Beetle
The following report was prepared by Tom Gittings following visits on 29th June and 18th July 1993. He used five pitfall traps in the northwestern end of the reserve (Zone F – see Botanical Survey Zone image on the Flora page).
GROUND BEETLES (CARABIDAE) CAUGHT IN PITFALL TRAPS AT CUSKINNY MARSH IWC RESERVE IN 1993
Identification and nomenclature follows C.H. Lindroth (1974). Coleoptera: Carabidae. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 4(2).
Species List
All the species identified are described by Lindroth as common or locally common. In the following list, brief descriptions of the species usual habitats (from Lindroth) are given.
Abax parellelopides Piller & Mitterpacher: shaded places
Agonum obscururm Herbst: damp deciduous forests and densely vegetated marshes
Amara Bonelli species*
Badister bipustulatus Fabricius: eurytopic
Bradycellus sharpi Joy: under levaes and mosses in shaded places, usually near water
Carabus granualtus Linnaeus: wet meadows, open forests and cultivated soils
Clivinia fossor Linnaeus: open, vegetated and not too dry country
Pterostichus melanarius Illiger: open, not too dry country
Pterostichus niger Schaller: parks, thin forests, on not too dry soil, often under bark
Pterostichus nigrita Paykull: damp places, usually near water
Pterostichus strenuus Panzer: shady places among moss and leaves
Pterostichus vernalis Panzer: moist meadows with sedges and grasses
* probably includes at least three different species
Cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha) and Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) have also been recorded on the reserve.
If you have any beetle records from Cuskinny please send them to: info@cuskinnynaturereserve.com