A Second Irish Locality for the Dark Bush Cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera (De Geer)(Orthoptera)Author(s): David CookeSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1/2 (1998), pp. 56-57Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25536183 .

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Ir. Nat. J. Volume 26 No. 1/2 1998

present. In southern Europe, the larval food-plants are greater periwinkle Vlnca major, lesser

periwinkle Vinca minor, oleander Nerium oleander and grape-vine Vitis vinifera. However, larvae have never been found in the British Isles (Gilchrist 1979 op. cit).

There are surprisingly few Irish records of D. nerii. The author has only been able to trace four previous occurrences, all pre-1960. Two specimens were taken in Co Dublin viz.

Donabate (17 September 1953)-and Sandymount (September 1944). A third individual was

captured in Carlow Town (18 September 1953) and a fourth in Belfast (3 September 1954) (Baynes, E, S. A. 1964 A revised catalogue of Irish macrolepidoptera (butterflies and moths).

Classey Middlesex)).

The specimen has been presented to the National Museum of Ireland (N.M.I. 48:

1997).

Acknowledgements The author is indebted to Ms Tanham for contacting him concerning the specimen, for

presenting it to the Museum and for her detailed notes on her discovery. He is also grateful to Mr K. G. M. Bond for his helpful assistance with this note.

J. P. O'Connor

National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 2

Second Irish sites for Abdera flexuosa (Paykull) and Enicmus testaceus Joy & Tomlin (Coleoptera: Melandryidae and

Latridiidae) in Fermanagh Abdera flexuosa (Paykull) was added to the Irish List by Alexander, K. N. A. & Foster,

H. P. (1995 Ir. Nat. J. 25: 27-28) from Inonotus dryadeus (Pers. ex Fr.) Murr. bracket fungus on oak at Crom Castle, Co Fermanagh. This species is widespread but local in Britain on Inonotus radiatus (Sow. ex Fr.) Karst. usually on alder Alnus or willow Sai/x in wet situations.

While examining a fallen, diseased sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus L. at Molly Mountain

(H233282), Co Fermanagh, on 23 June 1995, I retrieved two specimens of A. flexuosa from Inonotus radiatus brackets. This record is interesting because sycamore is an unusual host for Inonotus radiatus, and also the site is open, not particularly wet, pastureland rather than

woodland. Molly Mountain is about 12km north-west of Crom Castle.

With Abdera was a single specimen of the latridiid Enicmus testaceus Joy & Tomlin. This species was added to the Irish List by Lott, D. A. & Bilton, D. T (1991 Bull. Ir. biogeog. Soc. 14: 60-72) from a lakeshore at Lough Gash, Co Clare. The authors remarked that the habitat was atypical for the species which is usually found at powder fungus on trees in areas of old woodland. It is very local in Britain and predominantly southern in distribution.

Roy Anderson

Department of Agricultural & Environmental Science, Queen's University, Belfast

A second Irish locality for the dark bush cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera (De Geer) (Orthoptera)

In September 1988, a large colony of dark bush crickets Pholidoptera griseoaptera (De Geer) was discovered at Minane Bridge, Co Cork (W7557). The species was recorded from Ringabelta estuary as far as Minane Bridge village approximately 1-6km inland to the

west and northwards for 0-8km on one side of a valley. The habitat consists of roadside verge, rough grassland, bramble and hedgerows. Many hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals

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Ir. Nat. J. Volume 26 No. 1/2 1998

were estimated to be present there at the time. Similar numbers were present in the area in 1997.

Pholidoptera griseoaptera was first discovered in Ireland in Co Waterford in 1983

(O'Connor, J. P. & O'Connor, M. A. 1985 Entomologists Gaz. 36: 229-232). This record was

repeated in Marshall, J. A. & Haes, E. C. M. (1988 Grasshoppers and allied insects of Great Britain and Ireland. Harley Books, Colchester) and in Haes, E. C. M. & Harding, P. T (1997 Atlas of grasshoppers, crickets and allied insects in Britain and Europe. Institute of Terrestrial

Ecology Research Publication No. 11. Stationery Office, London). In the British Isles, the

species is only common in the southern half of England and there is but one known in Scotland. P. griseoaptera is widely distributed in continental Europe.

A specimen has been deposited in the National Museum of Ireland.

Acknowledgement The author would like to thank Dr Don Cotton for his help in preparing this note and

Ken Bond of the National University of Ireland, Cork, for confirming the identification of P.

griseoaptera.

David Cooke

2 Eugene Drive, Grange, Douglas, Cork

Plant Records

Records of alien and casual plants in Ireland, 1996 and 1997

These records are a continuation of regular listings in the Irish Naturalists' Journal of alien and casual plants found in Ireland. The names, authorities and order of the plant records

given below follow Stace, C. (1997 New flora ofthe British Isles. Second edition. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge). Plants were found by SR unless otherwise stated. DBN =

specimens deposited in the Herbarium, National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. BEL =

Herbarium at the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

In 1996, a number of alien and casual plants were found again on Alexandra Quay at Dublin Port, 01834: Amaranthus retrofiexus, Apera spica-venti, Avena fatua, Bassia scoparia,

Chenopodium glaucum, Descurainia sophia, Echinochloa crus-gailii, Linum usitatissimum, Lolium multiflorum, Matricaria recutita, Secale cereale (which can be mistaken for Hordeum

vulgare, 4-row Barley), Setaria viridis, Thlaspi arvense and Triticum aestivum (which was also much more common on Irish roadsides in 1996 than in previous years). In contrast, in 1997, Dublin Port was very dull botanically.

Amaranthus albus L.

H21, Dublin, Dublin Port, 01834, 1 October 1996. One prostrate plant on Alexandra Quay East. DBN. First record for Co Dublin. Old records for Cos Kildare and Down; post 1987 records for Cos Limerick and Kilkenny.

Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Deer.

H14, Laois. Borris-in-Ossory, S28, 24 May 1997. Many young plants about 10cm tall with new

red-green leaves in several areas of recently sown grass on the outskirts and in the town. It is

likely that seeds of this species were introduced with the grass seed or soil. Despite mowing, some plants were still visible in grass verges on 19 August 1997.

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