| Cercyon laminatus Sharp, 1873 | |
| Originally described from Japan, the first european record was from
Germany in 1957 and since then it has spread across north and central Europe (Hansen).
The first British record was from west Kent in august 1959 � and since that time it has been
recorded locally from southeast England north to east Anglia and west to the New Forest (NBN). Its
natural habitat is thought to be decaying vegetable matter although in Japan it is also found in dung
and among seaweed. The european records from seashore drift are probably accidental and the result of
windy weather (Hansen, 1987). The species is a strong flier and may be found swarming in the evening,
in our experience most common in the spring but found continuously from may to september. It has been
common throughout the Watford area during 2006 and 2007, having been attracted to MV on warm evenings
in many situations; they can be abundant in town centre gardens, along the western margin of Cassiobury park
and around Cassio bridge. In all cases they have been found near decaying vegetable matter e.g. compost heaps, piles
of decaying grass cuttings or bales of straw but despite much sampling we have not found the adults in any
of these situations, nor in dung. As mentioned by Allen (loc. cit.), Lohse � points out that the species
may be synanthropic, and our experiences reflect this but not exclusively so. A 1968 (july) record from MV
at Chalfont St. Peter, bucks mentioned in Allen's article suggests the species may now be widespread but under recorded
from Herts and Bucks. It would seem that MV trapping might reveal the species to be more frequent than records suggest. 3.2-4mm. A rather elongate oval species widest at or just behind the middle of the elytra. Light brown to yellow with head, underside and antennal club black, margins of pronotum and elytra lighter, sometimes indistinctly so. Anterior margin of clypeus finely bordered and straight or gently rounded, not sinuate. Eyes large and protruding. Head finely and quite densely punctured, about as strongly so as pronotum, while smooth and shining (X40). Fine lateral border of pronotum continuing onto basal margin for about a third of its width, hind angle obviously obtuse when viewed from the side and, in normal setting,the pronotum and elytra form a single curve - when viewed this any gap between the elytra and pronotal base must be taken into consideration. Scutellum elongate. Elytra across middle with 9 well impressed and distinctly punctured striae, these being a little deeper laterally and posteriorly, striae 8 and 9 usually reduced to a series of punctures anteriorly. Interstices densely and finely punctured, less strongly so than head, flat, becoming convex apically and lacking distinct microsculpture (X40). Appendages yellow, palpi and antennal scape lighter than legs. Apex of protibia rounded, club-like - look directly down onto top surface. The darker pronotal and elytral markings vary from indistinctly darker to well defined black fascia. Description from 3 Watford specimens at X40 � Allen, A.A., 1969. Cercyon laminatus new to Britain; with corrections to our list of species, and further notes. Ent.Rec.J.Var. 81:211-216 � Lohse, G.A., 1959. C.laminatus Ent.Blatt., 55:57 |
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