When Charles Darwin was asked what his studies of natural history had taught him about the mind of God, the creator, he dryly replied ‘He has an inordinate fondness for beetles!’ And so it seems, for there are over 400,000 described beetle species – and a new one found every time someone cares to look. Throughout the world, beetles make up 40 per cent of all known insects and, amazingly, 25 per cent of all recorded animal species.
In the UK there are approximately 4,500 different kinds of beetle. There are even one hundred examples of the tiny flea beetle; surely two or three would have been sufficient!
Beetles form a class of insect called Coleoptera, the members of which, even to the layperson, are reasonably easy to recognise due their hardened shell-like forewings, known as elytra. The family group familiar to many of us is the ladybirds, although beetles come in a variety of strange and fascinating forms. The wide range of beetle species have varied dietary choices, and they can be found in practically every kind of UK habitat. Beetles are essential to healthy ecosystems, being an important part of the food chain, forming both prey and predator, and acting as ecological recyclers as a result of being great digesters of organic matter. Many beetle species feed upon, and keep in check, the plant bugs that are viewed as pests by gardeners and farmers.
Along with moths, over the last fifty years, beetles have suffered the steepest rate of decline among insects, both in numbers and diversity of species. Beetles seem to do best in rough unkempt places, and find our tidy, sterilised countryside a hostile environment. Many of the vast array of beetle types need rotting wood, dead decaying animals and chemical-free dung to feed upon. As such, dung beetles in particular have experienced a loss of approaching 95 per cent, with some species becoming nationally extinct. Chemical livestock treatments, aimed at killing parasites, are making the resulting dung toxic to the creatures that would break it down in a natural way. This is why we see cowpats and horse manure sitting in fields for months, only breaking down through the action of weather. Larger species of dung beetle will excavate tunnels beneath cowpats and drag balls of it underground for its larvae to feed on. This is excellent for soil health, both enriching it and breaking up any compacted earth.
Like all ecological losses, the impact of the decline in our beetles is rippling through the environment. The wonderful red-backed shrike, often referred to as the butcher bird for its habit of impaling its prey on thorns, was once a common breeding bird in southern and eastern England, with Norfolk being a former stronghold. It is now nationally extinct, and only rarely seen on migration. The rapid demise of the red-backed shrike is linked to the near disappearance of large beetle species, particularly dung beetles which are one of its’ favoured foods.
Grazing animals, such as ponies and cattle, are an important part of wildlife conservation and sculptors of many of our precious habitats. The Norfolk Wildlife Trust use hardy breeds of pony that include Dartmoor and konik, and these will graze the grass sward quite low, which suits some species of beetle. Elsewhere on our reserves, one may find heritage breed cattle such as the small black Dexter’s or the ‘tough old’ British white cattle. All of these breeds need very little veterinary intervention or treatments, resulting in toxin-free organic dung, great for invertebrates, particularly dung beetles. In the Norfolk Brecklands, home to a number of nationally-scarce beetle species, it is sheep and rabbits that combine to create fantastic beetle habitats. Although, due to myxomatosis, and more recently RVH disease, rabbit numbers in the wild have fallen. As a result, NWT is carrying out work to complement the work of our Breck’s rabbits, to create bare sandy patches and beetle banks to support rare species in this unique Norfolk landscape.
Insects, and particularly beetles, are a vital addition to any green space, helping to create a balanced ecosystem, even in a small urban garden. So why not consider setting aside a small area of your garden or community green space to help our many beetle species to thrive?
The best bit is that doesn’t require much work at all, as it can often be achieved by doing no more than leaving a rough patch untouched.
Sign up for a free guide to help you take action for insects at: wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects