Scybalicus oblongiusculus
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: | Scybalicus oblongiusculus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Dejean, 1829) |
| 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: | First UK records were from Portland and a population persisted on the Dorset coast until the 1950s. Native status was previously debated but now understood to be one of a number of Mediterranean species that extend north into oceanic parts of western Europe in warm, sunny, open habitats such as brownfield sites. Discovered at a number of sites around the Thames Estuary in the last two decades. Recent records at light in Colchester, and a cluster of records in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, one from arable field margins, suggest S. oblongiusculus continues to increase its range and possibly breadth of habitat affiliation in the UK with climate change and is not a priority for recovery action. Suggested association with Fennel (Telfer 2016) is a potential avenue for targeted searches to better understand any range expansion and validate this association. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | First UK records were from Portland and a population persisted on the Dorset coast until the 1950s. Native status was previously debated but now understood to be one of a number of Mediterranean species that extend north into oceanic parts of western Europe in warm, sunny, open habitats such as brownfield sites. Discovered at a number of sites around the Thames Estuary in the last two decades. Recent records at light in Colchester, and a cluster of records in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, one from arable field margins, suggest S. oblongiusculus continues to increase its range and possibly breadth of habitat affiliation in the UK with climate change and is not a priority for recovery action. Suggested association with Fennel (Telfer 2016) is a potential avenue for targeted searches to better understand any range expansion and validate this association. |
| 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.