The explosive Streaked bombardier beetle is Britain’s rarest beetle – but now there is a battle to save it before its last remaining home is built on.
The Streaked bombardier beetle (Brachinus sclopeta) is known from a single site in the UK – an overgrown pile of rubble on a brownfield site next to the river Thames. But the home of this little-known resident of east London is soon to be destroyed by a new development, and conservationists are worried that the beetle could become Britain’s first known extinction of the new Millennium.
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| Under threat: The Streaked bombardier beetle © Benoit Martha |
‘This isn’t an extinction in a remote rainforest on the other side of the world, it’s happening right here on our doorstep and could have been avoided if the site had been protected,’ says Buglife's Jamie Roberts. ‘It’s very sad that a deliberate choice has been made to plough on with this development regardless of the consequences to wildlife.’ In September 2007 the species was added to the UK’s list of priority endangered species.
In early October a last ditch attempt was made to move the beetle, only weeks before the site is due to be developed. A finger-tip search by volunteers managed to locate 61 beetles amongst the weeds, crushed concrete and twisted metal. The beetles were then carried to a specially designed pile of rubble which was been constructed nearby, on land adjacent to the new development.
Jamie Roberts stresses that there is only a slim chance that the translocation will succeed: ‘Previous bug translocations have had poor results, which is why they should not be encouraged. It can be very hard to artificially recreate the exact habitat conditions that a species requires.’ But despite the reservations the attempted rescue will go ahead: ‘This is last chance saloon for the beetle – if nothing is done the species will be lost anyway,’ says Roberts.
The Streaked bombardier beetle stuns predators with a chemical spray (hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide) which it fires out of special glands in its bottom; these react explosively when they mix. Charles Darwin once had his tongue burnt by a beetle, and experts believe it could have been a similar bombardier.
For recent coverage of this story in the Independent click here.
