Britain's smallest ladybird Clitosthetus arcuatus (Rossi) having a
good year? A test for the eyesight of Essex naturalists
Paul Mabbott 49 Endowood Road, Sheffield S7 2LY. paulmabbott@blueyonder.co.uk
We are all familiar with the larger members of the beetle family Coccinellidae but there
are many small and atypical species which may not be easily recognised as ladybirds.
The smallest of these is Clitosthetus arcuatus (see plates 3 and 4). It measures only 1.2
to 1.6mms in length but has a very distinctive elytral pattern.
It has been known in Britain since 1872 but rarely recorded until the early 1990s when
individuals started to be found regularly, especially in Surrey. To my knowledge there is
only one Essex record. This year Ian Menzies, who has occasionally found one or two
in north Surrey, has started finding three or more in most beats of ivy foliage. Harry
Kenward found not only his first specimen in fifty years of collection but 'considerable
numbers' when beating honeysuckle in York, in 2004. Quite possibly climatic change
has encouraged the proliferation of the species. It will be interesting to know if the
species is becoming common in Essex.
As suggested above, the animal is most often found by beating climbers especially large
ivy growths around oak trees. Other atypical ladybirds are also found in such situations.
One of these, Nephus quadrimaculatus, appeared in numbers at the same time as C.
arcuatus but fairly rapidly spread and became numerous over a wide part of SE England.
C. arcuatus is small, dark brown and has a distinctive, pale horseshoe pattern although
this is variable: the darkness of the elytra may fade to leave a dark central blotch under
the 'horseshoe'. I would be happy to receive records, photographs or specimens, as
would your more local coleopterists!
Deer/vehicle collisions in Essex
M.W. Hanson 3 Church Cottages, Church Road, Boreham, Essex CM3 3EG
Reading Stephen Wilkinson's article on deer watching in Essex (Newsletter No.45 Sept.04
p. 13) I was reminded of the prevalence of deer in the Essex landscape. As the article
suggests. Fallow deer have probably never been as common as they are now and they
can increasingly be seen in very large herds in the county, a hundred head or more
appears to be quite usual. The smaller solitary Muntjac is also a fairly common beast
nowadays. It is thought the UK deer population numbers over a million head making it
probably the largest deer park in Western Europe!!
One result of this has been a dramatic increase in the number of deer involved in collisions
with vehicles. 1 have witnessed the aftermath of two of these in the Writtle /Highwood
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 47, May 2005 19