Crustacea: Copepoda - Cerambycoidea.com

3. An annotated checklist of the invertebrates of living
and decaying timber in Britain and Ireland
Annelida
Earthworms are often to be found in the debris beneath loose bark and in moist heart-rot,
even high up in a standing tree. The following two species are the most likely to be found in
these situations.
Dendrobaena octaedra (Savigny)* - Associated with soils having a high organic content such
as peat, rotting tree stumps, leaf litter, etc. Widespread.
Dendrodrilus rubidus (Savigny) - Found under moss and loose bark on old trees and in
rotting wood; also in moist litter and under stones in wet habitats generally.
Widespread.
Mollusca - Slugs & Snails
A wide range of slugs and snails may be found on the trunks and main boughs of trees, but
most of these are browsing epiphytes and are present irrespective of any rot development.
The following two species are most often found on older trees, where rot development has
started, and are believed to be dependent for food, to some extent at least, on the fruiting
bodies of wood-rotting fungi.
Limacidae
Limax cinereoniger Wolf* - Ash-black Slug. Grazes Pleurococcus algae on tree trunks and
boughs and on dead wood; also feeds on fungi; shelters in nooks and crannies on trees
and in dead wood under cold or dry conditions; most active when air relatively still,
warm & humid. Thinly scattered in ancient woods and wood pastures over much of
GB, but apparently absent from much of E. Midlands & E. Anglia. Very thin scatter
of sites across Ireland.
Limax tenellus Müller - Slender Slug. Nationally Scarce B. Feeds on fungi on dead and
decaying timber; in GB it appears to require large rotting balks for moist shelter as
well as feeding, although this isn’t the case across the English Channel; ancient wood
pastures. Very thinly scattered, but throughout much of GB, and distinct
concentrations in Weald, Chilterns, Welsh Borders, N. England and Scottish
Highlands.
Crustacea: Copepoda
Moraria arboricola Scourfield - Free-living in water in rot-holes in trees; known from
Epping Forest, Felbrigg Woods, New Forest & Savernake Forest. Also reported from
among damp dead leaves in woods; and one Yorkshire site in wet moss on moorland.
Diplopoda - Millipedes
The vast majority of millipedes eat decaying plant material and fragments of organic matter;
most also require a humid environment. So a wide range could be found in dead and decaying
timber. However, only the following can be considered to be particularly associated with this
situation.
Polyxenidae
Polyxenus lagurus Linnaeus* - Bristly Millipede. Most often found under bark of dead timber
or within dry-rotted heartwood, but also on ground in leaf litter and on rocks. A
specialist feeder on encrusting algae. Mostly in Central & Southern Britain, but very
thin scatter of sites elsewhere, up into Highlands. Apparently largely coastal in
Ireland.
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