London-based wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and Royal Holloway University of London have joined forces to launch a new national beetle survey, in order to conserve the beautiful but threatened noble chafer beetle.
PTES and Royal Holloway are looking for volunteers to look for noble chafers over a two-week period in June, to find out where they are still living in the UK, allowing conservationists to help save them from extinction.
Volunteers will be asked to set up a (harmless!) trap and fit it with a chemical lure – specially developed to attract noble chafer beetles, meaning it shouldn’t attract many other insects. The trap will need checking daily and any beetles need to be photographed then released. Full instructions and equipment will be given to all volunteers. Noble chafers don’t bite, so it is safe to handle them.
This survey is being coordinated by Dr Deborah Harvey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, at Royal Holloway and is funded by PTES. To find out more information and to take part in the survey, contact Deborah on: d.harvey@rhul.ac.uk.
Dr Deborah Harvey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Royal Holloway says: “Noble chafers are fascinating beetles – adults are typically only seen for a few weeks in a year, which is why this two-week survey period is essential in order to see how their populations are faring. It’s incredibly important for us to know where noble chafers are living and where they’re not, so we can work to ensure the survival of this native species.”
Noble chafers are beautiful beetles with iridescent, shiny green bodies (although also copper and gold) speckled with white. They are small, with adults being about 2cm long, and are believed to live in traditional orchard habitats where they depend on old, decaying wood for food and shelter. As with many native species, noble chafers are threatened with the loss of their primary habitat – the deadwood at the heart of old, decaying trees.
Laura Bower, Conservation Officer at PTES adds: “We know noble chafers have populations in the New Forest and in traditional orchards in Kent and the Three Counties, as well as some isolated records in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. We want to build on this and expand our knowledge of the noble chafer’s population range. Anyone in the UK can take part, so we hope that volunteers can help us by checking traditional orchards, gardens and wood pasture sites in areas where they are currently known to exist but also where we don’t yet have records, to see if they are there or not.”
To find out more about noble chafer, visit www.ptes.org/noblechafer
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For further information, interview requests, or images please contact Adela Cragg or Jane Bevan at Firebird PR:
T: 01235 835 297 / 07977 459 547
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Notes to Editors
Available for interview:
- Dr Deborah Harvey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Royal Holloway University of London
- Laura Bower, Conservation Officer, PTES
About PTES
- PTES, a UK conservation charity created in 1977, is ensuring a future for endangered species throughout the world. We protect some of our most threatened wildlife species and habitats, and provide practical conservation support through research, grant-aid, educational programmes, wildlife surveys, publications and public events.
- PTES’ current priority species and habitats include hazel dormice, hedgehogs, water voles, noble chafers, stag beetles, traditional orchards, native woodlands, wood pasture and parkland and hedgerows.
- PTES has Species Champions for three of its priority species: for hedgehogs The Rt Hon Chris Grayling, MP for Epsom & Ewell and Secretary of State for Transport, for water voles The Rt Hon Hilary Benn, MP for Leeds Central and Chair of the Brexit Select Committee, and for dormice The Rt Hon Matt Hancock, MP for West Suffolk and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
- Visit www.ptes.org and follow PTES on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Royal Holloway University of London
- Based in Egham, Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL), has been the focus of research into saproxylic (dead wood) beetles for the last 19 years.
- Lead by Professor Alan Gange, Dr Deborah Harvey and the team of scientists at RHUL have developed and trialled pheromone lures for this important group of species, helping to increase knowledge about their biology and ecology across the UK and Europe.
- Visit www.royalholloway.ac.uk/