BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: 1994 



THE MELIGETHES (COLEOPTERA: NITIDUIJDAE) 

 OF MONTGOMERYSHIRE (VICE-COUNTY 47) 



A. H. Kirk-Spriggs 



Department of Zoology, National Museum of Wales, Cat hays Park, Cardiff, CFI 3NP, Wales. 



Introduction 



The genus Meligethes Steph. has adults and larvae which develop in flowers, feeding 

 on pollen as well as developing buds. Many of the species exhibit a high degree of 

 species specificity in larval host-plants, although this is often less marked, notably 

 in M. aeneus (F.) and M. viridescens (F.), which are both serious pests of cultivated 

 oilseed rape and other yellow Brassicaceae. The genus is represented in Britain by 

 thirty-four extant species (Kirk-Spriggs, in press), which utilize the botanical families 

 Cistaceae, Rosaceae, Campanulaceae, Brassicaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae and 

 Boraginaceae as larval host-plants. Other flowering plants are often fed upon by adults 

 before and after the flowering period of the larval host-plant (see Kirk-Spriggs, 1992), 

 which explains why some species can be collected from a wide range of plants. 



The genus is very poorly recorded in Wales. After an extensive search of 

 the entomological literature I have only been able to trace one record from 

 Montgomery: M. aeneus (F.), Lake Vyrnwy, [23/9821], (Ansorge, 1966: 70). The 

 late Dr A. M. Easton made several trips to the vice-county during the 1960s and his 

 detailed notebooks give full data on species and localities. I have included his 

 unpublished records in this paper (indicated by his initials A. M. E.). 



The nomenclature of the British species has changed considerably since the 

 publication of the check-list of British Coleoptera (Kloet & Hincks, 1977); the names 

 used here are according to Bacchus & Kirk-Spriggs (1991). I have also used the name 

 Meligethes persicus Falderman, 1837, which is the new name for the species formerly 

 known as M. pedicularius (Gyll., 1808) nee auctt. (Audisio, in press; Kirk-Spriggs, 

 in press). The national conservation statuses given are those revised by Hyman & 

 Parsons, in press. 



I have made two collecting trips to the vice-county, in 1990 as part of the 

 Coleoptera recording weekend organized by Roger Key (Joint Nature Conservation 

 Committee, Peterborough), and in 1991 with Adrian Plant who was recording 

 Empididae (Diptera). 



The object of this paper is to give detailed records of the genus from this much 

 under-collected county, in the hope that it will provide base-line data for future 

 recorders, and perhaps help to spark interest in the group. 



Species and localities 

 Meligethes atratus (Olivier, 1790) 



Very common, on Rosa spp. In Wales also occurring in Monmouth, Glamorgan, 

 Brecon, Radnor, Cardigan, Merioneth, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint and Anglesey. 

 Our largest British species. 



Material examined: 1 Nelly Andrews Green, 33/2609, 3.i.\.1961, Centaurea 

 nigra L., (A. M. E.); 2 Long Mountain, 33/2808, 14. vi. 1964, general sweeping. 

 (A. M. E.); 2 Llanymynech Hill SSSI, TNR, 33/262216, 30.viii. 1964, Succisa pratensis 

 Moench, (A. M. E.); 1 male & 1 female Llanymynech Hill SSSI, TNR, 33 262216. 

 9.vi.l990, Rosa sp., (A. H. K.-S.); 1 male & 1 female same data in copula. 



