Worcestershire Record No. 5 Nov 1998 p. 3
Following the publication of the Worcestershire Red Data Book in December 1998 the Worcestershire Biodiversity Action Plan will be out at the start of the New Year. All counties have to take into consideration national BAP lists for species highlighted as a 'priority' for nature conservation/the biodiversity process in the UK. According to the Worcestershire Red Data Book the following priority species are presently found in Worcestershire (table 1) or could be found in Worcestershire (table 2).
The Biodiversity process would benefit from any further records on the species listed and particularly any records on those shown in table 2.
(Note: when these lists were originally published they were swapped around. The lists presented here are correct.)
FUNGI | Boletus satanus | devil's bolete | Nationally vulnerable | beech woodland |
STONEWORT | Tolypella intricata | tassel stonewort | Endangered | alkaline pools |
COLEOPTERA | Gnorimus nobilis | noble chafer | Vulnerable | orchards, old timber |
COLEOPTERA | Limoniscus violaceus | violet click beetle | Endangered | veteran Trees |
COLEOPTERA | Lucanus cervus | stag beetle | Nationally notable-Nb | dead, partially rotted wood |
LEPIDOPTERA-BUTTERFLY | Argynnis adippe | high brown fritillary | National high priority | woodlands |
LEPIDOPTERA-BUTTERFLY | Boloria euphrosyne | pearl-bordered fritillary | National high priority | woodland/scrub with bracken |
LEPIDOPTERA-MOTH | Minoa murinata | drab looper | Nationally notable-Nb | older woodlands on spurge |
LEPIDOPTERA-MOTH | Pechipogo strigilata | common fan-foot | Nationally notable-Nb | woodland |
LEPIDOPTERA-MOTH | Polia bombycina | pale shinning brown | Locally notable | calcareous open ground |
LEPIDOPTERA-MOTH | Rheumaptera hasta | argent and sable | Nationally notable-Nb | coppiced and young birch woodlands |
CRUSTACEAN | Autropotamobius pallipes | freshwater white-clawed crayfish | Globally threatened | clean, shingle streams |
MOLLUSC | Margaritifera margaritifera | a freshwater pearl mussel | Rare | fast-flowing soft-water rivers |
MOLLUSC | Pisidium tenuilineatum | freshwater pea muscle | Rare | canals/rivers |
MOLLUSC | Pseudanodonata complanata | depressed river muscle | Rare | rivers |
AMPHIBIAN | Triturus cristatus | great crested newt | Nationally important | ponds and surrounding vegetation |
FISH | Alosa alosa | allis shad | Nationally important | rivers |
FISH | Alosa fallax | twaite shad | Nationally important | rivers |
BIRD | Acrocephalus palustris | marsh warbler | High concern | wet scrub/rough grassland |
BIRD | Alauda arvensis | skylark | High concern | open countryside |
BIRD | Carduelis cannabina | linnet | High concern | scrub/hedges/weedy fields |
BIRD | Coturnix coturnix | quail | High concern | farmland |
BIRD | Emberiza schoeniclus | reed bunting | High concern | wet areas/farmland |
BIRD | Miliaria calandra | corn bunting | High concern | open farmland |
BIRD | Muscicapa striata | spotted flycatcher | High concern | woodland, parkland, gardens |
BIRD | Passer montanus | tree sparrow | High concern | throughout county |
BIRD | Perdix perdix | grey partridge | High concern | farmland |
BIRD | Pyrrhula pyrrhula | bullfinch | High concern | throughout county |
BIRD | Streptopelia turtur | turtle dove | High concern | farmland, scrub |
BIRD | Turdus philomelos | song thrush | High concern | throughout county |
MAMMAL | Arvicola terrestris | water vole | Red Data Book | wetlands |
MAMMAL | Myotis bechsteinii | Bechstein's bat | Red Data Book | woodlands |
MAMMAL | Lepus europaeus | brown hare | Red Data Book | farmland |
MAMMAL | Lutra lutra | european otter | Red Data Book | rivers and other wetlands |
MAMMAL | Muscardinus avellanarius | dormouse | Red Data Book | woodland, scrub, hedgerows |
