Amphimallon fallenii
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Scarab beetle or ally |
| 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: | Amphimallon fallenii |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Gyllenhal, 1817) |
| 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: | Though it is most frequently found on Welsh coasts. It has been seen at only three English locations since 1990 |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Amphimallon fallenii lives on undisturbed, high quality unimproved coastal grasslands. Its larvae feed at the roots of grasses. They are sensitive to agricultural improvement of grasslands and soil compaction from over-stocking and tourism pressures. |
| 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: | An increase in coastal pastures managed by light grazing, without chemical inputs, re-seeding and no use of heavy machinery would benefit A. fallenii. Adults are most often encountered in flight, so would be able to access new suitable sites. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Very similar to the common and widespread A. solstitiale so may be overlooked at some locations so targeted specialist surveying in its currently known and previously occupied landscapes is a pre-requisite action. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Field study to establish A. fallenii's habitat requirements.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Known sites should be sought from the Scarabidae Recording Scheme and Local Environmental Records Centres
Comments: Informed by the result of pre-requisite action of surveys for A fallenii (in species comment)
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Manage coastal pastures near where Amphimallon fallenii is found without agricultural improvement techniques to enable it to expand its range and build resilience in the population against changes in land management
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Informed by the result of prerequisite action of surveys for A fallenii (in species comment)
Comments: Action 2 and 3 to run concurrently
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Discourage land use change from unimproved pasture to arable or recreational use where existing sites are known by dissemination of distribution data to NE and land managers.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Landscape/catchment/marine management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Informed by the result of prerequisite action of surveys for A fallenii (in species comments)
Comments: Action 2 and 3 to run concurrently
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.