Hydrochus elongatus
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Water beetle |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(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: | Hydrochus elongatus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Schaller, 1783) |
| 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: | No |
| Justification: | Atlas 2 (Foster et al, 2018) shows almost 50 post-1980 hectad records, so this is a relatively widespread species south the Humber/Severn axis despite evidence of localised declines (especially on the Somerset Levels). Hydrochus elongatus can occupy disturbed habitats such as gravel pits and even fishing lakes provided they have tall emergent vegetation, and it is not confined to 'old' wetlands. On the Humberhead Peatlands it has spread into recently created buffer zones. For these reasons, H. elongatus cannot be considered a conservation priority, though its status should be monitored. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Hydrochus elongatus will continue to be monitored informally via the GB water beetle recording scheme. It is not sufficiently threatened to warrant a species-specific programme. |
| 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: | N/A |
| Justification: |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
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.