UK beetle species 'under threat'

Many species of beetles in the UK are in danger of dying out, a conservation charity has warned.

Buglife, which campaigns to protect endangered insects, says 250 of the UK's 4,000 species of beetle have not been seen since the 1970s.

The charity says it is vital for other animals that the variety of beetle-life is maintained, and "imperative" that action is taken now to protect them.

It warns that habitat decline means many species may already be extinct.
***
But some species have not been observed for years in the UK. For example, the Sussex diving beetle was common in the Lewes Levels in the 1970s but was last spotted in 2002.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5100950.stm

Frogs, songbirds, butterflies, now beetles ?? Everything but farm animals, it seems, is dying out.