Species Fact Sheet No. VIOLET CLICK BEETLE 12
What do they look like? The adult is a long thin blue beetle - not violet as the name suggests!
How else might I recognise one? The larvae, called ‘wire-worms’, are long thin whitish-coloured grubs that live in a rich mixture of decaying wood, leaf-mould, and bird droppings in the centres of very old trees.
What do they eat? The larvae live off the nutrients from the mixture of leaves, decaying Classification wood and bird droppings that they Kingdom: Animalia live in. Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Where do they live? Order: Coleoptera Very old hollow ash trees, where the Family: Elateridae adults usually breed in the decaying wood and leaf litter of tree cavities. In Genus: Limoniscus Worcestershire the beetle seems to be Species: L. violaceus widespread on Bredon Hill, where it has been found near Bredons Norton, Even Hill, and Elmley Castle Deer Park. As well as the violet click beetle the old trees on Bredon Hill support a large number of different beetles and other insects.
We think that the adults remain in the same trees all their lives, only leaving when the tree rots away and no longer provides the conditions they need for breeding. We also think that the adults fly to hawthorn blossom, and there is some suggestion that they could be nocturnal.
Why are they special to Worcestershire? The violet click beetle is known to occur in only three places in Britain, of which one is Bredon Hill in Worcestershire. The others are Windsor Forest, Berkshire, and the Gloucestershire Cotswolds. The violet click beetle populations in Worcestershire are of national and European importance, and Bredon Hill is designated as a candidate Special Area of Conservation because of its presence.
We don’t think that the beetle is declining, but we need to look after it because it is so rare. Problems and solutions? Loss of old hollow ash trees in which the beetle lives could be a problem, but work is being done on Bredon Hill to try to ensure that there is a continuing generation of ash trees for violet click beetle. English Nature has also tried to simulate the conditions that the beetle needs for breeding by filling compost bins with a similar mixture of material to those found in the ash trees.
The violet click beetle needs decaying tree hollows in which to breed, and long term changes in the environment such as pollution or climate change can affect the fungi that contribute to decay.
We need to know much more about the biology of the violet click beetle so that we can understand its needs and make sure that these are met.
Did you know? This beetle belongs to a large family of beetles (over 7,000 different types) which are called ‘Click Beetles’ because of their ability to leap into the air and right themselves when laid on their backs. This action is accompanied by a loud ‘click’.
What can I do to help? Learn to identify some of the more common beetles. Introduce some beetle-friendly plants into your garden at home or at school - the web site below has some suggestions. Look after any old trees in your gardens or school grounds - where possible leave dead or decaying wood on the trees, or on the ground where it falls - avoid the urge to tidy up!
Food chain nectar adult beetle bat mould/decaying wood mixture larvae spider bird
Find out more? There is very little information available about this rare beetle, but www.worcestershire.gov.uk/biodiversity - (click on view the action plans) contains some further facts. www.which.net/gardeningwhich/advice/beetles.html provides some general advice on gardening for beetles.
Further copies of this factsheet can be downloaded from www.worcestershire.gov.uk/biodiversity