MAMMAL | Pipistrellus pipistrellus | Pipistrelle bat | Red Data Book | woodland and urban |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Alisma gramineum | ribbon-leaved water plantain | Critically endangered | shallow water in pools |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Arabis glabra | tower mustard | Vulnerable | on dry sandy soils |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Centaurea cyanus | cornflower | Endangered | arable land |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Dianthus armeria | Deptford pink | Vulnerable | dry pastures |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Fumaria purpurea | purple rampling-fumitory | Nationally scarce | arable land/hedge banks |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Gentianella anglica | early gentian | Nationally scarce | limestone grassland |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Scandix pecten-veneris | shepherd's needle | Nationally scarce | arable land |
Group | Scientific name | Common name | RDB Status | Habitat |
FUNGI | Hygrocybe calyotriformis | pink meadow cap | Nationally Vulnerable | unimproved grasslands |
FUNGI | Hygrocybe spadicea | date-coloured waxcap | Nationally Vulnerable | calcareous grassland |
HYMENOPTERA | Bombus distinguendus | great yellow bumblebee | Nationally notable Nb | herb-rich grasslands |
HYMENOPTERA | Bombus humilis | brown-banded bumblebee | Locally notable | herb-rich grasslands |
HYMENOPTERA | Bombus ruderatus | large garden bumblebee | Nationally notable Nb | herb-rich grasslands |
HYMENOPTERA | Bombus subterraneus | short-haired bumblebee | Nationally notable Na | herb-rich grasslands |
HYMENOPTERA | Bombus sylvarum | shrill carder bee | Nationally notable-Nb | herb-rich rough grasslands |
ORTHOPTERA | Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa | mole cricket | Endangered | water meadows and wet heathland. |
COLEOPTERA | Byctiscus populi | a leaf-rolling weavil | Rare | associated with poplars and aspen |
COLEOPTERA | Cicindela sylvatica | heath tiger beetle | Nationally notable Na | sandy soil in heathland or conifers |
COLEOPTERA | Donica bicolora | a reed beetle | Vulnerable | associated with branched bur-reed |
LEPIDOPTERA-MOTH | Cosmia diffinis | white-spotted pinion | Nationally notable-Nb | large trees, particularly elms |
LEPIDOPTERA-MOTH | Hypena rostralis | buttoned snout | Nationally notable-Nb | on hops |
LEPIDOPTERA-MOTH | Trichopteryx polycommata | barred toothed stripe | Nationally Notable-Na | on wild privet |
DIPTERA | Asilus crabronformis | hornet robber fly | Notable | on herbivore dung in grasslands |
MOLLUSC | Segmentina nitida | shinning ram's-horn snail | Endangered | small weedy ponds/drainage ditches |
MOLLUSC | Vertigo moulinsiana | Desmoulin's whorl snail | Rare | calcareous wetlands |
VASCULAR PLANTS | Mentha pulegium | Pennyroyal | Vulnerable | ephemeral pools |
Whilst some groups such as birds and vascular plants are pretty well covered others, most notably the Hymenoptera, are not. Most Hymenoptera RDB records are from the Devil's Spittleful and Hartlebury Common nature reserves: the rest of the county is seriously under-represented. The bee species listed have not been seen since 1979, most records are probably from the 1950s. All bumble bees (Bombus) have declined in this time, but it is possible that important populations of the bee species listed in table 1 may be found within the county and it is particularly important to note any records of these and other national RDB bee species.
The Hornet Robber Fly has been seen recently in 1996 but only ever at this one site and not since. This is included as it could occur in other suitable sites in the north-west of the county but may be over-looked. The Devil's Bolete has not been seen since the turn of the century but is still included in table 1 as the fruiting body does not appear every year, therefore it is a fungus species which could be over-looked. Other species such as the white-spotted pinion moth that favours large elm trees and pennyroyal, last seen in a pool at Castlemorton Common, are probably extinct, but you never can tell if someone will find a species, sometimes in a habitat you'd least expect it.
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