Oil beetle is back - 60 years after 'extinction'
Monday, 19 Mar 2007 11:52
The oil beetle has made a welcome return
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A rare beetle thought to have been extinct since 1948 has been discovered in south Devon.
The short-necked oil beetle – or Meloe brevicollis – was unearthed by entomologist Bob Beckford, according to the National Trust.
Around 40 specimens were discovered at the site, which lies between Bolt Head and Bolt Tail on a coastal strip of land.
With no records of the insect for almost 60 years – when they were last found in Sussex – it was thought that changes to the landscape as a result of modern farming practices had effectively ended the beetle's presence in the UK.
However, the National Trust is now looking to study the new colony in a bid to establish how they have survived and what conditions their success has been based on.
David Bullock, the National Trust's head of nature conservation, commented: "The discovery of a beetle that was thought to be extinct for nearly 60 years is an amazing story of survival, particularly for a species with such an interdependent lifecycle.
"It's likely that this population of the short-necked oil beetle has survived because they inhabit an area of land that has avoided the intensive farming methods on surrounding arable land."
A large, slow-moving insect when in adulthood, the oil beetle is so-called because of the toxic secretions it emits when threatened.