Úrtak
Klukkan Elodes pseudominuta er skrásett fyri fyrstu
ferð í Føroyum. Helst er tað so, at skrásetingar í Føroy-
um av klukkuni Elodes minuta av røttum áttu at verið
E. pseudominuta
Abstract
The Marsh Beetle Elodes pseudominuta, has been
recorded for the first time in the Faroes. It is likely that
previous records of Elodes minuta from the Faroes have
been based on E. pseudominuta.
Elodes minuta
Foster and Hansen reviewed wetland
Coleoptera from the Faroes in 2004 (Foster
and Hansen, 2004). It was noted that Elodes
minuta (Linnaeus, 1767) had been noted
several times from the Faroes: Hansen (1881)
noted Helodes minuta, mainly collected in
1863-1868 by Dr A. Bergh. Mjöberg (1917)
recorded four specimens from Trongisvágur,
Suðuroy, in 1915, and one individual in Hest-
ur in 1902. West (1930) noted occurrence in
streams on Suðuroy and Streymoy, possibly
mainly as larvae, though this is not entirely
clear.
Elodes pseudominuta
An Elodes larva was found in an exposed
grassy ditch in Klovin, Vágar on 7 June 2004,
but being a larva it could not be identified,
and rearing it to the adult stage failed. An
adult Elodes was found in a spring at Dysjar,
Vágar in 2004; unfortunately it was not iden-
tifiable to species with certainty, being fe-
male. An adult male Elodes was found at
Middalur, Viðoy on 25 June 2008 by JH, and
it was identified by GNF using photographs
of the genitalia as Elodes pseudominuta
Klausnitzer, 1917. Another adult male of
pseudominutawas recorded from Kaldbaks-
fjørður, Streymoy on 30 June 2009. Klaus-
nitzer (2009) records E. pseudominuta from
Austria, Belarus, Belgium, the Czech Repub-
lic, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hun-
gary, Italy, Latvia, Luxemburg, the Nether-
lands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain,
Switzerland, and Turkey. It is also known
Elodes pseudominuta (Coleoptera:
Scirtidae) in the Faroe Islands
Elodes pseudominuta (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) í Føroyum
Janus Hansen1 and Garth N. Foster2
1 Faroese Museum of Natural History, FO-100 Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. Email: janush@ngs.fo
2 The Aquatic Coleoptera Conservation Trust, 3 Eglinton Terrace, Ayr KA7 1JJ, Scotland, UK.
Email: latissimus@btinternet.com
Fróðskaparrit 57. bók 2009: 113-114

from the Republic of Ireland (Foster et al.
2009). The distribution is poorly known in
the British Isles but it seems likely that E.
pseudominuta has a more northerly distri-
bution than other Elodes species. For exam-
ple there are records of pseudominuta from
the islands of Raasay, Rum, Shetland and St.
Kilda, whereas there are no reliable records
from Scottish islands for the other Elodes
species.
References
Foster, G.N. and Hansen, J. 2004. Wetland
Coleoptera of the Faroe Islands. Fróðskaparrit 52:
42-53.
Foster, G.N., Nelson, B.H. and O Connor, Á. 2009.
Ireland Red List No. 1. Water Beetles. Dublin:
National Parks & Wildlife, Department of Envi-
ronment, Heritage & Local Government.
Hansen, M.J. 1881. Faunula Insectorum Faeroeensis.
Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift 13 (3): 229-250.
Klausnitzer, B. 2009. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scirtidae.
Süßwasserfauna von Mitteleuropa 20/17. Stutt-
gart: Gustav Fischer.
Mjöberg, E. 1917. Die Käferfauna der Färöer. Arkiv
för Zoologi, Uppsala 10 (27): 1-21.
West, A. 1930. Coleoptera. in: Jensen, A.S., Lund-
beck, W., Mortensen, T., and Spärk, R. (eds). The
Zoology of the Faroes, Volume II, (I) Copenhagen,
A.F. Høst and Son. pp. 1-92.
Fig. 2. Elodes pseudominuta identification feature
Fig. 1. Elodes pseudominuta
114 ELODES PSEUDOMINUTA IN THE FAROE ISLANDS