‘Extinct’ in UK oil beetle rediscovered in Devon

‘Extinct' oil beetle discovery not seen since 1906

December 2012. A beetle hotspot on the South Devon coast has re-written the record books for the second time in six years with the discovery of an oil beetle which was has not been seen in UK since 1906 and was thought to have been extinct there for more than one hundred years.

Last seen in UK in 1906
Before its rediscovery, the Mediterranean oil beetle (Meloe mediterraneus) had been found in the South East of England in Essex and Kent. The beetle was last recorded in Kent in 1906, and had not been seen since, until rediscovered this autumn. Local naturalist John Walters found the oil beetle on National Trust land between Bolt Head and Bolt Tail on the beautiful south Devon coast, while carrying out a study for the charity Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust.

Leading beetle expert, Darren Mann of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History confirmed the discovery making this the first record in the UK for over 100 years, and the first ever for South West England.

John Walters said "The 2 to 3 centimetre long matt-black beetle resembles the rare Rugged oil beetle, but the beetles I found were much larger and their larvae were a different colour. I investigated further and was amazed to find that they were a ‘long lost' species!"

Andrew Whitehouse, Buglife's South West Manager said, "The rediscovery of this beetle is great news, bringing the total number of oil beetles species in the UK up to five. However all of our oil beetle species remain under threat. The loss of wildflower-rich habitats and the decline in wild bee populations, upon which these beetles depend, are the main threats to oil beetles in the UK. Buglife is working to better understand the needs of oil beetles and how best to conserve them"

Andy Foster, Biological Survey Team Leader at the National Trust, said: "This is remarkable news, following the discovery of the rare Short-necked oil beetle from the same area of south Devon only a few years ago, and demonstrates the value of detailed studies which can lead to such unexpected results. One can't help feeling there are other colonies out there just waiting to be found - it's crucial that we understand where these threatened species survive and understand more about their habitat requirements."

Buglife's national oil beetle conservation project is a partnership project with the National Trust and Oxford University Museum of Natural History and is funded through Natural England's Species Recovery programme.

To download a free oil beetle identification chart and report your oil beetle sightings visit the Buglife website www.buglife.org.uk/oilbeetles

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/uk-oil-beetle.html

Oil beetles rediscovered in Lincolnshire after 28 years

Oil beetle survey bears fruit

May 2012. For the first time in at least 28 years, an oil beetle has been seen in Lincolnshire. Wildlife charity, Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust received notification of the sighting as part of their National oil beetle hunt.

Historically, two species of oil beetle have been recorded in Lincolnshire; the Black oil beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus) and the Violet oil beetle (Meloe violaceus), although the last time a Black oil beetle was recorded in Lincolnshire was in 1984 and the Violet oil beetle has not been seen in the County since 1900.

2011 national oil beetle survey
The records generated by Buglife's 2011 national oil beetle survey and historic data, collated by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, showed that all of the four British species of oil beetle are in decline. These declines were greatest in the east of England, making the new Lincolnshire record a significant discovery.

Buglife Oil Beetle Project Officer, Anne Halpin, said: "Oil beetles have suffered in recent years from the loss of wildflower rich habitats and the decline in wild bee populations, upon which these beetles depend. Every record is valuable but we are particularly excited that oil beetles have been found in Lincolnshire as we can remove the county from our list of places where oil beetles have gone extinct."

4 species extinct in UK
Of the eight species of oil beetle recorded in the UK, half are already thought to have gone extinct. Although the Black oil beetle is one of the more widespread species, its decline in recent years is significant and work still needs to be done to protect the flower rich habitats on which this species depends.

Visit the Buglife website www.buglife.org.uk for a free identification guide, more information about these brilliant beetles and to report sightings and photographs.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/oil-beetle-lincolnshire.html

Oil beetle populations in decline

Buglife today announce the results of the National Oil Beetle Survey. The alarming results indicate oil beetle population decline across many parts of the UK, especially in the East of the country.

14^th March 2012
Last year the UK public helped Buglife to map the distribution of threatened oil beetles. Over 750 people took part in the public survey, run in partnership with the National Trust, Natural England and Oxford University Museum of Natural History. They contributed nearly 1500 new records.

Using this new data Buglife have mapped the distribution of oil beetles and have found that they have declined across many parts of the UK, especially in the East of the country. Both the Black oil beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus) and the Violet oil beetle (Meloe violaceus) have all but disappeared from East Anglia and South East England; the Black oil beetle also seems to have declined in the North East.

Read on:  http://www.buglife.org.uk/News/Oil%2Bbeetle%2Bpopulations%2Bin%2Bdecline

Beetle mania as 'extinct' insect found on Scots isle

A RARE beetle thought until recently to have died out in Britain has been found living in numbers on a Scottish island.

The discovery of a population of short-necked oil beetles has excited entomologists as the insects had not been seen for about 60 years until rediscovered in Devon in 2007.


But an expert on holiday on the island of Coll reported seeing the oil beetle last month and a team travelled to investigate the discovery and to look for other species.

Now the team is trying to establish how the insects, which cannot fly, got to the island.

Surprisingly, the team did not find any oil beetles on neighbouring Tiree, despite it having similar conditions.

About 40 beetles were found on four sites on Coll, examined by the team, which includes Jeanne Robinson, the curator of entomology at Glasgow Museums; Geoff Hancock, of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum; Garth Foster, of the Aquatic Coleoptera Trust, and beetle expert Darren Mann of Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It is thought that the beetle population might be much larger.

Until the small colony was found in Devon, it was thought the insect, Meloe brevicollis, had been extinct in the UK since the 1940s due to intensive farming.

Ms Robinson said: "It's hard to believe it could have been present in those numbers for some time. Almost definitely, there is a bigger population than what we have found so far.

"We were there for only two and a half days and there is a certain amount of chance and luck involved (in finding the insects].

"They are very vulnerable to disturbance and what the Devon and Coll sites have in common is that they have been relatively undisturbed for a long time."

The beetle has parasitic young that depend on solitary nesting bees for survival. Ms Robinson added: "The beetle does not fly and relies on the bee carrying its young to disperse it, so how it got to Coll remains quite interesting.

"We are hoping there is the potential to do some genetic analysis so see where the population came from."

She said there were records of the beetle being found in Ireland and it was feasible that bees had flown over the island bearing the oil beetle.

She added: "We went first to Tiree, which also has huge population of the solitary bee that the oil beetle relies upon and nice sand dunes as well, but we just did not find anything.

Coll is a bit more rugged and there are subtle difference in conditions."


Ms Robinson said that the solitary bee population on Coll was doing "incredibly well' because of the quality of its sand dunes, which are very sheltered and remain largely undisturbed.

She said there was a delicate balance between the beetles and bees as the former - whose larvae feed on the bees' young and pollen stores - would not survive if it decimated the bee population.

The entomologists' discoveries will be listed on the National Recording Scheme and Natural Biodiversity Network which allows changes in populations and biodiversity to be monitored.

The oil beetle gets its name from the highly toxic oil secretions it produces when threatened. The discovery in Devon was made by an amateur entomologist during a wildlife survey on National Trust land.

Prior to that, the beetles were last recorded at Chailey Common, Sussex in 1948.

By JOHN ROSS
http://news.scotsman.com/inverness/Beetle-mania-as-39extinct39-insect.6423196.jp?articlepage=1