Beetles on Gorse and Broom

Sampling beetles from these plants has many advantages for the beginner; firstly the plants are readily recognized and usually obvious even at a distance, secondly they are common and widespread and will soon be encountered in the field, and lastly the beetle fauna tends to be restricted to these plants, meaning identification is usually straightforward. Having said that the fauna is rather small but this has its own advantages in that the beginner will usually have not encountered the species elsewhere and that some of them, e.g. the Scolytids, provide a readily identifiable introduction to an otherwise difficult group of beetles. Gorse is an evergreen shrub that grows in thickets up to 2m tall and may flower continually through the year, it is generally impenetrable because of the dense growth and rigid sharp spines which cover the branches but it is usually easy to insert a beating tray or sheet under the branches or to sweep the softer foliage with a net. There are three species of gorse in the UK; Common Gorse, Ulex europeus, occurs throughout, is generally common everywhere and is the classic Gorse that forms thick impenetrable growths, Western Gorse or Dwarf Furze, U. gallii, occurs throughout the west of England, Wales and Scotland, being rare elsewhere except around the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk, it usually grows to around 50 cm. Dwarf Gorse, U. minor,  which grows to about 30 cm and often