Extremely rare species of beetle found in Eastern Finland

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A group from Metsähallitus, a state enterprise that administers more than 12 million hectares of state-owned land and water areas in Finland, has discovered an extremely rare species of beetle in the national park of Linnasaari in the eastern municipality of Rantasalmi.
      This species, (Aulonothroscus laticollis), is an c. 4mm long dark beetle which is very little known. It was previously seen in Finland 142 years ago.
     
Researchers assume that the insect lives in hollow trees and feeds on the mycelium of fungi exploiting the leaf and twig litter of trees.
      A dozen or so specimens of the insect were found with the help of window traps placed on the trunks of hollow aspens, reported biologist Jaakko Mattila from Metsähallitus.
     
In the course of the summer, an exceptional number of other endangered species of forest beetles were also found in the national park of Linnasaari, which is a sign of the area’s great value when it comes to the conservation of the species in old deciduous forests, Mattila reported.
      The Aulonothroscus laticollis is rare also in international terms. Only a few observations of the dark beetle have been made in Poland, Croatia, France, Sweden, and in Russian Karelia.


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Helsingin Sanomat