Enicmus transversus (Olivier, 1790)

Widespread and generally common across the Palaearctic region and extending into tropical Africa and the Oriental region, this species occurs throughout Europe and North Africa and is present on most of the Mediterranean and Atlantic islands, to the north it reaches the UK and extends above the Arctic Circle in Fennoscandia. In the UK it is common across southern and central England and Wales, less so in Northern England, and very sporadic and rare in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Adults are present year-round, peaking in spring and summer but often common and remaining active through the winter. The species occurs in a wide range of habitats including deciduous and coniferous woodland, wooded parkland, damp grassland, coastal dunes and beaches, it often occurs in disturbed habitats such as wasteland and domestic gardens and is often synanthropic, occurring among decaying organic matter in stables and outhouses etc. Adults have been recorded from debris under bark on decaying deciduous and coniferous trees, usually in the vicinity of fungal infections, among decaying vegetation in almost any situation, and, on the continent, from ant (Formica L.) and bird nests. Typical of the family, both adults and larvae feed on fungal spores and mycelia in damp situations and breeding probably continues through the milder months. Adults are crepuscular and nocturnal, they may be found on the surface of trunks and fallen timber, especially where fungi are present, they are fully-winged and occur in flight-interception traps but not, it seems, at light or sap. Sieving decaying vegetation or taking samples for extraction are the best ways to find adults but they usually occur in small numbers and sometimes along with similar species and so will need to be looked for very carefully.