Lundy Cabbage Flea Beetle (Psylliodes luridipennis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Leaf beetle or ally |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered (Not Relevant) [CR(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: | Psylliodes luridipennis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Kutschera, 1864 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Hubble, 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Endemic with a single population in one location (Lundy), reliant on its sole food-plant Lundy Cabbage which declined, but now appears to be stable |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Lack of evidence |
| 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): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | A flea beetle endemic to Lundy. Can be abundant on its host plant of Lundy Cabbage. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Protect hostplants from grazing.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Special (in situ) measure
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Lundy
Comments: Host plants are vulnerable to grazing pressure and need long-term protection or progressive removal of grazing animals from the island.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Protect key areas (via fencing & barriers) from over-disturbance from tourists.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Special (in situ) measure
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites:
Comments: Fences and barriers to protect important areas of the beetle's hostplant.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Raise awareness among visitors to the island
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Education/awareness raising
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Lundy
Comments: Interpretation boards and other sources of information aimed at visitors to the island to prevent erosion and trampling of hostplants
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.