Kugelann's Green Clock (Poecilus kugelanni)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Ground beetle |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(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: | Poecilus kugelanni |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Panzer, 1796) |
| 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 more widespread, now restricted to England. Very local in South Hampshire (New Forest), Dorset, South Devon, East Cornwall and West Norfolk. It has undergone a substantial decline in range though this may now have stabilised which suggests it might be a lower priority for action. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | A very localised species subject to an earlier decline, an updated status review is necessary. |
| 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: | Wide scale improvements to heathland management, with a focus on creating bare ground and early successional habitats could benefit this species. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Found in sand pits, on exposed sandy banks and on dry sandy or gravelly heaths in England, particularly on warm, south-facing heathland slopes. Uses bare ground patches on heathland and is found on sandy soils at the coast. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: In recognition of its very localised distribution (fewer than 10 locations post-1980) it is necessary to update the status of this species using existing opportunistic survey/monitoring data.
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Aish Tor on Dartmoor is the most well established location (last report 2021).
Comments: If further declines are indicated then undertake action 2.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Review recent investigations of optimum habitat management techniques (undertaken by John Walters) to help characterise the micro-habitats within which it is found, in particular the nature and extent of early successional habitats and bare ground. This review should help determine the management requirements of optimal heathland habitats, as well as the pressures which might result in further declines such as eutrophication and inappropriate grazing.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Aish Tor on Dartmoor is the most well established location (last report 2021).
Comments: Actions 2 and 3 are related.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Depending on the results of the existing study and any other autecological studies and site management reviews, actively manage sites where the species is present by appropriate means, including creating patches of bare ground to provide early successional habitats. Further heathland creation and management adjacent to or near known populations in the New Forest and Devon should be undertaken.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Aish Tor on Dartmoor, Bramshaw heath, Matley Bog, Stagbury Hill Bishop's Dyke in the New Forest and Bovey heath and Aylsebeare Common in Devon.
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.