Recent Records of Two Uncommon Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from West Galway(H16): Leistus montanus Stephens and Chlaenius vestitus (Paykull)Author(s): Stephen McCormackSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 27, No. 9 (2004), p. 356Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25536535 .

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Ir. Nat J. Volume 27 No 9 2004

Dixa submaculata Edwards

*WEXFORD: J, F. Kennedy Park (S7319), S 26 March 1989, swept from vegetation beside a small lake, JPOC & MAOC.

Acknowledgement: JPOC wishes to thank his wife Mary for her help with field-work. The specimens have been presented to the National Museum of Ireland.

J. P. O'Connor

National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

P. Ashe

Research Associate, Department of Zoology, University College, Belfield, Dublin 4

Recent records of two uncommon ground beetles

(Coleoptera: Carabidae) from West Galway (H16): Leistus montanus Stephens and Chlaenius vestitus

(Paykull). A single female of Leistus montanus was found at about 300m altitude by a stream in

the Twelve Bens Mtns (L7952) on 24 September 2003. In Ireland this species has been recorded from nine localities mainly in the south and west with the last record dating from 1924 (Anderson, R. & McFerran, D. 2001 The ground beetles of Ireland.

http://www.habitas.org.uk/groundbeetles/index.html). It has been recorded previously from the

Twelve Bens by Halbert who took it on Benlettery in 1895 (Johnson, W. F. and Halbert, J. N. 1902 A list of the beetles of Ireland. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 6: 535-827).

This species occurs in mountainous regions across Europe and is found as far north as the

Scottish highlands. It is an extremely agile insect with a preference for dry rocky habitats and it can be difficult to catch. The apparent rarity of L. montanus in Ireland is possibly due to its

upland habitats. However, this species was not found at other potentially suitable sites in the

Twelve Bens searched by the author.

On 14 September 2003 several specimens of Chlaenius vestitus were seen under stones on the western shore of Lough Corrib at An Ard (M1742). This species is instantly recognizable by its bright metallic green body clothed with short golden pubescence. It was last reported in Ireland in 1977 from the shores of Lough Ree by M. Speight (R. Anderson,

pers. comm.). Johnson and Halbert (1902 op. cit.) regarded it as locally common and listed

records from several widely scattered localities. It is presumed to be extinct in Northern Ireland where it was formerly found by Lough Neagh and Lough Erne and on the Antrim coast

(Anderson and McFerran 2001 op. cit). Chlaenius vestitus occurs in western and southern

Europe as far west as western Siberia and in Britain it is widely recorded across southern

counties of England and Wales (Luff M. L. 1998 Provisional atlas of the ground beetles

(Coleoptera, Carabidae) of Britain. Biological Records Centre, Huntingdon).

Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Roy Anderson for information on records of both

species. I am also grateful to Kieran McCarthy for comments on the text.

Stephen McCormack

Department of Zoology, National University of Ireland, Galway

356

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