Aegialia rufa
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Scarab beetle or ally |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Not Relevant) [EN(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: | Rhysothorax rufus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Fabricius, 1792) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Lane and Mann, 2016 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Not seen at its only English site (Ainsdale Dunes) since 1989 ; still an extant population in Wales. The management at Ainsdale is considered to be sympathetic; so it may still persist undetected. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Rhysothorax rufus' persistence in England is in doubt, though it is a difficult species to find. If a population exists it would benefit from ex-situ breeding to boost numbers and potential re-introduction to sites in its former range using Welsh stock. |
| 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): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Extinction debt |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Not seen in England since 1989 despite intensive searching in 2017 at Ainsdale Dunes. Hard to detect and thought to live at low densities |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Re-survey Ainsdale Dunes and near-by mobile dune locations to determine if there is an extant population
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Ainsdale Dunes
Comments: Implement Action 2 if found
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Manage scrub encroachment on sand dunes and upper stretches of beach.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Depends on result of Action 1
Comments: Depends on result of Action 1
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: If Action 1 re-finds A. rufa in suitable numbers, develop ex-situ breeding to boost population numbers and release at suitably managed dune systems on the north west coast within its former range.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Ex situ conservation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites:
Comments: Potentially investigate the Welsh population as a donor for re-introduction
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.