This week, I'm delighted to present a guest blog from top naturalist James Harding-Morris. Now the big thaw has brought the UK firmly back into spring, what better time to celebrate the fantastic Back from the Brink project and one of the fascinating creatures it aims to help. Over to James for the full story of a night time adventure in search of one of our rarest species of beetle.
Avid readers of Nature’s Home won’t have missed Ross Piper’s oil beetle article in the most recent edition (Spring 2018). I personally was delighted to see it for two reasons; firstly, oil beetles are big, charismatic insects and it’s always wonderful to see them in the spotlight. Secondly… my job involves a bit of talking about oil beetles.
I suppose I should introduce myself properly. I’m James Harding-Morris, Communications Manager for an amazing project called Back from the Brink. Back from the Brink is a collaborative attempt by a number of conservation organisations – including the RSPB - to save some of England’s most threatened species from extinction; one of these is the rugged oil beetle.
Rugged oil beetles are among the UK's rarest species and Back from the Brink is here to help them (Emma Burt)
In Ross’ article he mentions that the best time to look for the commoner oil beetle species is from March to July. The rugged oil beetle, one of our rarer species, is a bit different. The best time to look for this eccentric species is during winter - at night. This is when this unusual beetle emerges, feeds, mates and lays its eggs.
I was recently fortunate enough to be invited to take part in a rugged oil beetle training session at our project in the Cotswolds – Limestone’s Living Legacies. Along with 30 other local people who were equally up for searching for beetles in the wintry darkness, we learnt about the lifecycle and key features of this rare insect.
The team learning about the rugged oil beetle's weird and wonderful lifestyle (Emma Burt)
A living black olivePresentation over, we left the building and walked out into the darkness. There were no stars; it was a cloudy and mild night – perfect for rugged oil beetles. Even though they are resilient enough to be active during winter, they avoid the coldest nights. The crowd of inducted volunteers split into two groups – one heading out to Cranham Common where the beetle had only recently been discovered, the other group going to Swift’s Hill. Swift’s Hill is one of the best sites in the Cotswolds for this species, so that was obviously where I decided to go.
With torches and hi-vis jackets we trod delicately across the hillside – the new volunteers following the experienced leaders carefully, everyone watching their own footsteps lest they encounter a beetle in the grass. I was towards the back of the line, casting the beam of my torch left and right, eagerly seeking our target species. A whisper came down the line – there were beetles up ahead!
Luckily the line of volunteers kept moving on steadily and it wasn’t long before I could meet the rugged oil beetle face-to-face. It hung from a grass stem, completely still, and lit with the beams of half-a-dozen torches it looked like a roughly polished piece of obsidian in a setting of glowing emerald grass stems. Well, I wish that had been my first thought. To be honest, my first thought was that it looked like a black olive. A living black olive.
Another shot of the marvellous rugged oil beetle (Emma Burt)
In total, around 20 beetles were seen across the two sites surveyed that night, giving our volunteers a great chance to see the beetle in the flesh and experience a brush with the truly rare and obscure.
Find our more about Back from the BrinkIf you’re interested in finding out more about the 19 Back from the Brink projects, the 20 species we’re aiming to save from extinction, or the 200+ other species we intend to benefit, please visit our website naturebftb.co.uk, follow us on Twitter or Facebook.