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Trachys minuta L, (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a jewel beetle new to Essex
NIGEL CUMING
33 Holly Road, Colchester C03 SQL
Several examples of this 3mm long, bullet-shaped jewel beetle were found on leaves of coppiced
Small-leaved Lime Tilia cordata at the Marks Hall Estate, Coggeshall (TL 840255) on 1 .xi. 1996.
Peter Hammond, the Essex Field Club's Coleoptera Recorder, informs me (in litt.) that this seems to
be the first record of the beetle in Essex.
Subsequent visits to the estate have yielded further individuals, the occasional example being found
on Bramble Rubus fruticosus agg., presumably adventitiously as the beetles fly readily in bright
sunshine. Searches for overwintering adults in moss at the base of coppice stools have so far proved
unsuccessful. The author would welcome further observations.
Pissodes castaneus (DeGeer) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a weevil new to
Essex
NIGEL CUMING
33 Holly Road, Colchester C03 5QL
An example of Pissodes castaneus (Banded Pine Weevil) was beaten from Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris
at Marks Hall Estate, Coggeshall (TL 841259) on 23.vi. 1999. The weevil, which is about 6mm long, is
chestnut-brown in colour, with two transverse bands of yellowish scales on the elytra.
Peter Hammond, the Essex Field Club's Coleoptera Recorder, informs me (in litt.) that this would
seem to be a new record for the county.
Pine-associated species have apparently been very little recorded in Essex, and are worth looking
out for anywhere that the tree grows.
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)