Acrolocha minuta
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Rove beetle (macrostaph) |
| 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: | Acrolocha minuta |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Olivier, 1795) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Boyce, 2022 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Small area of occupancy, limited to four post-1979 sites in four hectads in south-east England. Has declined since 1980 and may still be declining. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Three out of four current sites are within SSSIs, general good management to maintain and improve condition of listed open habitats - e.g. acid grassland, chalk downland will benefit this species. Other pressures are large scale e.g. development pressure and use of veterinary treatments on livestock. Associated with patch habitats (dung, compost heaps, litter piles etc.). Recovery is likely to depend on landscape level changes in agricultural practices and livestock management. |
| 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: | Species is predominantly associated with patch habitats (dung, compost litter piles etc.) within dry open-structured habitats such as chalk downland and acid grassland. Management of grassland/downland sites to maintain or increase area of open-structured habitat through appropriate grazing and control of scrub and bracken encroachment is likely to benefit this species. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | One of a suite of patch habitat associated rove beetles that have experienced significant declines in recent decades. The species is not apparently dependent on any particular habitat, region or management as long as suitable patch resources are provided. The most significant factor in these declines is likely to be the widespread use of veterinary chemicals such as Avermectins to treat livestock, making dung toxic to dependent invertebrates. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Work with landowners/managers to minimise use of veterinary chemicals that pass out in animal dung on known sites and surroundings.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Pressure mitigation
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Effingham and White Downs, Bushy Park, Stockbridge Down
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.