Pitfall trapping of scarce Orthoptera at a coastal nature reserve in Essex, UK

The value of pitfall trapping was questioned in a recent review of methods for sampling Orthoptera in grassland ecosystems. However, subsequent to the publication of this review, interesting data has become available from pitfall trapping at Colne Point, an important coastal nature reserve in Essex, UK. As a result of this trapping, the nationally scarce and Essex Red Data List species, Platycleis albopunctata, was rediscovered in the county. This tettigoniid was believed to be extinct in Essex as previous visual searches for the insect at Colne Point had failed to locate it. Large numbers of the Essex Red Data List species, Myrmeleotettix maculatus, were also captured, as were specimens of the nationally scarce cockroach, Ectobius panzeri (Dictyoptera). Systematic pitfall trapping at Colne Point was therefore pivotal in recording scarce species such as P. albopunctata which had proved difficult to locate by visual searching methods.