Wood Wise BEGUILING BEETLES Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2017 AN INORDINATE THE HIDDEN SPOTLIGHT THE BEETLES FONDNESS FOR BIODIVERSITY ON WOODLAND SPREADING BEETLES OF OUR LADYBIRDS TREE DISEASE WOODS 2 Cover photo Cover Designer: BonhamandPhilipBuckland. William Fincham,Emma Contributors: Editors: Wood Wise • Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2017 •Summer News Conservation Woodland Wise • Wood 22 20 16 11 8 4 3 11 3 Kay Haw and Karen Hornigold andKaren Haw Kay Matt Chambers Matt : WTML Richard Becker Richard WTML : Lessons from extinctions from Lessons byinsects transmission Disease ladybirds Woodland the brink Back from overground Underground, beetles for fondness An inordinate Introduction Jon Webb, Sholto Holdsworth, Sarah Henshall, Rachel Farrow, Farrow, Rachel Henshall, Sarah SholtoHoldsworth, Webb, Jon 16 4 CONTENTS 20 22 8 woodlandtrust.org.uk to Wood Wise online online Wise Wood to conservation@ please email email please To subscribe subscribe To WTW MLML Ricchahardd Bececkek r diminishing resource for many other species of animal too. animal species of manyother for diminishing resource and important isanextremely wood Dead wood. rotting ondeador feeding livingand to mature, years several take the stagbeetle, those of suchas Some larvae, asadults. emerging pupalstage,before non-feeding a through larvae, from complete metamorphosis by they develop beetlesiscomplex; of The lifecycle history. life their atleastpartof for trees and woods with associated are insects.Many of group the largest fi one Beetles represent desertbeetle.the Namib basedon bottle, water the self-fi technologies, suchas new inspired even andhave extraordinary are andreproduction survival of chances their to improve inorder evolved that beetleshave The adaptations makingjewellery. for America in South bylocalpeople prized which are beetles, the jewel such as andametallicsheen, colours spectacular beetles have Some (4oz)! to 115grams up weigh the goliathbeetlecan while American longhornbeetle; the 16cm-longSouth to beetlefeatherwing the 0.25mm-long from and colours, shapes,sizes of variety They comeinahuge breathtaking. beetlesis function of and form in diversity The sheer they deserve. andattention the recognition get always they don’t yet healthyecosystems, of the continuity to key Beetles are Even today, many societies across Africa, Asia and Latin Africa, today, manysocietiesacross Even diet. their of component beenakey have would beetles to hunt, tools peoplehad In earlyhumanhistory,before faeces2. buryinglivestock through million annually cattleindustryanestimated$380 States the United save that dungbeetles dung1. Ithasbeenestimated of removal through parasites andsuppress secondary seeddispersal; perform nutrients; of recyclers important extremely they are functions: ecosystem of support anumber that a‘superfamily’ are example, for (Scarabaeoidea), Dungbeetles matter. organic the decompositionof suchaspollinationand roles, ecologicallyimportant of anumber They perform with humanculture. intertwined ecosystem servicesandare important Beetles provide chaos.” collapseinto would the environment vanish, to were insects putit,“If Wilson aptly biologistE.O. the eminent As that beetlesplay The manyroles biodiversity Essential andare alllivingorganisms fth of lling Wood Wise • Woodland Conservation News • Summer 2017 •Summer News Conservation Woodland Wise • Wood 3. Bohan et al. 2011. Journal of Applied Ecology, 48 (4): 888-898. 48(4): Applied Ecology, of Journal 3. Bohanetal.2011. 311-323. 2006.BioScience,56(4): andMace. 2. Losey 1461-1474. (6): 141 1. Nicholsetal.2008.BiologicalConservation, beetles. Britain’s of the survival for working ecologists which mayinform past extinctions, learnaboutwe diseases.Finally, tree of and establishment transmission the with beetles andsomespeciesassociated non-native the impactsof alsolookat We and parkland. pasture wood woodlands, in found beetles of variety the onfocus with aparticular andecology, beetle diversity into insights fascinating Wise provides Wood This issueof andundervalued. overlooked nolonger they are that so tiny creatures, these the importanceof of public awareness to raise trying who are the UK in beetleconservation for working andresearchers some dedicatedentomologists are there particularlyatrisk.Fortunately, are elsewhere to survive highlyspecialisedandunable that are Beetles habitats. their of protection lackof or management to poor due often threats, many face they Yet the environment. peopleand both for biodiversity of component anessential that beetlesare It isclear Beetle conservation fungus that causesDutchelmdisease.fungus the which spreads elmbarkbeetle, the large and ladybird harlequin the invasive include Examples themselves. pests are disease,or of vectors