Species Account for Henestaris halophilus
Henestaris halophilus (Burmeister, 1835)
Heteroptera: Lygaeidae
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National status: RDB2
Essex RDB: Listed
Additional Phenology Data
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Taxonomic group: true bugs (Heteroptera) - Part county data
see British Bugs website
Essex Red Data List comment
National trend: Probably decline
Species text
This species is found on the ground beneath sea purslane Atriplex portaculoides in sheltered areas of upper saltmarsh. H. halophilus is known chiefly from the Kent side of the Thames Estuary, but has also been recorded from St Osyth (specimens in the Harwood collection in the British Museum, S. Judd pers. comm.) and Colchester (specimens in the Newbury collection at Cambridge University Zoological Department Museum). These may refer to the same collecting site. It seems likely, also, that published records of H. laticeps from Essex (Jennings 1898, Harwood 1903) also refer to halophilus. In Kent, it is known to occur in very small, and apparently rather undistinguished, areas of upper saltmarsh. At Colne Point it was discovered after a period of 100 years during the 2004 survey in large numbers on May 17th on the ground at the junction of saltmarsh and sandy habitats at both near the car park and over the bridge between the warden's hut and Jetty Ridge. None were collected in pitfall traps and only a single additional specimen was swept from low saltmarsh vegetation on 9th September (Harvey, 2004). References
Habitats
Recorded management for locations with Henestaris halophilus
Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Henestaris halophilus
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