Rödlistad skalbagge i granstubbar: nya landskapsfynd av Leptoplectus spinolae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

The pselaphine Leptoplectus spinolae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) is redlisted (VU) in Sweden with only three previous records from the country, all from an hot spot area in SE Sweden. Here we report records from three clearcuts in central Sweden in 2013, two of them near Laxå (province: Närke) and one near Finspång (Östergötland), 2 or 3.5 years old (time since final felling). We found five individuals using bark sieving of Norway spruce stumps Picea abies. This represent the first observations of this species in these two provinces. Our finds confirm L. spinolae as a saproxylic or facultative saproxylic. It is noteworthy that we found this red listed species in such a common substrate as Norway spruce stumps. All the sites where we found L. spinolae were situated close to nature reserves rich in dead wood. Our finds, together with further finds in 2015 by other collectors, indicate that the species might be less rare than previously thought.