£s a Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society M Volume 71 • Number 501 April 2012 natural — ~ HISTORY museum i 2 JUN 2012 _ PRESENTED ENTOM LIBRARY ISSN 0266-836X Editors: Dr P. Wilkins & Paul Sokoloff Natural History Museum Library Founded in 1935 The AES • P.O. 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'■mi Mom, ... ... ... - BULLETIN ADVERTISING RATES: Advertising in the AES Bulletin is a cost effective way of reaching all AES members and many others who benefit from institutional subscriptions. Full page £75 for each advert or £375 for six adverts in the same year. Half page £50 for each advert or £250 for six adverts in the same year. Quarter page £30 for each advert or £1 50 for six adverts in the same year. NOTICE It is to be distinctly understood that all views, opinions, or theories, expressed in the pages of this Journal are solely those of the author(s) concerned. All announcements of meetings, financial grants offered or sought, requests for help or information, are accepted as bona fide. Neither the Editor, the Officers and Council of the Society, nor its Trustees, can be held responsible for any loss, embarrassment or injury that might be sustained by reliance thereon. Both trap and light are total innovations by Robert Tried and tested in Europe and the tropics. In good conditions the results are spectacular. > For full details and prices mmumh La iik NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 1 2 JUN 2012 ENTED LfBRARY IEW Moonlander Moth trap Now re-designed, even lighter and with superb new supports and new carrying bag. Moths favour Moonlander reticulated foam moth shelers over traditional egg boxes. Works as sheet and trap combined. Worldwide Butterflies Goodden GemLight runs all night on 8AA batteries! A revolutionary light, ideal for foreign travel and field study. Never has there been such a small and lightweight moth light. Powered by tiny rechargeable batteries Designed for the Moonlander, it works also on a sheet, is better than actinic, and might be adapted to suit other traps. Auto photoswitch for convenience. Worldwide Butterflies website offers Livestock and Equipment for breeding and study. Specimens for specialist collectors: watch the site for spectacular aberrations. See exactly what is currently available as the season changes. Look ahead for species coming in their season. Sale Offers of equipment, books, livestock and specimens - an ever evolving range.. www.wwb.co.uk Add it to your Favorites - check it regularly. ATROPOS ANTIQUES* PURVEYORS OF FINE COLLECTOR’S CABINETS Many of you will have met us at the AES London Fair where we regularly show entomological cabinets for sale We are specialist dealers in fine collector’s cabinets. We can offer a choice of at least 30 cabinets, varying in purpose, construction, quality and price. We can supply both restored and un-restored cabinets and will undertake to restore and paper cabinets for clients. We are always interested in the purchase or exchange of cabinets, with or without a collection. Callers to our showrooms are always welcome by appointment. We offer a specialist collection and delivery service throughout the UK and have full expertise in the safe transportation of cabinets and collections. We now have a dedicated cabinet showroom in Hartland, North Devon, and are happy to receive visitors to view the stock of over sixty cabinets including all the famous makers names. Please telephone or e-mail if you wish to call. Hartland is famous for it's coastline and dramatic scenery and was one of the last known haunts of the Large Blue. We are very keen to buy whole insect collections and collecting paraphanalia ancient or modern. Please contact George Morgan by telephone or e-mail. George Morgan 97, West Street, Hartland, N. Devon EX39 6BQ T: 01237-441205/984 M: 07973 302190 E-mail : george @ atropos .wanadoo .co .uk * We are an independent dealership of 30 years standing and have no association with any similarly named business. I I SPECIAL OFFER FOR AES MEMBERS ONLY £7.50 each when bought together (inc. UK p&p) £9.50 each (overseas) Hazards of Butterfly Collecting by Torben B. Larsen Rearing Stick and Leaf Insects by Ronald N. Baxter Cravitz Printing ORDER YOUR COPY NOW FROM Company Limited, 1 Tower Hill, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4TA. Tel: (01277) 224610 • Fax: (01277) 262815 • E-mail: CravitzPrinting@btconnect.com Bulletin Cover of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Volume 71 • Number 501 April 2012 ISSN 02GG B3&X Editors: Dr R Wilkins & Paul Sokoiotr The photograph on this month's cover is the Common Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea. The name "carnea" has the same Latin root as "carnal" and "carnivorous" - relating to "flesh". This species hibernates as an adult, often finding its way into houses, and as its bodily food reserves are depleted it turns pink - or flesh-coloured! It is a near Pandemic species and is probably absent only from the Polar Regions. Recently what was thought to be a single species has been divided into many new species on the basis of ecology, the sonic frequency of its "song" (a rasping, connected with mating, produced by rubbing the abdomen on the substrate), geography and DNA profiling. It seems to provide a living example of active evolution. In Britain, we have three valid, full species within the complex - carnea sensu stricto (this photograph), which is near ubiquitous, lucasina, probably ubiquitous but numerically far less common, and pallida, which seems to be rather restricted. Photographed in Kent by Paul Sokoloff /4RE YOU MISSING OUT? THE ENTOMOLOGIST'S RECORD and Journal of Variation Publishes