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Macroplax preyssleri Family: Lygaeidae This small, unobtrusive and strongly ground-dwelling species was overlooked in Britain until 1968 and remains a great rarity. As in Metopoplax ditomoides, the head, pronotum and scutellum are densely punctured and covered with short white hairs, although the body shape is much more pear-shaped rather than parallel-sided. The femora are dark and the tibiae pale. The front femora are armed with 3-4  spines including one larger one. A south-western species confined to calcareous grassland in parts of Somerset, Gloucestershire and the Gower peninsula, Wales. All British records have been from steep, south-facing limestone grassland with areas of sparsely-vegetated ground. Most records have involved the use of a vacuum sampler. Adults and nymphs are associated with rockroses Helianthemum, in particular Common Rockrose H. nummularium. The species overwinters as an adult and there is one generation per year. Adult: ~All year Length 3-4 mm
	Adult: Somerset (March 2019) ©Tristan Bantock
	Adult: Somerset (March 2019) ©Tristan Bantock