Silpha carinata
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Carrion beetle |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered/Possibly Extinct (Not Relevant) [CR(PE)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Silpha carinata |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Herbst, 1783 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Lane, 2020 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Very restricted distribution on chalk downland and wood edges in Hampshire and Wiltshire. Very significant apparent decline. No records in over thirty years despite targeted surveys, possibly extinct. Habitats face various pressures - e.g. scrub invasion, nutrient enrichment. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Extinct in England and original sites destroyed. A boreo-arctic montane species that may not survive possible reintroduction due to climate warming. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Seemingly restricted to a very small area - if it is still extant at all. It is unlikely that it would be able to benefit from untargeted management in the wider landscape. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Extinction debt |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | It is unclear if this species persists in the UK. If it does it is likely that the population is extremely small and restricted making recovery potential low and extinction risk high. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted survey for the species at Great Ridge Wood, Wiltshire, and similar nearby sites using baited traps etc.
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Great Ridge Wood, Wiltshire
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: If any extant population is identified by action 1, carry out autecological research to identify ecological requirements and key pressures on the species.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Great Ridge Wood, Wiltshire - any other discovered populations.
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Implement appropriate habitat management/pressure mitigation actions identified by action 2.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: Unknown
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites: Great Ridge Wood, Wiltshire
Comments: Required actions will depend on the results of actions 1 and 2, duration impossible to accurately estimate.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.