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

Yorkshire

Thorne Moors and Hatfield Moors near Doncaster are the sites for two beetles found nowhere else in the British Isles. Bembidion humerale [RDB1] (Carabidae) is found, sometimes in abundance, on areas of bare moist peat, usually where there are algal mats and fringing vegetation. It should be sought in April or from August to October. The Mire Pill Beetle Curimopsis nigrita [RDB1] (Byrrhidae) is found at soil level under moss and should be looked for from April to July. The sites have recently been badly damaged by industrial peat extraction, but they were declared a Special Protection Area in August 2000 and it is hoped that the future of these beetles is now more secure.

In the British Isles Simplocaria maculosa [RDB I] (Byrrhidae) is known from just three specimens, the most recent being a female found by the River Ouse at Kelfield in 1956.

In June 1978 a galerucid new to Britain, Xanthogaleruca luteola (Chrysomelidae), was found in willow/alder Salix/Alnus carr at Shirley Pool, southeast of Askern near Doncaster. The species has not been refound, but it could be established in the vicinity.

The anthribid Bruchela rufipes (Anthribidae) is well established on Wild Mignonette Reseda lutea on waste ground near Goole, at Barlow Common Nature Reserve (SE 6328) and on slag heaps at Thorne Moors National Nature Reserve.

County recorder: Bob Marsh, 11 Crusader Drive, Sprotborough, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN5 7RX