Crucifix Ground Beetle (Panagaeus cruxmajor)
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: | Panagaeus cruxmajor |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| 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: | No |
| Justification: | Largely confined to England, the latest status review (2016) reported P. cruxmajor from just six post-1980 hectads in England and the data suggested a continuing decline, although it is regarded as a species that undergoes large population fluctuations. However, it has been found in a further 11 hectads since then, with a strong cluster of records along the River Trent west of Lincoln, between Newark-on-Trent and Gainsborough, as well as records from several other sites in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Leicestershire. Many of these have been during the winter, when adults have been found under flood debris, sometimes in numbers. Many beetle recorders, particularly in the north midlands, are now aware of this species, which is distinctive and can usually be identified from a photo. In the light of the above, this species does not seem a suitable candidate for recovery actions at the current time. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Largely confined to England, the latest status review (2016) reported P. cruxmajor from just six post-1980 hectads in England and the data suggested a continuing decline, although it is regarded as a species that undergoes large population fluctuations. However, it has been found in a further 11 hectads since then, with a strong cluster of records along the River Trent west of Lincoln, between Newark-on-Trent and Gainsborough, as well as records from several other sites in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Leicestershire. Many of these have been during the winter, when adults have been found under flood debris, sometimes in numbers. Many beetle recorders, particularly in the north midlands, are now aware of this species, which is distinctive and can usually be identified from a photo. In the light of the above, this species does not seem a suitable candidate for recovery actions at the current time. |
| 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: | N/A |
| Justification: |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
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.