Brindalus porcicollis
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: | Brindalus porcicollis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Illiger, 1803) |
| 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: | Only known from a single site in England, where it has been recorded sporadically since the 1890's. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | There is a high likelihood of extinction since it is limited to a small area at a single unprotected location. Though it has persisted there for over 100 years without interventions it is highly vulnerable |
| 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: | There is no evidence that Brindalus is capable of dispersing from the site to occupy other suitable sites. It has been known at its current locality (near Tregantle Fort) since the 1860's and has not been encountered elsewhere at all. Its precise ecological requirements are unknown, understanding this may explain its apparent highly restricted use of the site. If its precise needs are discovered and met nearby to occupied sites, then this answer may change. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Unknown |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Brindalus porcicollis is hard to find and appears to live at low densities at its only site. Additional action: Survey Whitsand Bay to understand how its distribution across the whole site is limited by its requirements, or if dispersal ability is a key limiting factor. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Field study at Whitsand Bay to determine if there is a relationship between substrate particle size, vegetation cover and plant species present that narrowly defines the habitat available for occupation.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Whitsand Bay, East Cornwall
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: If the population level is judged to be sufficient, develop ex-situ breeding programme to boost its population and potentially introduce the species at other sites where the habitat is suitable (outcome of action 1)
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Ex situ conservation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: The larvae live in loose sand so are vulnerable to crushing and sand compaction. Since it is only known from a limited part of the site it is very vulnerable. Reduce public pressure on the area of beach where Brindalus occurs with fencing and publicity.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Education/awareness raising
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Whitsand Bay, East Cornwall
Comments: This area to be determined from Action 1
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.