Extremely rare Scaly cricket survives Napoli grounding

Amazing coverage from the National Trust press release below. We had radio coverage on Radios 1, 2, 4 and 5 Live, TV coverage on the BBC and ITV .

Here is the link to the BBC website and here
The Independent
Daily Telegraph
Daily Mail
The Scotsman
Newssniffer
This is Cornwall
MSN Environment
Western Morning News
Virgin Media
AOL News
Wildlife Extra
Planet Watch
Mid Devon Star
Web India

National Trust press release

EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER 2008

Extremely rare Scaly cricket survives Napoli grounding

Missing for nearly 18 months and with concerns for its survival, one of the rarest insects in Britain has been found again on Branscombe beach in south Devon.

Found at only three sites in the UK [1] the Scaly cricket (Pseudomogoplistes vicentae) had vanished after the grounding of the MSC Napoli in January 2007 and effects of winter storms.

The Scaly cricket was first discovered on Branscombe Beach in 1998. This curious little insect, whose life cycle isn’t yet fully understood, is nocturnal and lives on shingle beaches feeding on general waste. Normally found in the Mediterranean the cricket measures between 8 and 13 millimetres long and they can live for up to three years.

Adrian Colston, National Trust property manager for Dartmoor and the Orthoptera recorder who made the rediscovery, said: “After walking along the shingle beach and drawing a blank I changed my tactics in the hunt for this elusive cricket. I set five pitfall traps at various points on the beach at Branscombe using cat biscuits, pieces of apple and a bit of my Cornish pasty as bait. When I returned I found that one of the traps contained a single adult female Scaly cricket.”

In January 2007 the MSC Napoli was deliberately grounded in Lyme Bay off Branscombe following damage it suffered in a storm in the Western Approaches. Following the massive clean up operation concerns were raised for the survival of this tiny cricket as a result of the debris from the stricken ship and bad weather.

Adrian Colston, said: “This rediscovery has come as a real relief and it’s likely a healthy population of Scaly crickets can still be found on Branscombe beach. They are notoriously difficult to find and their location away from the main site of the Napoli activity certainly helped increase the likelihood that they would survive.”

-Ends-

Further press information or images from: Claire Bolitho, National Trust Communications Officer on 01392 883105 / 07901 971156 claire.bolitho@nationaltrust.org.uk or Mike Collins, Senior Press Officer, on 01793 817708, 07900 138419, mike.collins@nationaltrust.org.uk

Notes for Editors:
· Media opportunity: Friday 3 Oct, 2008, 11am. Please meet Adrian Colston, who re-discovered the scaly cricket on Branscombe Beach at Branscombe Beach Carpark, Branscombe. You will then be taken to the site for interviews and pictures. (please note this is a privately owned pay and display carpark)

[1] As well as Branscombe beach the Scaly Cricket is found on Chesil beach in Dorset and Marloe Sands in Pembrokeshire.

In 2007, a beetle which had been thought to be extinct in the UK since 1948 and has a unique lifecycle was found on National Trust land in south Devon. Two years earlier the rare long-headed clover was found on the same site as the short-necked oil beetle in south Devon. It had only previously been recorded at the Lizard in Cornwall in the Twentieth Century, although formerly occurred in South Devon.

The National Trust was founded in 1895 with the specific aim of acting as a guardian for the nation in the acquisition and protection of threatened coastline, countryside and buildings.
National Trust ownership of coastline ensures that, wherever possible, public access is allowed and in many cases increased – not always easy to achieve when balanced against the needs of fragile environments. The Trust has a continuing programme of footpath creation, repair and improvement, which includes provision for disabled visitors, the very young and for those interested in all aspects of the coast and its attractions.