Black Night-runner (Chlaenius tristis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Ground 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: | Chlaenius tristis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Schaller, 1783) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Telfer, 2016 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Formerly recorded in the East Anglian fens but since 1990 only recorded in North Wales and Ireland apart from a single record at Ash in Kent in 2018, which, if correct, might have been over-looked or might have arrived from elsewhere in Britain or the continent. Clarification of English status is urgently needed. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Possibly extinct in England and the single location requires verification and, if necessary, targeted management and site protection. |
| 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): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Extinction debt |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | The typical habitat is dense vegetation, moss and grass tussocks on wetland margins, often on sandy or calcareous substrates. At the Welsh site it occurs on wet calcareous marshland and fen with patchy vegetation and exposed areas of peat. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Undertake targeted survey of historical and recent locations to identify those which support populations (likely to be a single site at most).
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Recorded at Ash in Kent in 2018 (verification required). Most recent historical locations (all 19th century) are Burwell and Wicken Fens (Cambs) and Hornsey, East Yorkshire.
Comments: If any locations still support the species then undertake actions 2 and/or 3.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Assess feasibility and likelihood of success for re-introductions at former fenland locations subject to habitat condition and climatic pressures due to increased temperatures and drought affecting wetland habitats. Consider ecological requirements of the species, suitability of site, timing of release and the need for ongoing habitat management. No information could be found on the feasibility of such re-introductions nor the techniques necessary for success.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Recorded at Ash in Kent in 2018? Most recent historical locations (all 19th century) are Burwell and Wicken Fens (Cambs) and Hornsey, East Yorkshire.
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Maintain and create new areas of habitat by the creation of scrapes to leave areas of bare, wet peat and/or the introduction of heavy grazing and poaching pressure exerted by ponies.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Recorded at Ash in Kent in 2018? Most recent historical locations (all 19th century) are Burwell and Wicken Fens (Cambs) and Hornsey, East Yorkshire.
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.