Aphodius subterraneus
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Scarab beetle or ally |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered/Possibly Extinct (Not Relevant) [CR(PE)(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: | Eupleurus subterraneus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| 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: | Last recorded in Britain in 1987 at Stoke Marshes in Kent |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | With no recent (post 1990) records of this species ascertaining whether there is an extant British population in the North Kent Marshes is a priority. |
| 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 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 - Extinction debt |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Found at exposed sites in a variety of dung and decaying vegetation. Hibernates as adults and at the third larval instar. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted non-lethal survey of Stoke Marshes and surrounding grazing marshes to determine whether there is an extant population
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 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:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Implement year round low intensity cattle or sheep grazing at sites across the key landscapes. 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: Hoo Peninsular, North Kent including parts of Medway Estuary and Marshes SSSI, and South Thames Marshes SSSI
Comments: Action 2 to be informed by the outcome of Action 1
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Field study to establish exact habitat requirements for A. subterraneus 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: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Known sites should be sought from the Scarabidae Recording Scheme and Local Environmental Records Centres
Comments: Dependant on an extant population being found (action1)
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.