Aphodius quadrimaculatus
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Scarab 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: | Phalacronothus quadrimaculatus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1761) |
| 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: | Formerly widespread but local in Southern England, Only recorded from chalk downland sites on the South Downs in East Sussex since 1990 |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Phalacronothus quadrimaculatus occupies patch habitats not necessarily created through habitat management. It requires a year round supply of herbivore dung. |
| 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: | Yes, if this involved grazing animals in the absence of endectocides on unimproved chalk downland pasture. Its precise breeding requirements are unknown so a mosaic of different swards heights and bare ground could be beneficial to allow a dung to fall in a variety of situations. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Life history factor/s |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Implement year round low intensity cattle or sheep grazing at warm dry grassland sites in the South Downs at and near to A. quadrimaculatus' known sites. Do not use endectocides. In winter livestock should not be fed in silage, maize or soya since this affects the quality of the dung and its nutritional value to coprophagous invertebrate larvae.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Landscape/catchment/marine management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Lullington Heath SSSI, Wilmington Down SSSI, Deep Dean nr Alfriston East Sussex
Comments: To run concurrently with Action 2
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Targeted non-lethal survey of chalk downland sites in the South Downs to establish its distribution and population size in response to amended grazing management
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Lullington Heath SSSI, Wilmington Down SSSI, Deep Dean nr Alfriston East Sussex
Comments: monitoring of Action 1 results
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Field study to establish exact habitat requirements for A. quadrimaculatus to breed successfully and understand its dispersal capability.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Hoo Peninsular, North Kent including parts of Medway Estuary and Marshes SSSI, and South Thames Marshes SSSI
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.