Hygrotus novemlineatus
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: | Hygrotus novemlineatus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Stephens, 1829) |
| 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: | Although categorised as NT in a GB context, H. novemlineatus is more likely to warrant Endangered status in England. It's a boreal species which is evidently retreating northwards and has recently been lost from Yorkshire. There are recent records from only 3 hectads in the far north of England. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | This is a species which warrants re-survey of historic sites in northern England. Otherwise, there is a danger of national extinction without the level of threat being recognised. It is one of several boreal water beetles at risk from climate change in England, others including Boreonectes multilineatus, Agabus arcticus, Nebrioporus depressus and, more tenuously, Hydroporus morio. |
| 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: | H. novemlineatus is too localised to benefit from generic measures. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented |
| 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: Resurvey historic and recent sites north of the Humber. Where H. novemlineatus is found, review potential threats to its survival and recommend mitigation measures where appropriate.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites: Records have been mapped in Atlas 1 (Foster et al, 2016).
Comments: Relevant to around 10 to 12 sites.
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.