adultscanactas or Larvae alsobeanuisance. herbicides3. Beetlescan,however, for the need thus the soiland seedsin of the amount seeds,reducing weed beetlesalsoeat annually2. Ground $4.5billion estimatedatamassive was justbeetles) (not insectsto native attributable pestcontrol natural of value fl Zealand New the introduced as alienspecies,such well beetleseatslugsas andmanyground gardeners), of appreciation the great onaphids(to prey Ladybirds inbiologicalcontrol. role Beetles alsoplayanimportant protein. of source asanimportant the larvae) onbeetles(often America rely atworm, which kills native earthworms. In the US, thethe US, In earthworms. which killsnative atworm, 3 An inordinate fondness for beetles Natural England. Natural Jon Webb There are 4,200 recorded species of beetle in We know a fair amount about our beetle fauna. Britain, and more than 1,000 live in trees and British history of wildlife recording, spanning from the woodland habitats. Victorian age to the present, has made Britain one of the Worldwide over 400,000 species of beetle have been best studied locations for insects in the world. That there described, with at least that many further species yet are millions of records of all species on the newly launched to be discovered. Based on the huge diversity of beetle National Biodiversity Network Atlas (nbnatlas.org) is species in the world, the distinguished British biologist, testimony to this history of recording wildlife in Britain. J.B.S. Haldane, on being asked by a group of theologians Beetles come in all shapes, sizes and colours – broad-nosed what one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator weevils, bloody-nosed beetles, and the devil’s coach horse from a study of his creation, is said to have answered, to name just a few. Species span in size from less than “An inordinate fondness for beetles.” 1mm in length to our largest species, the stag beetle, Beetles belong to the order Coleoptera, which means whose males can reach over 75mm in length. ‘sheath-wing’, and refers to their hard wing cases (elytra). I have a passion for beetles – I love them. To me they are These wing cases are the main reason for their success. like little robots; not creepy crawlies, a description that They provide an armoured defence against harsh defi es their elegance, drive, grace, beauty and exquisite environments, would-be predators and water loss. alien nature. They are found in almost all terrestrial and Beneath the wing case, most beetles still retain fully freshwater habitats – only the marine world has not been operational wings. As anyone watching a beetle take readily conquered by beetle life. Their lifestyles are as rich off will note; they often take an age to open their wing and varied as are their forms; leaf beetles browse on leaves, cases, unfold their wings and, eventually, fl y. The power fl owers and shoots of vegetation; ground beetles trundle of fl ight, even if it is just once, means beetles are also good over the surface of woodland, voraciously hunting slugs colonisers. The combination of the armoured defence and and snails; dung beetles dive bomb fresh piles of dung TheThT e auauthothhoorr( (JonJoo WeW bb)bbbb lolookiokokingng fforfor beb etlett ess iinn GriGr mstms horhoorrpepe ParPPaark the ability to colonise new locations makes beetles very in order to break the surface crust and feed on the successful creatures. In Britain, we currently have over matter beneath. Tree associations 4,200 species, although this number is always changing as we discover new species because of colonists, non-native To properly understand how beetles live in our wooded Pantheon retains data on 3,540 beetles. Of these 1,005 introductions or the whim of ever changing taxonomy. habitats we can look to the data in Pantheon (brc.ac.uk/ are tree associated. You will note that I have not used pantheon) for an overview. Pantheon is an analytical tool the term woodland, as this can be somewhat misleading. developed by Natural England and the Centre for Ecology Beetles living in tree canopies can be found in woodland, & Hydrology to assist invertebrate nature conservation but they will also occur in gardens and parklands as well in the UK. A list of invertebrates can be entered into as along roadsides and hedgerows. Pantheon, which then attaches associated habitats, resources and conservation status to them. Natural England. Natural Tree-associated beetles can further be broken down: Tree-associated habitat No. of beetles* Includes Decaying wood 682 Species living under bark, in birds’ nests in trees and in veteran trees and fallen logs. Arboreal 177 The tree canopy, including leaf, fl ower and shoot eaters. Lichen feeders. Predators of both of the above. Shaded woodland fl oor 153 Feeding on plants of the ground layer under