notes, observations, articles and reviews, mainly on the Lepidoptera and Coleoptera of the British Isles and Europe. Founded in 1 890 by J. W. Tutt, and still going strong, we publish six issues a year - alternating with the AES Bulletin. This means there is now a first class entomological journal available every month of the year! Our subscription price is £25 per year. If you would like to see a specimen copy, please send your name and address, and a couple of second class stamps to cover postage to: The Editor, 14 West Road, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 2QP. Write now/ You never know what you could be missing. The Entomologist's Record is a publication of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society. To ensure high standards of production we use Cravitz Printing Company. Ian Johnson t Natural History Books (. Pemberley Books ) Specialist in Entomology and related subjects Also Zoology , Ornithology, Botany etc. • Catalogues - Second-hand, Antiquarian and New books - free catalogues available on request. • Specialist Bookshop at Richings Park, Iver, just to the West of London - easy to reach by car or train. Visitors are welcome to visit and view our stock, but please telephone first to confirm opening times. * By car: only 10 minutes drive from the M25 via the M4 (Junction 5), or M40 (Junction 1). 15 minutes from Heathrow Airport. * By train: 20 minutes from London Paddington to Iver Station on the Paddington-Slough Thames Trains service (2 trains every hour). We are 1 minute's walk from Iver Station. • Website - view our stock on our website: www.yemberleyhooks.com. • Books bought - We are always interested in purchasing books in our specialist field, particularly antiquarian, academic and scholarly works on insects and other invertebrates. 18 BATHURST WALK, RICHINGS PARK, IVER, BUCKS SLO 9 A Z Tel: 01753 631114 /Fax: 01753 631115 • e-mail: ian.johnson@pemberleybooks.com of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Volume 71 • Number 501 April 2012 Editorial Once again, I have the privilege of providing information about the entomological fauna of Corfu. Since my last contributions about the remarkable invertebrate fauna of the island (Corfu Special Edition: Bulletin # 485, and Bulletin #491: 131-136) I have visited the island twice more, in April 2011 and February 2012, allowing me to see some of the species that appear earlier in the year, including one of Europe’s most spectacular butterflies, the Southern Festoon Zerynthia polyxena. This edition provides a revised checklist of butterflies for the island with photographs of this and other species, including the Eastern Baton Blue Pseudophilotes vicrama , which, like Z. polyxena and a number of other species, has declined dramatically in many parts of its range through the loss of ruderal and bare ground habitats. The coleopteran fauna of the island is also highlighted and shows that the taxonomic issues regarding the status of a number of species are far from being resolved! I hope that the prospect of becoming part of the process of unravelling the true genetic identities of certain species will provide a stimulus for their study. Brainteasing exercises aside, the experience of finding some of these species in their natural habitat provides its own rewards, be it the Eastern Orange-tip Anthocharis damone in the mountain valleys of Mount Pantokrator or large and impressively powerful water beetles in the temporary pools near Issos beach in the south. This edition exemplifies the fact that the diversity of Corfu’s invertebrate fauna is gained from its pivotal position in the Mediterranean. For exactly the same reason that it was sought as a strategic outpost for so many conquering empires, it forms a natural crossroads for the distribution of species, where east meets west and north meets south. This, of course, is an over-simplification, and a more detailed representation for Greece and its islands is provided by Arndt etal. (see article on Carabidae in this issue): “ Greece is an intersection point for several distribution patterns. There are Palaearctic and Palaeotropical faunal elements with the following distribution patterns: Eurasian, European-American, European, Iranian- Turanian, Aegaeidean, Palaeomediterranean and Pontomediterranean, and Balkan endemics .” An example of the European-American fauna was found in February 2012 in the form of the stunning metallic purple ground beetle, My as chalybaeus , as shown in the carabids article in this issue. 42 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society A brief foray into the Orthoptera and Odonata provides a new species of grasshopper for Corfu, and a few hints and tips regarding identification of dragonflies and damselflies. This includes key features of the Migrant Spreadwing Lestes barbarus , a species documented many years ago by Dr Theodore Stefanides, who was so humorously immortalised in Gerald Durrell’s famous trilogy of books about the island1. In the last special issue, it was noted that, “...this work, in its entirety, was grown from a seed planted by Gerald Durrell. ” What I find remarkable is the fact that all these years later, I am still referring to the work of Gerald Durrell’s mentor, Dr Stephanides. Earlier this year, I was very kindly invited by Dr Lee Durrell to the Jersey Zoological Park which is run by the Durrell Conservation Trust in Jersey, and given access to Dr Stephanides’ work. There was one volume in particular that I wanted to see, having been unable to access it through the Durrell School of Corfu from its repository in Athens, and rightly so, this important volume now apparently exists in only 7 academic institutions