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| 1 | 2 |  » Stats |
Members: 50,144
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06-06-2006, 04:44 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London
Posts: 3,607
| | | Is this Silpha atrata??
Photographed at Maiden Castle, Dorset. Matches pictures of Silpha atrata in my books but habitat doesn't seem to match. This was on dry calcareous, sheep-grazed grassland when it is supposed to live in damp, shady places.
Thanks for any help  |
06-06-2006, 04:55 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Crawley,Sussex
Posts: 943
| | | Re: Is this Silpha atrata??
Quote: |
Originally Posted by Tiggrx Photographed at Maiden Castle, Dorset. Matches pictures of Silpha atrata in my books but habitat doesn't seem to match. This was on dry calcareous, sheep-grazed grassland when it is supposed to live in damp, shady places.
Thanks for any help |
From googled images it certainly looks right. |
06-06-2006, 10:28 PM
|  | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sheffield, FPRSY
Posts: 7,655
| | | Re: Is this Silpha atrata??
There are quite a lot of similar silphids - too late to think now but since this is quite a detaled photo I'll look through it tomorrow. Shouldn't worry too much about habitat in the widest sense: in my experience silphids tend to be determined by *microhabitat* - local shade, dung &c. Quote: |
Originally Posted by Tiggrx Photographed at Maiden Castle, Dorset. Matches pictures of Silpha atrata in my books but habitat doesn't seem to match. This was on dry calcareous, sheep-grazed grassland when it is supposed to live in damp, shady places.
Thanks for any help | |
07-06-2006, 11:57 AM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sheffield, FPRSY
Posts: 7,655
| | | Re: Is this Silpha atrata??
It doesn't look right for S. atrata - that has longitudinal striations and a flat front to the forebody. Not easy to say without examination but my best bet is Ablattaria laevigata - http://www.insektenbox.de/kaefer/ablaev.htm This is said to be a local species found at roots of grass &c.. |
07-06-2006, 04:11 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: London
Posts: 3,607
| | | Re: Is this Silpha atrata??
Thanks for your help Paul. I may just label the photo as "Silphid" to be safe |
07-06-2006, 05:16 PM
| | Knight Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Sheffield, FPRSY
Posts: 7,655
| | | Re: Is this Silpha atrata??
That's certainly the safest way to deal with photographic "ids" but I'm now fairly confident it's Ablattaria. One way to deal with these things is to say e.g. silphid possibly .... then someone who is an expert on the family may mail you and say, 'It's obviously so-and-so ....'
You have a good area for beetles so don't be surprised if you get some 'rarities'. Cheers, Paul Quote: |
Originally Posted by Tiggrx Thanks for your help Paul. I may just label the photo as "Silphid" to be safe | | | |
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