St. Bees Seed-eater (Harpalus honestus)
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: | Harpalus honestus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Duftschmid, 1812) |
| 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: | H. honestus is confined to England, with modern records from a single site only, St Bee’s Head in Cumberland, where it was discovered in 1994 and has been since recorded by various visiting coleopterists. This isolated population is considered to be probably native by Telfer (2016). Reliable historic records exist for two further locations in southern England. The extant population is potentially vulnerable to coastal dynamics and vegetation succession. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Last recorded at St Bee's Head in 2005. Although it has always been difficult to find and there is no evidence to suggest that it has declined, the lack of recent records suggests targeted survey work is recommended |
| 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: | H. honestus is associated with slippages and eroded areas and is therefore dependent on early successional habitat mosaics with a component of bare, disturbed ground. It has been found under mats of Sea Campion Silene maritima and probably feeds predominantly upon the seeds of ruderal plants, like many of its close relatives. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | H. honestus is associated with slippages and eroded areas and is therefore dependent on early successional habitat mosaics with a component of bare, disturbed ground. It has been found under mats of Sea Campion Silene maritima and probably feeds predominantly upon the seeds of ruderal plants, like many of its close relatives. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Survey St Bee's Head to confirm the continued presence of H. honestus and assess the extent of suitable habitat in the light of its known ecological requirements. Include survey in vicinity of historic sites too.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: St Bee's Head
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.