Platycis minutus
Length 5 to 8 mm. The elytra are red or orangey-red with strongly raised longitudinal lines. The head, pronotum and legs are all black but the antennae have pale tips in this species.
Similar to Pyropterus nigroruber, but that species does not have pale tipped antennae.
It is said the species seems to prefer well-vegetated and shaded areas on lowland chalk and limestone sites where it is associated with Beech and Birch.
All year round, but peak time seems to be May to September. All four VC55 records up to the end of 2014 were recorded in August or September.
Larvae develop in dead wood, feeding on micro-organisms in fluids, they may also be predatory.
Quite scarce, but widely distributed throughout England and Wales south of the Wash, scattered records from mid and north Yorkshire and absent from the west country and western Wales.
Scarce in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were only 6 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.
Adrian Russell
Gorse Close
26 August 2014
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Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
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Species profile
- Species group:
- Beetles
- Kingdom:
- Animalia
- Order:
- Coleoptera
- Family:
- Lycidae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 1
- First record:
- 26/08/2014 (Russell, Adrian)
- Last record:
- 26/08/2014 (Russell, Adrian)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
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