Scarlet Shieldbug (Eurydema dominulus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - true bug (Hemiptera) > Shield bug 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: | Eurydema (Rubrodorsalium) dominulus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Scopoli, 1763) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Bantock, 2016 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Recent records are very few in number and confined to a small area of Kent and Sussex. The last confirmed record was in 2009 and the species has never been found in numbers or at the same site on more than one occasion. This has made targeted conservation action difficult, particularly since there is no apparent reason for its decline. E. dominulus is polyphagous on various Brassicaceae like both other species in the genus, which are currently expanding their ranges in Britain as a result of climate change. It is a common and widespread species in continental Europe and present in the Channel Islands. Given the current trend for shieldbugs to colonise the British mainland from the near continent there is no reason why E. dominulus may not reappear in England by natural means. At the current time the species is therefore probably not a priority candidate for recovery actions. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Recent records are very few in number and confined to a small area of Kent and Sussex. The last confirmed record was in 2009 and the species has never been found in numbers or at the same site on more than one occasion. This has made targeted conservation action difficult, particularly since there is no apparent reason for its decline. E. dominulus is polyphagous on various Brassicaceae like both other species in the genus, which are currently expanding their ranges in Britain as a result of climate change. It is a common and widespread species in continental Europe and present in the Channel Islands. Given the current trend for shieldbugs to colonise the British mainland from the near continent there is no reason why E. dominulus may not reappear in England by natural means. At the current time the species is therefore probably not a priority candidate for recovery actions. |
| 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.