Helophorus tuberculatus
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: | Helophorus tuberculatus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Gyllenhal, 1808 |
| 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: | Helophorus tuberculatus is arguably the most enigmatic British water beetle and its conservation status has been obscured by some rather random records and an 'eruption' centred on the N York Moors in the late 1970s. However, recent records are very few with perhaps a single centre on peatland in N Lincs. At least on a precautionary basis, it merits Endangered status in England. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | This species warrants more active survey and monitoring, and a better understanding of its requirements. It may or may not belong to a small group of fire-dependent insects in the British fauna but could also be associated with early successional peat habitats. Its needs are unlikely to be catered for in standard management plans for lowland and upland heathland. |
| 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: | This species is too rare and too poorly understood to benefit from generic habitat management measures. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| 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) |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Undertake literature review and autecological research based on wild/captive population(s) to elucidate the habitat management requirements of this species.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites:
Comments: Characterisation of specific habitat requirements remains elusive other than an apparent association with bare or burned peat. Recent records do not bear out a previously suggested dependency on recently burned moorland, at least as an exclusive requirement. Establishment of a captive population would be useful as this is an elusive species.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Following completion of the literature review (which may elucidate collecting methods), re-survey post-1980 sites and potential sites in the Humberhead Peatlands.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites: North York Moors & Humberhead Levels, the most recently known sites including Epworth Turbary (North Lincs) and North Cliffe Wood (East Yorks)
Comments: Modern records are concentrated in the North York Moors and Humberhead Levels. It's likely that H. tuberculatus shares similar ecological requirements with other beetles of bare, damp peat such as Mire Pill-beetle and Thorne Moors Pin-palp. Surveys could target all three. Humberhead Peatlands NNR staff may be able to identify suitable habitat to survey; it would be surprising if this species did not occur somewhere on the Thorne Moors complex.
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.