Red-horned Cardinal Click Beetle (Ampedus rufipennis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Click beetle |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Ampedus rufipennis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Stephens, 1830) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | A pasture woodland relict species, found in East Kent, the greater Windsor Forest area, and in East Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. Conservation requires future veteran trees to be developing at an adequate rate and in adequate numbers. No red-list assessment is available, although this is planned and so is excluded from the review actions. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Not at risk of extinction in England |
| 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: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Ampedus rufipennis larvae develop in relatively soft white-rotten wood of Beech and Ash, with elm and birch as the most frequent alternatives. Larvae are most often found in trunks, boughs and logs, and more rarely in stumps. Tree species is thought to be less important than the quality of the substrate and stage of decay. At Windsor, the beetle is associated with Beech in a high forest setting. In the north Cotswolds the beetle is associated mostly with old Ash (including lapsed pollards) in open-grown settings. Low recovery potential based on limited evidence for dispersal outside core areas, and relict or natural rarity. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Create a UK DNA sequence, and primers to allow eDNA sampling.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Windsor Forest
Comments: To allow less invasive detection in saproxylic substrates. This can run in parallel with Action 2.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: At sites where the species occurs document age structure for potential host veteran trees and future veterans, to determine whether there is an adequate rate of replacement. Also assess requirements for management of the veteran tree stock to reduce the risk of wind throw, by undertaking tree surgery to reduce the crown of excessive bough weighting.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Subject to the results of Action 2, on sites where the species occurs plant trees or promote natural regeneration where there has been insufficient recruitment of younger trees. These are likely to be beech or ash, depending on the site. Action is more likely to be necessary in neglected parkland sites and the ancient countryside.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Prioritisation is subject to assessment of tree age structure on all occupied sites
Comments: Either planting or natural regeneration should not be allowed to create crown competition or cast shade on existing veteran trees. If there is no space within a site to achieve this, then planting on adjacent land may also be a priority.
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.