worldwide. It was therefore a great privilege to have in my hand Gerald Durrell’s copy of A survey of the freshwater biology of Corfu and of certain other regions of Greece, signed to his friend by Dr Stephanides himself, and to read from its pages the vibrant picture of Corfu’s pre-war freshwater fauna (Figure 1). It was the polymath, Dr Stephanides, who laid the foundation for so much of our knowledge about the modern day aquatic fauna of the island. Figure 1. The author and Dr Lee Durrell with Dr Stephanides’ work on the freshwater biology of Corfu (Copyright: Colin Stevenson) My Family and Other Animals-, Birds, Beasts and Relatives-, and The Garden of the Gods. Volume 71 • April 2012 43 I have now spent much time surveying the island of Corfu, but it is visiting the old haunts described by Gerald Durrell in such evocative terms that bring back so many memories from that golden trilogy of books. A great favourite of mine is Lake Scotini, and I cannot absorb myself in its warm sunlit waters without recalling Gerald Durrell’s description of Theodore in The Pygmy Jungle chapter from Birds, Beasts and Relatives : . . armed with our collection of nets and collecting boxes, (we) would approach the lake. Here we would potter happily for the rest of the morning, pacing with the slow concentration of a pair of fishing herons, dipping our nets into the weed-filigreed water. Here Theodore came into his own more than anywhere else. From the depths of the lake, as he stood there with big scarlet dragonflies zooming like arrows around him, he would extract magic that Merlin would have envied. ” And the magic continues... “Here in the still, wine gold waters, lay a pygmy jungle. On the lake bottom prowled the deadly dragonfly larvae, as cunning predators as the tiger, inching their way through the debris of a million last years leaves. Here the black tadpoles, sleek and shiny as licorice drops, disported in the shallows like plump herds of hippo in some African river. Through green forests of weed the multicoloured herds of microscopic creatures twitched and fluttered like flocks of exotic birds. I often wonder what Gerald Durrell and Theodore Stephanides would have made of it all now. It is no secret that Gerald Durrell became disheartened by the inevitable rise of the tourist industry on an island as beautiful as Corfu, not least because of his perception that he was partly responsible for popularising the island through his books. Nevertheless, it is directly through him that so many of us have chosen to study and enjoy the wildlife of Corfu, and place its riches into the wider context of the global biodiversity that we are all striving to protect. Moreover, it is the ongoing study of this wildlife that brings it to life for a wider audience, and highlights the need to conserve and protect the areas where it can still be found. If Gerald Durrell and Theodore Stephanides could observe their legacy, from the animated discussions about the taxonomy of Corfiot beetles and other insects, and the examination of the habitat requirements of rare butterflies on the slopes of Mount Pantokrator, to the review of the climate induced appearance of some spectacular new species including the electric pink dragonfly Trithemis annulata , they would probably not be displeased! 44 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Figure 2. The old masters, Dr Theodore Stephanides and Gerald Durrell OBE. Copyright: Thames Television, London. Reproduced with kind permission from the Durrell collection. w Volume 71 • April 2012 45 w Key identification features for the Red-veined Darter Sympetrum fonscolombii (Selys, 1840) and other Odonata in Corfu (Kerkira) by Dr Peter G. Sutton (7388) petersutton @f reeuk.com A previous checklist for the dragonflies (Odonata) of Corfu (Sutton, 2009) described the presence of 40 species on the island, which is by far the richest diversity of dragonfly species in the Ionian islands. Among these were listed five species of red darter dragonflies, the Sympetrum species. A recent article by Alker (2010) highlighted the fact that the degree of red wing venation was, I . . not adequately covered in the key identification works, which could easily lead to misidentification and apparently does so on a regular basis”, and goes on to make the statement, “A red coloured darter species with red veins isn’t necessarily a Red-veined Darter. ” It appears that the Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum in particular (which is found in Corfu), can possess the extensive red veining that can lead to confusion with the Red-veined Darter Sympetrum fonscolombii. In April 2011 I recorded a red- veined dragonfly at Limni Korission in southern Corfu and immediately assumed it to be the Red-veined Darter. The first feature that I looked for to confirm the identification was the yellow patch at the base of the hindwing. Interestingly, it wasn’t there! Within a short time I had used two other identification features to confirm it as fonscolombii-. the blue underside to the eye and the black-bordered yellow pterostigma on the wing tips (Figure 1). I had previously encountered the Eastern Willow Spreadwing Lestes parvidens in Corfu and in May 2011, I recorded another of the emerald damselflies at a small farmland lake in the Ropa Valley. This time it was the Migrant Spreadwing1 Lestes barbarus (Figure 2). The key identification feature for this species (which is larger and paler that the other emeralds) is the pale, bicoloured pterostigma at the wing tips (Figure 3). At the same lake were male and female specimens of the Variable Damselfiy Coenagrion pulchellum. The male was easy to identify using the broken antehumeral stripe on its thorax (Figure 4). The female (Figure 5) was slightly more difficult and relied on the exaggerated shape of the pronotum to confirm its identity. Boudot et al. (2009) confirm that this species becomes scarce in southern Mediterranean Europe and indicate that it may decline in the future due to global warming. 