Elodes tricuspis
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Water beetle |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(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: | Elodes tricuspis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Nyholm, 1985 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Foster, 2010 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Elodes tricuspis was only described in 1985 and identified in Britain in 1992 (albeit from material collected in C19th). While it appears to be very rare, its status requires better investigation. The 4 modern English records are very widely scattered. It is included here as a species requiring survey and monitoring but it cannot be claimed to be a high priority. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The true distribution of E. tricuspis requires better understanding before conservation actions can be prescribed. It has an association with streams in wooded or well-treed landscapes. |
| 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: | Not enough is known about this species to understand the potential benefits of 'wider countryside' conservation measures. |
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: | Ad hoc recording as part of GB water beetle recording scheme (Balfour-Browne Club/Aquatic Coleoptera Conservation Trust) and Scirtidae recording scheme. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Commission targeted surveys of Scirtidae at potentially suitable sites from Yorkshire southwards.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites: Review potential sites in consultation with national recorder for Scirtidae.
Comments: Relevant to England from Yorkshire southwards.
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.