The beetles of decaying wood in Ireland. A provisional annotated checklist of saproxylic Coleoptera. Irish Wildlife Manuals No. 65 The beetles of decaying wood in Ireland. A provisional annotated checklist of saproxylic Coleoptera. Keith N. A. Alexander 1 & Roy Anderson 2 1 59 Sweetbrier Lane, Heavitree, Exeter EX1 3AQ; 2 1 Belvoirview Park, Belfast BT8 7BL, N. Ireland Citation : Alexander, K. N. A. & Anderson, R. (2012) The beetles of decaying wood in Ireland. A provisional annotated checklist of saproxylic Coleoptera. Irish Wildlife Manual s, No. 65. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin, Ireland. Keywords: beetles; saproxylic; deadwood; timber; fungal decay; checklist Cover photo: The Rhinoceros Beetle, Sinodendron cylindricum © Roy Anderson The NPWS Project Officer for this report was: Dr Brian Nelson; [email protected] Irish Wildlife Manuals Series Editors: F. Marnell & N. Kingston © National Parks and Wildlife Service 2012 ISSN 1393 – 6670 Saproxylic beetles of Ireland ____________________________ Contents Executive Summary........................................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................................2 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Aims and methods......................................................................................................................................3 Analysis of status ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Special features of the Irish saproxylic fauna..........................................................................................8 Important sites............................................................................................................................................. 9 The checklist of Irish saproxylic Coleoptera ............................................................................................. 16 Structure of the checklist.......................................................................................................................... 16 Species accounts........................................................................................................................................17 References .................................................................................................................................................... 131 Appendix 1 Recorders and list of abbreviations..................................................................................... 144 Appendix II Taxonomic checklist of species........................................................................................... 146 Index of beetle species................................................................................................................................158 Saproxylic beetles of Ireland ____________________________ Executive Summary A full list is provided of the saproxylic (wood-decay) beetles known to have been resident in Ireland in modern times, together with information about their ecology and distribution, with site records organised by vice county. For each of the 274 species an estimation of their current status is suggested, and species with an apparent association with old growth (ancient woodland and/or ancient wood pasture conditions) are also identified. At least 208 species appear to be native to Ireland, while 9 of these may have become extinct within the past 100 years. Only 25 species appear to be common and widespread, in contrast to the 104 species (50% of the natives) which have been assessed as ‘rare’. This suggests a serious imbalance in species status, reflecting the overall rarity and fragility of saproxylic habitats across Ireland. A list of important sites is included. Acknowledgements Brian Nelson arranged for this independent report to be published by NPWS. The authors would like to thank the recorders who have generously made their records available to us: Martin Cawley, Tom Gittings and Jervis Good. Also our thanks go to Eugenie Regan of the National Biodiversity Data Centre for encouragement to move towards publication. Saproxylic beetles of Ireland ____________________________ Introduction Saproxylic and other woodland invertebrates have a reputation for being very poorly represented in Ireland (Speight 1986, 1989b) although Alexander (2003) suggests that this merely reflects the overall species representation in Ireland in comparison with Britain and continental Europe – a factor of Ireland’s biogeographic relationships – rather than saproxylics being rarer than any other habitat grouping. However, what may be true is that the background fauna – the common and widespread species which can be found very widely across Ireland – is a relatively small range of species, while the more restricted species form a greater proportion of the fauna than might be expected. Species richness is certainly greatest in sites which are almost certainly ancient woodlands and ancient wood- pastures (including historic demesne parklands), and it is suggested that the species which are virtually exclusive to these relatively rich sites are the remains of Ireland’s old growth fauna (Alexander et al. , 2002). Ancient tree-scapes do appear to be relatively scarce across Ireland, although probably not as scarce as many people assume – the historic demesnes have hardly been studied at all. The definition of saproxylic used for the purposes of this list is the one proposed by Alexander (2008b) as it emphasises fungal decay of wood and does not require trees to be senescent or dead (Speight, 1989c): Species which are involved in or dependent on the process of fungal decay of wood, or on the products of that decay, and which are associated with living as well as dead trees. Conventionally two further groupings of organisms are included within the definition: i) sap-run associates, ie species dependent on fluxes of sap and its decomposition products, and ii) organisms other than fungi that feed directly on wood. This checklist is presented in order to provide a complete statement of where we are with knowledge of the current Irish saproxylic beetle fauna. Subfossil records have not been included. It is hoped that this baseline data will provide a framework for developing an Irish Red List of saproxylic beetles and enable the development of site quality statistics along the lines of those already in use in Britain (Alexander, 2004; Fowles et al. , 1999). Aims and methods This checklist aims to include all resident breeding species, and so includes the long-established native fauna plus introductions which have proved able to maintain viable populations in Ireland. Casual imports are omitted where their status is clear-cut, e.g. Silvanus bidentatus in pallets associated with a consignment of computer parts from Japan (Good & Hume, 1991), but recent arrivals are included as these may become established. 3 Saproxylic beetles of Ireland ____________________________ The data is primarily derived by extraction from published literature and contact with the active recorders that are known to the authors. The record is almost certainly not complete however, as unpublished information will largely remain uncollated for the time being. Analysis of status 274 species are listed of which at least 208 are native – see Table 1. Nine of these species may now be extinct, having not been reported since Johnson & Halbert (1902) – see below. This is clearly a rich fauna, despite the various opinions which have been expressed over the years – see Introduction. However, only 25 species can be considered common and widespread, in contrast to the 104 (50%) species which have been assessed as rare in Ireland. This suggests a serious imbalance in species status, reflecting the overall rarity and fragility of saproxylic habitats across Ireland. Eight additional species are thought to be doubtfully Irish as only old records have been reported and no supporting voucher specimens are available, while the status of a further 8 have proved impossible to assess on the scant information available. 35 species are established non-natives, largely accidentally brought in by commercial forestry activities. There is also a clear trend of recent arrivals making first landfall in Northern Ireland, presumably carried from Scotland on air currents – 8 species have first appeared in the north-eastern counties and have proceeded to spread. The species presumed to be extinct in Ireland are: Nossidium pilosellum (Marsham), Amphicyllis globus (F.), Agathidium rotundatum Gyllenhal, Euplectus punctatus Mulsant, Cypha seminulum (Erichson), Calambus bipustulatus (L.), Malthodes dispar (Germar), Anthocomus fasciatus (L.) and Conopalpus testaceus (Olivier). These represent a wide variety of saproxylic habitat types. Figure 1: The distinctive larva of the Red-headed Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa serraticornis © Keith Alexander 4 Saproxylic beetles of Ireland ____________________________ Figure 2: Larvae of Sinodendron cylindricum bore in decaying heartwood of broad-leaved trees © Roy Anderson Figure 3: Two wood-decay fungi Ganoderma resinaceum (left) and Inonotus dryadeus (right)