1 formerly known as the Southern Emerald Damselfiy. 46 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Figure 1. Red-veined Darter Sympetrum fonscolombii, showing lack of yellow patch at base of hindwing, black-bordered yellow pterostigma, and blue underside to eye. Figure 2. Migrant Spreadwing Lestes barbarus, Ropa Valley. Volume 71 • April 2012 47 Figure 4. Diagnostic feature for male Variable Darriselfly Coenagrion pulchellum, broken antehumeral stripe on pronotum. 48 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society M Figure 5. Female Variable Damselfly Coenagrion pulchellum, Ropa Valley. Figure 6. Common Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans, immature female C-type gynomorph, near Spartera. Volume 71 • April 2012 49 M A trip to a stream at Spartera near the southern tip of the island produced a final point of interest. I was initially thrown by the lack of an antehumeral stripe and the apparent metallic green colouration of this damselfly. In fact, it turned out to be an immature specimen of the Common Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans (Figure 6), the so-called 11 Immature female Ctype gynomorph” described by Jodicke (2006). The search for the two rarest odonatan residents in Corfu, the Greek Red Damsel Pyrrhosoma elizabethae and the Turkish Red Damsel Ceriagrion georgifreyi, continues, with a focus on well-vegetated waterways on the island. Both species, especially the Greek Red Damsel, are globally threatened (Kalkman, 2005; Lopau, 1999, 2000, 2006; Boudot et al. 2009) and any information regarding the ongoing presence of these species in Corfu would be very welcome. In 2010, another indispensable Libellula supplement was produced (Lopau, 2010), focussing on the dragonfly fauna of Greece. This publication has high resolution maps throughout and shows the approximate locations for the last sightings of both species in Corfu. The flight period histograms indicate that both species are at their most abundant in June. References Alker, P., (2010), Red Wing Venation in Darters, Atropos, 40: 49-51. Boudot, J.-R, Kalkman, V.J., Azpilicueta Amorfn, M., Bogdanovic, T., Cordero Rivera, A., Degabriele, G., Dommanget, J.-L., Ferriera, S., Garrigos, B., Jovic, M., Kotarac, M., Lopau, W., Marinov, M., Mihokovic, N., Riservato, E., Samraoui, B., & Schneider, W., (2009), Atlas of the Odonata of the Mediterranean and North Africa, Libellula Supplement 9 : 1-256. Dijkstra, K-D. B. and Lewington, R., (2006), Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe, British Wildlife Publishing, Gillingham (Dorset), 320 pp. Jodicke, R., (2006), Ischnura elegans Common Bluetail, in: Dijkstra, K-D. B. and Lewington, R., (2006), Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe, British Wildlife Publishing, Gillingham (Dorset), 320 pp. Kalkman, V.J., (2005), On the distribution of the genus Ceriagrion Selys in the Balkans with C. georgfreyi Schmidt new for Europe. Libellula, Supplement 4: 25-32. Lopau, W., (1999), Bisher unveroffentlichte Libellenbeobachtungen aus Griechenland. Libellula, Supplement 2: 91-131. Lopau, W., (2000), Bisher unveroffentlichte Libellenbeobachtungen aus Griechenland II. Libellula, Supplement 3- 81-116. Lopau, W., (2006), Die Libellenfauna der Jonischen Inseln/Griechenland - Kefallonia, Kerkira (Korfu), Lefkada und Zakynthos, Libellen. Naturkundliche Reiseberichte, 32\ 3-37. Lopau, W., (2010), Studien zur Libellenfauna Griechenlands IV, Libellula, Supplement 10. 1- 260. Sutton, P.G., (2009), A checklist of the dragonflies (Odonata) of Corfu (Kerkira) including a new record for the Ionian Islands, the Black Pennant Selysiothemis nigra (Vander Linden, 1825), Bull. Amat. Ent. Soc., 68, (485): 136-144. 50 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Cybister tripunctatus ssp. africanus Laporte, 1855, Dytiscus mutinensis (Pederzani, 1971), and other large water beetles in Corfu (Kerkira) by Dr Peter G. Sutton (7388) petersutton@freeuk. com During a visit to Vatos in Corfu in 2007, three of Europe’s largest species of water beetle were found in a large partially shaded pond: the Great Silver Water Beetle Hydrophilus piceus (Linnaeus, 1758), the King Diving Beetle Dytiscus dimidiatus Bergstrasser, 1778 and Dytiscus mutinensis Pederzani, 1971. The latter species, which was formerly thought to be the non-sulcate form of Dytiscus dimidiatus (ab. mutinensis Fiori 1881), has been recognised as a distinct species since the 1970’s ( e.g . Roughley, 1990), providing the basis for the discussion below. In consecutive visits to Corfu in April 2011 and February 2012, two other large species, Cybister (Scaphinectes) lateralimarginalis (De Geer, 1774) and Cybister (Cybister) tripunctatus ssp. africanus Laporte 1855, were also recorded. As a result of these finds it has been possible to recognise and correct two erroneous statements made in previous literature. The first, “All three Hydrophilus species have been recorded from the island ( Corfu T (Sutton, 2009), was based on inaccurate information which has not been substantiated. In fact, it appears that only one species, Hydrophilus piceus , has been recorded from Corfu (Robert Angus, pers. comm.) This is also corroborated by the known distribution of the other two Great Silver Water Beetles Hydrophilus aterrimus Eschscholz, 1822 and Hydrophilus pistaceus Laporte de Castelnau, 1840, as depicted on