Where To Find Beetles  Back to county index  Back to species index

Oxfordshire

The rare meloid Apalus muralis [RDB1] (Meloidae) formerly occurred at several sites in southern England and was not uncommon in the Oxford area in the first half of the 20th Century. However, it declined markedly in the county since the 1940s and was last recorded in the British Isles from Wheatley in 1969. The species is associated with nests of mason bees Anthophora spp. in old walls and banks, and should be sought in August and September.

The classic locality for Gynandrophthalma affinis [RDB1] (Chrysomelidae) in the British Isles is Wychwood Forest, but it has not been seen there since the 1950s and is perhaps now best sought in Gloucestershire. It should be looked for by beating the lower branches of hazel Corylus and birch Betula, and perhaps other deciduous trees and shrubs, in June. Another chrysomelid verging on extinction in Britain is Psylliodes hyoscyami [RDB1] (Chrysomelidae), last recorded in the British Isles in 1930 from Oxfordshire. This species is only found on Henbane Hyoscyamus niger, itself now a very local plant, during the summer.

In chalk downland, pitfall trapping or searching under stones from May to July, especially near low-growing Compositae, may with luck turn up the weevil Glocianus moelleri [RDBK] (Curculionidae). In the British Isles this species has otherwise recently only been recorded from Hampshire, but older records exist for Berkshire, Surrey and Kent. Previously known from Cornwall north to Warwickshire, the last record of Ceutorhynchus syrites [RDB1] (Curculionidae) in the British Isles is from Aston Rowant in 1966. This species should be looked for on Cruciferae in the early summer and autumn.

County recorder: J.M. Campbell, Dept of Leisure & Arts, Oxfordshire Museums Store, Witney Road, Standlake, Oxfordshire OX8 7QG or , Kingsmead, Wield Road, Medstead, Alton, Hampshire GU34 5NJ