Saprinus immundus
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: | Saprinus immundus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Gyllenhal, 1827) |
| 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 known from two locations on the east coast of England |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Established in Britain for much of the 19th century, but not recorded after 1904 until its rediscovery in Kent in 2002. It has since been found in more than 10 localities, all in southern England and mostly in Sussex. It seems likely to have become re-established in Britain following natural immigration and is probably a species benefitting from climate change. It is a seed feeder like its close relatives (Harpalus and Ophonus), occurring in open habitats with an element of bare ground favouring the growth of a range of ruderal plants, such as arable margins and disturbed grasslands. On this basis of its recent positive population trend and unspecialised ecology 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: | No |
| Justification: | Saprinus immundus relies mainly on carrion on sandy coastlines; so does not operate at a landscape scale |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Climate change |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Saprinus immundus has always been a rare species. It lives on the upper shore of sandy coasts so is vulnerable to extreme tidal events and rising sea-levels due to climate change. Storm events could wash out entire populations. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Discourage removal of carrion and decaying vegetation on beaches. It is probable that it feeds on the larvae of flies in these substrates as adults and larvae.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Education/awareness raising
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Holkham Bay NNR, Norfolk; Sandwich Bay NNR, Kent
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Manage scrub encroachment on sand dunes and upper stretches of beach.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Holkham Bay NNR, Norfolk; Sandwich Bay NNR, Kent
Comments: This action to run concurrently with Action 1.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Strandline debris on various coastal substrates are of high conservation value. However, they are ephemeral habitats and often overlooked or seen as a problem to be solved/tidied. A national review of England's strandline assemblages and their role in maintaining a biodiverse environment is needed and would benefit both this and many other TSRA species
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Education/awareness raising
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments:
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.