the PESI Portal website which is moderated by some of Europe’s leading coleopterists (in this case, Ribera et al). This site shows that while H. aterrimus and H. pistaceus are both found in Italy, neither species, apparently, extends into the Balkan region. The second concerns a statement made in The Larger Water Beetles of the British Isles (Sutton, 2008) which describes Cybister lateralimarginalis as “...the only European member of a predominantly tropical genu? . In fact, there are four Cybister species that can be found in Europe, but it is only C. lateralimarginalis that extends into north-western Europe (a prefix that would have corrected the above statement). Moving south and east into the Mediterranean region finds Cybister tripunctatus ssp. africanus 1, which is found across the Mediterranean region from Spain 1 In addition to the European subspecies, africanus, there are three other subspecies of Cybister tripunctatus (Olivier, 1795): C. t. lateralis (Fabricius, 1798), C. t. tripunctatus (Olivier, 1795) and C. t. temneki Aube, 1838, whose collective distributions range from southern Asia to Australia.) M Volume 71 • April 2012 51 and Portugal, through the western Mediterranean islands (Balearics, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily), Italy and into the southern Balkan region including some Greek islands. The final two species have a far more restricted distribution. Cybister ( Melanectes ) vulneratus Klug, 1834 is a predominantly African species whose range extends into the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq. In Europe it is found in parts of Spain and has been recorded from Sicily. It is described as being part of the North African- European transition fauna (Ribera et al., 1996). Cybister (Cybister) senegalensis Aube, 1838 is even more restricted, with records from Sicily and Sardinia only (distribution data for these Cybister species is provided by Prof. Anders Nilsson, Fauna Europaea).Of the four species described, Figure 1. Cybister lateralimarginalis, Ropa River, Vatos 14. ii. 2012. 52 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Figure 2. Cy bister tripunctatus ssp. africanus, Gavrolimni ponds, 25.iv.2011. two have been found by the author on Corfu: C. lateralimarginalis (Figure 1) and C. tripunctatus ssp. africanus (Figure 2). The former has long been known from the island, and was noted by Dr Theodore Stephanides in his extensive work on the freshwater biology of Corfu (Stefanides, 1939) according to the following extract: Genus Cybister Curtis 1. Cybister laterimarginali& de Geer. Very common and plentiful in ponds. All the year. Clearly, this species is not as common in Corfu as it once was. A specimen was taken from the flooded Ropa River at Vatos by the author in February 2012, but was not found during extensive searches elsewhere; and two other records have kindly been provided: one from Temploni in the 1980’s (Professor Robert Angus, pers. comm.), and one from near Ag. Matheos in 1974 (Dr Hans Fery, pers. comm.) It is interesting to note that the meticulous Theodore Stephanides did not record this species, or any Dytiscus species from Corfu. It is certainly possible that in view of the climate-induced northward movement of a number of species in recent decades, at least one of the species, C. tripunctatus ssp. africanus may not have been there. C. tripunctatus ssp. africanus was taken from shallow temporary waters at 2 Note laterimarginalis is now lateralimarginalis (per explanation in Sutton, 2008). Volume 71 • April 2012 53 the southern end of Limni Korission by the author on 24.iv.2011, and then from the well-weeded shallows of a pond in Gavrolimni on 25.iv.2011. For a while, the record appeared to be the first for the island and it had (wrongly) been assumed that this might be linked to a recent climate- induced range expansion for this species, coinciding as it did with the first record of this species from one of the Balkan countries, Croatia, during the summer of 2007 (Temunovi and Seri Jelaska, 2009). However, Professor Angus again kindly provided details of his records, revealing that he had taken a specimen of C. tripunctatus ssp. africanus from a pond in Temploni in the 1980’s. In these days of northward range expansion by tropical species, nothing should be taken for granted, and this raises an obvious question regarding the identity of the Cy bister species found in Corfu. Fortunately, the matter can be settled without difficulty. Cybister lateralimarginalis can be separated from the other species by its large size (30-37 mm) and the yellow colouration of its underside (Figure 3). Cybister tripunctatus ssp. africanus is the second largest species (23-32 mm) and has a rich glossy brown underside (Figure 4). Cybister senegalensis also has a brown underside and virtually a miniature version of the previous species, but being considerably smaller (17-21 mm)3, can be separated easily by size. Cybister vulneratus is also a relatively small species (26 mm) and can be separated from the other two species with brown undersides by the greatly reduced yellow margins on the sides of its elytra. Figure 3 (left). Cybister lateralimarginalis, underside; Figure 4 (right). Cybister tripunctatus ssp. africanus, underside. 3 A very good side by side comparison of photographs of C. senegalensis and C. tripunctatus is provided in the dissertation by Reintjes (2004). 