Hister quadrimaculatus
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Clown or False-clown beetle |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(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: | Hister quadrimaculatus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Linnaeus, 1758 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Lane, 2017 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Only found in four hectads since 1990. Formerly more widespread in South East England along the coast from Dorset to Essex |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Known in the modern period from just a single individual seen at Box Hill, Surrey in 1983. Formerly more widespread with records for 8 hectads from high quality chalk grassland sites in southern England, it clearly underwent a substantial decline during the 20th century and there is no reason to think this is not continuing and that it is probably already extinct in Britain. It is a very distinctive species and its last recorded site continues to be relatively well-worked by entomologists. On this basis, it is probably not a suitable candidate for recovery actions. |
| 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: | Yes |
| Justification: | Yes, if this involved grazing animals in the absence of endectocides on unimproved pasture. It's precise breeding requirements are unknown so a mosaic of different swards heights and bare ground could be beneficial to allow a dung to fall in a variety of situations. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Life history factor/s |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Hister quadrimaculatus is a large and distinctive Clown Beetle readily identified in the field. It is most frequently found in association with dung (cow and horse), decaying vegetable matter, and carrion |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Conduct field research to establish its breeding requirements both in the grazing marshes of the North Kent Marshes and on the vegetated shingle of Dungeness
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Elmley NNR, Dungeness NNR
Comments: Understanding its breeding requirements in terms of dung quality and environment will enable site assessments to be made in its former Essex locations to determine whether re-introduction would be feasible to enable it to adapt to a changing climate.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Implement year round low intensity cattle grazing at sites across the key landscapes. Do not use endectocides. In winter cattle should not be fed in silage, maize or soya since this affects the quality of the dung and its nutritional value to coprophagous invertebrate larvae.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Landscape/catchment/marine management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Dungeness NNR, Elmley NNR, farms on the south shore of the Swale and Medway between Whitstable and Gillingham
Comments: This action to run concurrently with Action 1.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: As a supposed predator of beetle and likely fly larvae in carrion, dung and decaying vegetable matter, it would be beneficial to discourage beach cleaning of organic debris, carrion and refugia by raising awareness through community engagement
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Education/awareness raising
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Principally Dungeness NNR, shoreline of the Swale, Medway, and Thames Estuaries, but also other coastlines with significant strandline assemblages within its former range
Comments: This measure will benefit a wide range of shoreline animals, and should run concurrently with Action 2
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.