Wrinkled Driftliner Pogonus littoralis

I certainly didn't expect to find this Nationally Scarce coastal species in my garden moth trap about 16 miles inland. But it's actually the third coastal species of beetle that I've found here (following Bledius bicornis in 2019 and Dicheirotrichus obsoletus in 2023). I've also caught quite a few coastal moths here, some of which are well-known for wandering inland, so I suppose it isn't all that surprising that some beetles wander as well. On this occasion there was little wind, and it was south-westerly, so presumably it wasn't blown here by the wind.

I keyed this one out using both Duff and Hackston, and also checked it against the PDF guide by John Walters and Mark Telfer. There were some difference these references with regard to which features to check but whichever reference I used it clearly and easily led to Pogonus littoralis.

At first I had some difficulty seeing the setae on the mandibles (not least because it was quite mucky and one mandible had closed tightly) but after cleaning it up a bit and forcing the closed mandible open I was able to find this on both sides (it's just below the ridge extending forward from the base of the mandible, and behind the end of this ridge). The detail of the pronotum and elytra secured the ID as littoralis rather than the commoner Pogonus chalceus.

The green sheen wasn't particularly obvious in life (in fact I don't think I even noticed it, although I can see it in the photos) but under the microscope it was obvious along the sides of the elytra, the centre of the neck in front of the scutellum and underneath on the basal sternites.

Wrinkled Driftlier Pogonus littoralis showing mandible, pronotum (3 views) and elytra (4 views), North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 14th August 2025