54 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society C. t. africanus was found amongst vegetation in warm shallow water on both occasions by the author. The specimen from the pond at Gavrolimni took to the air almost immediately after it had burst through the mat of algae in the net, leading to the following observation: “The ponds at Gavrolimni were virtually impenetrable, surrounded by a dense thorny scrub that left any overzealous attempt to get to the waters edge requiring medical attention. On the two occasions that I found a path through to the pond I found its warm shallow waters teeming with life. The margins were green with occasionally dense patches of algae between the many scrubby branches and thin tree trunks that sprang from its tepid waters. There were beetles and dragonfly larvae aplenty and somewhere in the upper echelons of this food web was the large shining Cybister species that burst through the thick blanket of algae in my net as it continued to kick at the air in the dazzling midday sun. The large and hyperactive specimen was photographed but flew off loudly at the first opportunity after it had hoisted itself up onto the edge of the net. In a short while, the strong-flying Cybister species that had disappeared out into the meadow flew back loudly past my ear, narrowly avoiding an instinctive swipe with my net, and I watched it as it made its way towards open water. Seven or eight yards out, there was a sudden cessation of noise as it folded its wings in mid-air, about a metre or so above the water, and it dropped like a stone into the pond with an audible plop’. I had not seen this behaviour before, and assumed it was a simple strategy to avoid folding wet wings. ” This was not the only large water beetle that had colonised the temporary ponds at Gavrolimni, and a later diary extract reveals the presence of what must have been a healthy population of Great Silver Water Beetles: “As I walked into some woodland at the edge of a clearing, I noticed a collection of large shining black elytra and legs scattered on the path (Figure 5). These were clearly from a Hydrophilus species and suggested that it was present in the Gavrolimni ponds in good numbers. I looked up into the tree above but saw no nest, roost or other signs of a winged predator. I looked closely at the ground for clues, but again, there were no obvious signs or tracks leading to this discarded inedible collection. I came to the conclusion that the predator must have been a bird of prey that had used the branch above as a temporary feeding station for beetles that it had caught on the wing, and recalled Jonty Denton’s paper regarding his observations of Dytiscus predation by the Hobby Falco Volume 71 • April 2012 55 subbuteo (Denton, 2007)4. It was interesting to note that all of the elytra were from one species and that whatever factor, e.g. the temperature of the increasingly shallow water, had provided the appropriate signal for the species to move en masse to another water body, appeared to be relevant only to that species, at that time. ” Figure 5. The collection of Hydrophilus remains in woodland adjacent to the Gavrolimni ponds. The series of finds of large water beetles on Corfu prompted a number of questions, many of which were related to the cyclic movement of species between temporary and permanent water bodies. Cy bister and Hydrophilus had been found together in temporary ponds that would be dry by late May, which at that time was four weeks away, and finding the strewn collection of elytrae on the woodland floor provided evidence that at least one species had already started to search for more permanent water bodies on the island5. 4 Denton writes: “On Thursley Common I once found the remnants (which had been discarded and carried to the shore by the prevailing breeze) of over twenty Dytiscus marginalis and seven Dytiscus semisulcatus along a 25 metre shore length in one afternoon. The occasional Colymbetes fuscus had also become a tasty in-flight meal. ” 5 A very interesting dissertation by Reintjes (2004) highlights the importance of temporary waters regarding their faunal diversity which is “ often higher than in permanent watert’, and the cyclic migration of species between temporary and permanent aquatic habitats. 56 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Dytiscus dimidiatus Bergstrasser, 1778 and Dytiscus mutinensis (Pederzani, 1971) in Corfu The presence of Dytiscus dimidiatus in Corfu was noted in a previous publication (Sutton, 2009) and at that time, it was assumed that this was the only Dytiscus species present in the golf course ponds at Vatos. However, a communication between the author and Professor Angus regarding the remarkably abbreviated sulci of the female D. dimidiatus specimens (Figure 6) prompted a more detailed comparison with what was assumed to be the non-sulcate form of this species, Dytiscus dimidiatus ab. mutinensis Fiori 1881, taken at the same time from the pond at Vatos. Further discussion with Professor Garth Foster, who kindly provided reference to the work of Roughley (1990), highlighted the possibility of the non-sulcate form being a species in its own right, Dytiscus mutinensis Pederzani, 1971. Figure 6. Female Dytiscus dimidiatus showing the highly abbreviated sulci and obviously green colouration of specimens from the pond at Vatos. Roughley’s extensive work, “A systematic revision of species o/Dytiscus Linnaeus ( Coleoptera : Dytiscidae). Part 1. Classification based on adult stage ”, notes Franciscolo’s (1979) reservations about the species-level separation of D. mutinensis from D. dimidiatus , notably highlighting the Volume 71 • April 2012 57 M inconsistencies regarding the number of punctures present on the male metatarsomere6, a key feature used by Pederzani (1971) to distinguish between the two species. Nevertheless, Roughley goes on to make the following assertion: “I have maintained the separation of these taxa as species for the following