Nemadus colonoides (Kraatz, 1851)

This Western Palaearctic species occurs in lowland regions across central and southern Europe from France to Ukraine and western Russia and extends north into southern Scandinavia and the UK, it is very local and generally rare over much of this range but especially so in northern regions. In the UK it is widespread and sometimes locally common in southeast England and the west midlands and there are a few records from the West Country and further north but so far it seems to be absent from Wales. Typical habitats are woodland and wooded parkland where it is associated with avian nests and debris in tree hollows etc, it has been recorded from nests of woodpeckers, tits, herons, hoopoes and flycatchers in a range of broadleaf trees including Salix, Quercus, Fagus, Populus, Ulmus, Tilia and Aesculus. Adults occur year-round and may be extracted from old nest material or accumulated detritus in rot-holes and hollows or other situations e.g. we extracted several specimens from a sample of bark taken from a decaying Fagus stump (March, 2014) and found several adults overwintering among dead foliage accumulated in deep bark crevices of a redwood tree, both from a local park. On the continent they have been recorded from leaf-litter around oak trees, in rodent nests and anthills, they are frequently associated with the tree ant, Lasius brunneus (Latreille, 1798 and, the jet ant, L. fuliginosus Latreille, 1798 and have been found around nests of the hornet, Vespa crabro Linnaeus, 1758. Adults are cryptic and can move rapidly and so sieving or extracting suitable material is the best way to find them although they fly and may occur in interception traps.