Ptinus lichenum
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - beetle (Coleoptera) > Wood boring beetle or ally |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Not Relevant) [EN(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: | Ptinus lichenum |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Marsham, 1802 |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Alexander, 2017 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Endangered. Possibly not reported in England since the 1990s in East Sussex. The Area of Occupancy is fragmented and continuing decline is apparent from the few modern records. It seems possible that it is moving towards Critically Endangered but targeted survey is required in order to clarify the situation. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Minimum intervention management will not provide conditions suitable for the development of suitable host trees |
| 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 would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | An outdoor species occurring on old dead ivy stems and on lichen-covered wood of many broad-leaved trees. It is also known from old lichen-covered fence posts. The issue is, why is it so rare, if these resources are numerous? |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted survey to establish whether the species is still present in England
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: East Guldeford Level (East Sussex), any other locations with modern records
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Autecological research to better characterise habitat requirements and inform management
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: This may be unnecessary subject to the results of Action 1, though if it cannot be refound in England data may have to be gathered from Europe
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Reintroduction if sufficient evidence exists that there is a suitable site for this in Britain
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Unknown
Comments: Subject to the results of Actions 1 and 2.
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.