reasons: 1, consistent, if slight differences in the shape of the median lobe for males; 2, information provided by Franciscolo (1979) that specimens assignable to both taxa were taken in the same ponds; and 3, a lack of indeterminate specimens among the limited sample I have seen. ” The specimens of D. mutinensis from Vatos are consistent (with the exception of yellow-rimmed eyes) with the description of this species provided by the Italian Ermesambiente web-site: “Length 28.0-35.0 mm. Body shape elongated oval, convex, rounded at sides. Elytra always smooth in both sexes with slight lateral expansions in the back half. Dorsal colouration blackish -brown, with greenish or greenish-brown velvety auburn; sides of pronotum with a broad yellow band which opens up towards the apex of the elytrae with two irregular bifurcations. Head with v-shaped reddish central spot, yellow-rimmed eyes”. It is interesting to note that this description includes the thin yellow margin around the eyes, and indeed, shows a photograph of a specimen where this appears to be the case, yet this feature is not mentioned in descriptive information elsewhere, and is notably absent in the dorsal view of D. mutinensis provided by Roughley (Joe. cit .). The D. mutinensis specimens from the Vatos pond did not have yellow-rimmed eyes. It was noted from the author’s observations that this form appeared to be slightly smaller, and had an obviously different colouration in accordance with the above description. This colour difference can be seen clearly when comparing the greener female (Figure 6) and male (Figure 7) specimens of the larger (32-39 mm) D. dimidiatus specimens, with the brown D. mutinensis female (Figure 8). It also appeared to conform to the more oblong shape (although no specific measurements were taken) described in Roughley’s key: Body oblong (TL/GW 1.98 to 2.00); male with protarsomere V about 1.3 length of longer claw and about 30 punctures on anterior surface; smaller specimens, 28 to 35 mm; distributed in Italy, Corfu, Yugoslavia D. mutinensis Pederzani 6 There seems to be a discrepancy in the paper, where metatarsomere V is later referred to as the protarsomere V in the key provided. 58 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Figure 8. Female Dytiscus mutinensis showing typically brown colouration, Vatos Volume 71 • April 2012 59 Body more elongate (TIVGW 1.84 to 1.95); male with protarsomere V about 1.5 length of longer claw and about 60 punctures on anterior surface; larger specimens, 32 to 39 mm; distributed from Europe to Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Syria D. dimidiatus Bergstrasser In accordance with Roughley’s second point, all specimens came from the same pond at Vatos (Figure 9). Figure 9- The shaded golf course pond at Vatos where specimens of Dytiscus dimidiatus , Dytiscus mutinensis and Hydrophilus piceus were taken, well-weeded and rich in leaf litter and detritus. 60 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Pederzani (1971) notes that D. mutinensis has a preference for lentic habitats (e.g. still ponds, lakes, swamps) with much detritus, with adults occurring in both open and shaded habitats, but locally. The underside of the female D. mutinensis specimen is shown in Figure 10. Figure 10. Underside of Dytiscus mutinensis female, showing dark colouration and comparatively blunt postcoxal processes. Roughley provides additional information regarding the D. mutinensis sample studied, including details of specimens from Corfu: “I saw slight variation in external features of adults in 12 specimens o/'D. mutinensis. Of the five males examined in detail, number of punctures on the anterior surface of protarsomere V ranged between 24 and 34. Presence or absence of the anterior yellow band of the pronotum varies, Volume 71 • April 2012 61 but when present, this band is quite narrow, in most less than 10% of width of lateral hands. Two of the four females from Corfu have slightly impressed grooves. ” Professor Angus also alerted the author to the work of Dr Hans Fery, who kindly provided another record of Dytiscus mutinensis from Corfu taken near Ag. Matheos in 1974 (Hans Fery, pers. comm., 26.iv.12). (Professor Angus’s paper on the water beetles of Corfu, which will include the records of Dr Fery and other workers, will be published in Latissimus - Newsletter of the Balfour-Browne Club , in due course.) A recent communication with Dr Lars Hendrich (pers. comm., 30.iv.12) added one final twist to this tale: u I have seen the two photos you have sent to Hans. The female on one photo shows reduced striae and could belong to mutinensis, too. The true mutinensis is smaller and more elongate than dimidiatus and all females are without striae. There are also some differences in the colour of the ventral side. On the other hand I have studied a series of “dimidiatus (??) ” from the Camargue and all females have the same elytra as your female from Corfu. We have true mutinensis from Peloponnese in alcohol and want to extract the DNA quite soon. There are a lot of COX 1 sequences from dimidiatus from Central Europe in Genbank or better in the lab of Johannes Bergsten and by comparing them I hope we will find something. Probably mutinensis is just a mediterranean subspecies o/’dimidiatus and in the intermediate zone you have mixed populations. The ones from Peloponnese (10 specimens, by Hans and me) and the one from Italy sent to me by Pederzani are easy to separate from the numerous dimidiatus / have from Germany and Austria. ” It is therefore likely that confirming the justification for separating Dytiscus mutinensis from Dytiscus dimidiatus will only be resolved by an appropriate DNA study. Acknowledgements Sincere thanks to Prof. Garth Foster, Prof. Robert Angus, Dr Hans Fery and Dr Lars Hendrich, without whom this paper would not have been possible. References Denton, J., (2007). Water Bugs and Water Beetles of Surrey. Surrey Wildlife Trust, Pirbright, Surrey. 