Acylophorus glaberrimus
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: | Acylophorus glaberrimus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Herbst, 1784) |
| 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: | This species has a very restricted distribution in the UK, and experienced a significant historical decline. It is now restricted to the New Forest where it is known from only seven locations in two hectads (c28km2). The species is a lowland acid mire specialist that is associated with sphagnum and bare peat in very wet open areas. Whilst the New Forest population currently appears stable this may be in large part due to the current, relatively intense, grazing regime in the New Forest that creates areas of poached bare peat. Changes in management and Nitrogen deposition encouraging the formation of Molinia dominated vegetation could quickly become significant threats. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Population currently appears stable and all known populations are within SSSIs, however there are few recent records and survey to clarify its current distribution and ecological requirements is desirable. Maintaining good habitat condition, including a range of successional stages, in lowland acid mires should conserve this species along with a suite of other habitat specialists. |
| 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: | The species seems to rely on early successional microhabitats in lowland acid mires. The continued provision of bare or very sparsely vegetated wet peat is critical. Intense grazing or mechanical cutting to expose peat will benefit the species. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Recovery potential likely to be low due to dependency on a habitat that takes centuries to millennia to develop. Increases in population may be possible on known sites and potentially suitable nearby areas but there is limited opportunity for wider recovery due to extensive loss of lowland acid mire habitats from much of England. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Re-survey known sites and other lowland acid mires in the New Forest to clarify current distribution and population status. Suction-sampling, pitfall-trapping and hand searching.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: New Forest: Common Moor, Avon Water Bog, Church Moor, Withycombe Shade , Balmer Lawn
Comments: Survey in the New Forest in particular could be combined with survey for other priority invertebrates - e.g. the rove beetles Stenus longitarsis and Erichsonius ytenensis.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Autecological study of populations identified by action 1 to better understand ecological requirements of this species.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: New Forest: Common Moor, Avon Water Bog, Church Moor, Withycombe Shade , Balmer Lawn
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Management to maintain suitable habitat conditions (identified by action 2) - likely early successional bare wet peat in lowland acid mires - through appropriate grazing regimes or mechanical cutting/scraping.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Use of No fence technology will reduce need for expensive and potentially damaging fencing installation.
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.