RDB2] (Anobiidae), the last of these otherwise known only from old parks in Sussex. Moccas Park is also the best known site in the British Isles for the beautiful blood-red longhorn Pyrrhidium sanguineum [RDB2] (Cerambycidae), although the species has now been recorded from several other counties in the Welsh Marches.

County recorder: vacant