200 pp., 32 colour plates, distribution maps. Ermesambiente website: http://ermesambiente.it/wcm/parchi/pagine/fauna_minore/Insetti/ Coleoptera/ dytiscidae 62 Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society Franciscolo, M.E., (1979). Fauna dltalia, 14. Coleoptera: Haliplidae, Hygrobiidae, Gyrinidae, Dytiscidae. Ed. Calderini, Bologna, vi + 804 pp. Nilsson, A.N., Cybister (Scaphinectes) lateralimarginalis (De Geer, 1774), Cybister (Cybister) tripunctatus (Olivier, 1795), Cybister (Melanectes) vulneratus Klug, 1834, Cybister (Cybister) senegalensis Aube, 1838, accessed through Fauna Europaea at: http://www.faunaeur.org (30.X.201 1) Pederzani, F., (1971). 11 Dytiscus dimidiatus Bergstr. var. mutinensis Fiori elevato al rango de specie. Bolletino della Societa Entomologica Italiana , 103: 219-224. Reintjes, N., (2004). Taxonomy, faunistics and life-history traits of Dytiscidae and Noteridae (Coleoptera) in a West African savannah, Dissertation zur Erlangung des naturwissenschaftlichen Doktorgrades der Bayerischen Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg. 1-127 pp. Ribera, I, Bilton, D.T., Aguilera, P. and Foster, G.N., (1996). A North-African-European transition fauna: water beetles (Coleoptera) from the Ebro delta and other Mediterranean coastal wetlands in the Iberian Peninsula. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems , 6: 121-140. Ribera, I., Ribera, H. and Hansen, M., Hydrophilus (Hydrophilus) piceus, (Linnaeus, 1758), Hydrophilus (Hydrophilus) aterrimus Eschscholtz, 1822, Hydrophilus (Hydrophilus) pistaceus Laporte de Castelnau, 1840, accessed through Fauna Europaea at: http://www.faunaeur.org (05.iv.2012) Roughley, R., (1990). A systematic revision of species of Dytiscus Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Part 1. Classification based on adult stage. Quaestiones Entomologicae, 26: 383-557. Stephanides, T., (1939). A survey of the freshwater biology of Corfu and of certain other regions of Greece, Christou, Athens. Sutton, P.G., (2008). The Larger Water Beetles of the British Isles, The Amateur Entomologists’ Society, Orpington, England, pp. 1-78, 5 colour plates, 31 text figures, 10 distribution maps. Sutton, P.G., (2009). A selection of beetles (Coleoptera) from the island of Corfu (Kerkira), Bull. Amat. Ent. Soc., 68, No. 485, pp. 145-151. Temunovi , M. and Seri Jelaska, L., (2009). First record of diving beetle Cybister tripunctatus africanus Laporte, 1835 in the Croatian Hydradephagan fauna, in: Communications and abstracts, Soldan T. et al., Biological Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Entomology. 85 (ISBN: 978-80-7394-167-3). M Volume 71 • April 2012 63 A revised checklist of the butterflies (Rhopalocera) of Corfu (Kerkira) by Dr Peter G. Sutton (7388) petersutton @freeuk. com Introduction Since the publication of a checklist for the butterflies (Rhopalocera) of Corfu, (Sutton, 2009) a number of significant changes have been made to that list. This process has been aided by the recent publication of several books, which have provided confirmation of the status of certain species in the Mediterranean region of Europe: Pamperis, L.N., (2009); Kudrna et al. (2011); Tshikolovets, (2011). The tabulated checklist provides details of sightings from a number of recent recorders and changes made to the previous list are explained below. Table 1. A revised checklist of the butterflies of Corfu (Kerkira) Date Key: Baldock & Bretherton: 1980-81; Parker: 1995-2008; Hall/Russell/Mandziejewicz: 2003-4; Vrabec: 2001-2002; Sutton: 2001-12 N H .a § H £ £ .« 3 * o o u 3 Danaidae Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus, 1758) Nymphalidae Two-tailed Pasha Charaxes jasius (Linnaeus, 1767) Southern White Admiral Limenitis reducta (Staudinger, 1901) >/ Camberwell Beauty Nymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758) ■/ Large Tortoiseshell Nymphalis polychloros (Linnaeus, 1758) •/ Peacock Butterfly Inachis io (Linnaeus, 1758) / Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758) V Painted Lady Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus, 1758) V Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) Comma Butterfly Polygonum c-a,lbum (Linnaeus, 1758) V Southern Comma Polygonum egea (Cramer, [1775]) •/ Cardinal Argynnis pandora ([Denis and Schiffelmiiller], 1775) >/ Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia (Linnaeus, 1758) V Queen of Spain Fritillary Issoria lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758) Glanville Fritillary Melitaea cinxia (Linnaeus, 1758) V Knapweed Fritillary Melitaea phoebe ([Denis and Schiffelmuller], 1775) Spotted Fritillary Melitaea didyma (Esper, 1778) V Satyridae Balkan Marbled White Melanargia larissa (Geyer, [1828]) Eastern Rock Grayling Hipparchia syriaca (Staudinger, 1871) Woodland Grayling Hipparchia fagi (Scopoli, 1763) Delattin’s Grayling Hipparchia volgensis (Mazochin-Porshnjakov, 1952) Tree Grayling Neohipparchia statilinus (Hufnagel, 1766) V Great Banded Grayling Kanetisa (Brintesia) circe (Fabricius, 1775) Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) ■/ Oriental Meadow Brown Hyponephele lupina (Costa, 1836) Southern Gatekeeper Pyronia cecilia (Vallantin, 1894) Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758) V Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria (Linnaeus, 1758) V S V V V y / V V V V V V N \ y 13 £ $ .if 3 Jg «S Oh y y y y y y y y y ac % y y y s a I o