Cornish Biodiversity Network - Supporting Wildlife Recording
The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.
Range & Status
Southern Britain, very local.
Regional Distribution
Reported in Cornwall in the Victoria County History (Clark, 1906) but only twice in the
following decades: in a Gorse Ulex spp. hedge at Tintagel (Butler, 1909) and commonly at Gwithian Dunes in 1934 by R.T. Bannister. More recently it has been discovered in the sand dune systems at Rock and Harbour Cove (Alexander, 2002). Subsequently seen at Rock on two occasions in 2005 by Ian McClenaghan.
Habitat & Ecology
Appears to favour unimproved grasslands on dry freely-draining soils, the adult having a partially subterranean habit in the friable topsoil, and may specialise in feeding on root aphids.
Threats
Development pressure on sand dunes.
Conservation
The two dune areas are protected from development.
I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.
The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.