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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 59
HEMIPTERA RECORDER’S REPORT ADRIAN KNOWLES I took over the role of Hemiptera recorder for the Society late in 2021, following the death of Nigel Cuming. Preceding this, Nigel had been helping me to become familiar with the group and I hope to be able to build on his recording activity in the coming years. It should be noted that my ‘job title’ ought to read “Terrestrial Hemiptera Recorder” since the many aquatic species still fall under the remit of our aquatic invertebrate recorder, Adrian Chalkley. It has to be said that whilst Nigel was an avid field surveyor and preserver of immaculate carded specimens, he was less than enthusiastic about computerising his records so capturing much of his data will be the focus of the immediate future. He was also rather shy when it came to publishing his findings. A good deal of his collection covered north-east Essex, so on his death his private collection, including Suffolk material, was kindly donated to the Essex Field Club by his widow Marion. A volunteer with the Club, Yvonne Couch, is currently working through his collection to capture record data and I am in possession of his field notebooks which also hold a wealth of information. Yvonne recently sent me her first batch of data, covering the ‘Heteroptera’ suborder so I thought it timely to review some of the significant species within this dataset. In 2007, Nigel discovered the ground bug (family Lygaeidae) Nysius huttoni new to Britain (Cuming 2008). It is actually native to New Zealand but has been spreading around the world through commercial trade routes. How it came to be in the RSPB’s North Warren Nature reserve will remain a mystery but entry to this country via the ports of Felixstowe or Harwich is possible. There are a number of garden centres not too far from North Warren, so importation via potted plants is a possibility. Of course, the point of discovery may bear no relation to its origination and spread in the country. In New Zealand, it is called the Wheat Bug and can be a serious crop pest. However, at present it is most likely to be found in this country in sparsely vegetated, sandy brownfield sites, coastal dunes and heathland. It is spreading rapidly and has already been recorded in Wales, Yorkshire and the south-west. Nigel’s collection includes numerous specimens of Megalonotus spp. lygaeid bugs but two of these are M. sabulicola. This is a rather scarce species of sandy, often coastal, habitats in southern England, where it is usually found amongst Common Stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium). Nigel’s records come from Sizewell and Minsmere, the latter site being a place where he spent a great deal of time. Scanning through the spreadsheet, another name that stands out is another lygaeid: Peritrechus convivus. Although recorded from Europe and North America, there appear to be few British records, as far as I can ascertain. The family Berytidae includes several ‘stilt bugs’, rather like miniature stick insects at only 5–10mm long. Although several species are included in his collection, it appears that Nigel was not able to obtain specimens of two that I found at the Center Parcs holiday village in 2020. One of these, Berytinus hirticornis, used to be a great
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 59 (2023)