Anthocomus fasciatus

Another mostly damp and grey day, but with a spell of warm sunshine around lunchtime. I made the most of this by looking at more tiny things in the garden - from a patch of Common Liverwort in a neglected plant pot to two rather smart Anthocomus fasciatus beetles feeding on Hogweed. I've not seen this species in our garden before, though apparently Pete recorded it once in 2017.


Anthocomus fasciatus is a very local species of southern and central England and Wales north to the Humber. The beetles occur in a range of mostly dry situations such as parkland, grassland, gardens and woodland and hedgerow margins, appearing from early May and persisting into July or August. Adults are polyphagous and generally occur in small numbers. They may be found on a range of flowers, especially umbels where they feed on pollen and predate small insects and mites. The distinctive reddish bands on the elytra make them relatively easy to identify.


In other news, I finally finished tweaking the lectures that I'm presenting to students on the M.Sc. course in Conservation at Leeds Uni next week and sent those off. I'm really not sure how they're going to work out, as I normally like to interact with the students, but I can only do my best in the current difficult circumstances!