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Bark Treerunner Dromius meridionalis


I think this was found by searching the same tree trunks by torchlight where I usually find Dromius quadrimaculatus.

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Bark Treerunner Dromius meridionalis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 1st March 2019


This one came to light in my garden.

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Bark Treerunner Dromius meridionalis showing close-up of head wrinkles, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 10th June 2023


This one came to light in the middle of an arable field. The marginal bead at the base of the pronotum is not easy to see (one of the characters used in the Hackston key to differentiate Dromius from Paradromius). Hackston does provide other characters (and Duff just uses the proportions of the elytra) but if you do go wrong here you end up at Paradromius linearis. That species has short wings and I don't think it has the furrows on the head, at least to the same extent.

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Bark Treerunner Dromius meridionalis showing pronotum base, elytra and head, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 21st August 2023