Team breeds rare beetle for first time

The striking beetles are easily identifiable by their charcoal wing cases

Conservationists have celebrated breeding one of England's rarest insects in captivity for the first time.

The Species Recovery Trust led the project to successfully breed the endangered heath tiger beetle at a special artificial habitat at Sparsholt College, near Winchester.

The trust and college hope to eventually reintroduce the insects back into their heathland homes.

The striking beetles are easily identifiable by their charcoal wing cases, with pale yellow markings.

"We are so excited to see healthy adults emerge this year," Species Recovery Trust project officer Charlotte Carne said.

"These beetles are now incredibly rare and it would be fantastic to be able to return them to areas of heathland where they have sadly been lost."

The beetles have been badly affected by the loss of lowland heathland.

They are only found at a few sites in southern England and face a high risk of extinction in the wild.

That triggered the project started by the trust and college last year and the team captured a pair of beetles in Surrey before moving them to their base.

"We are ecstatic at the emergence of the first heath tiger beetles," Gary Miller, head of zoo at Sparsholt College, said.

"It is a leap forward in our efforts to bolster what remains of the wild population and a testament to the seven years already invested in the project."

The team hopes to increase the captive population and eventually start to release them back into suitable sites in Surrey and Dorset.