The drifter that came in from the cold: First record of Sthereus ptinoides in Europe (Poster)

The weevil species Sthereus ptinoides (E.F.Germar, 1823) (“rekatrantur” in Faroese) is a new record for the Faroe Islands as well as Europe. It was recently identified based on specimens in the insect collection of the Faroe Islands National Museum. 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. Shortly after the Faroese specimens were identified, the species was found in Hvalfjarðareyri, Iceland as well.