Rare and endangered beetles found on The Hebrides

ON THE BRINK: The discovery of silphid beetles living in machair is good news for a species on the verge of extinction

Extensive survey of machair reveals rare insects - Beetlemania descends on Outer Hebrides

August 2011: A survey of the globally important Hebridean machair is shedding new light on some of its smallest inhabitants.

Machair, a strip of land created by a combination of traditional crofting methods and coastal elements, is known to be rich in plant and wildlife. But the recent results reveal it is teeming with hundreds of species of beetle, several of which are extremely rare.

Ecologists surveying plots of the machair across North and South Uist, Berneray and Benbecula, sifted through more than 30,000 beetles and identified 222 different species including 36 which are new records to the islands. Of these, 14 species have formal conservation status and three are noted on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, including the Silphid which is very rare and in danger of extinction. 

Barometers for biodiversity
Part of the Conserving Scottish Machair LIFE+ project, a partnership between RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES) and the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF), the surveys are increasing understanding of the relationship between agricultural management and biodiversity.

Insects are considered to be barometers for biodiversity and the success of agricultural systems in supporting wildlife. As well as being valuable in their own right, they are an essential food source for many rare and protected bird species such as the corncrake. 

IDEAL HABITAT: The machair's swathes of vetch and clover are home to many insects

Rebecca Cotton, Machair LIFE+ Project Manager, said: ‘This shows that traditional methods of working the land by local crofters, such as applying seaweed as fertiliser, helps to create a biodiverse machair. 

'We know that the machair is rich for birds and plants but confirmation of the bug life is fantastic news.'

In addition to beetles, several species of native grasshopper, such as the mottled grasshopper, were found in abundance across the islands along with two rare species of bumblebee, the Moss carder bee and the great yellow bumblebee.