Lost ladybird found in Devon

The 13-spot ladybird, long thought to be extinct in Britain, has turned up in a sleepy corner of the south-west.

Always considered rare, the insect Hippodamia 13-punctata was thought to have died out from the British Isles around 1952.

There have been occasional sightings since, but they've tended to be written off as strays that have managed to cross the channel. But now the discovery of a young ladybird, coming after several more sightings of adults over the least decade, proves there's a breeding population deep in the West Country.

13-spot ladybird larva.

Richard Comont, a PhD student at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and part of the UK Ladybird Survey, made the find while taking part in a recent BioBlitz on the Axe Estuary Wetlands. The insect was still in its immature larval form, so it couldn't have hatched far away.

'As soon as I saw the larva I was fairly sure it was a 13-spot - it's something I've dreamt of finding,' he says. 'It's such a significant discovery that I took it back to rear to adulthood to make absolutely sure, and when it finally hatched into an adult I could confirm it as the first native 13-spot for 60 years.'
The 13-spot ladybird, which can have anything between 7 and 15 spots, is slimmer than its better-known 7-spot cousin. It's longer and slimmer than its famous relation, with more of a teardrop shape than a rounded one.

'How exciting to rediscover this ladybird breeding in Devon after being declared extinct in the 1950s - it makes you wonder what else is out there waiting to be rediscovered,' comments Andrew Whitehouse, a conservation officer for Buglife in south-west England. 'Many of Britain's invertebrate populations are declining at a drastic rate, so it is great to have some good news.'

'With the experts we had on the day I knew that we would find loads of really interesting and unusual creatures, but never for a second did I think we'd make a discovery of this magnitude,' adds James Chubb, an education ranger for East Devon County Council.

A BioBlitz is an event at which members of the public try to find as many species as possible in a small area of land, under the guidance of experts. These events have turned up some rare and unexpected creatures in the past, but few as much so as this 'extinct' insect. This one was organised by East Devon District Council to showcase the variety of wildlife found in the Axe Estuary Woodlands.

Return for damselfly in distress

An endangered insect has been reintroduced to a nature reserve in Devon in a bid to secure its future.

The number of southern damselfly (Coenagrion mercuriale) in the UK has fallen by about 30% since 1960, and it is now considered globally threatened.
The iridescent-blue insect breeds in heathland streams and has been hit by pollution and drainage of waterways.

Now Devon Wildlife Trust has released about 500 damselflies at Venn Ottery Nature Reserve in east Devon.

The project, funded by the British Dragonfly Society, was the brainchild of David Thompson, professor of conservation biology at Liverpool University's school of biological sciences.

"Southern damselflies are a very localised species and find it difficult to disperse to other sites, so reintroductions of this kind are essential to help secure the future of the species," he said.
Butterfly rearing cages were used to transfer the insects from a site in Dorset.
They were released into a 400m (1,312ft) stretch of watercourse at Venn Ottery, where they have not been seen for more than 20 years.

Work was carried out at the site ahead of the reintroduction to make it fit for the insects, including introducing grazing, reducing scrub levels and installing small dams to slow the movement of water through the reserve.

Devon Wildlife Trust's reserves officer Ian Chadwick said more than 95% of the southern damselfly's two-year life cycle was spent as larvae in submerged stream vegetation.

"A permanent supply of unpolluted, slow-moving running water is essential for their survival," he said.

"This work has enabled us to create the right conditions for the reintroduction and we are confident that it will succeed."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8119924.stm