The drifter that came in from the cold: First record of Sthereus ptinoides in Europe
The weevil Sthereus ptinoides lives on driftwood. Photo: Björn Hjaltason
Yet another exciting new insect record for the Faroes: The weevil species Sthereus ptinoides (E.F.Germar, 1823) (“rekatrantur” in Faroese) has been identified based on specimens in the insect collection of the Faroe Islands National Museum. This also represents the first record of this species in Europe.
Sthereus ptinoides is a Holarctic species with its main distribution on both the Asian and American shores of the North Pacific, e.g, the Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka and Sakhalin Island. The beetles have a very unusual ecology, as they live in and feed on driftwood in the tidal zone which has been softened by long or frequent submergence in sea water. The three specimens found in the Faroes must have originated from driftwood sources in Siberia and had a long jorney before they were washed ashore in the Faroes.
The full story of the beetle’s discovery has now been published on Fróðskaparit. It is publicly available here: https://ojs.setur.fo/index.php/frit/article/view/908
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