The striped water beetle has been sighted in Drenthe for the first time since 1950. A researcher from EIS Insects Knowledge Center recently found a stag beetle to the east of De Onlanden nature reserve.
This is the first catch of this rare and European-protected water beetle in the province since 1950, reports Nature Today Monday.
The striped water beetle is one of the more than a hundred species of water robber beetles in the Netherlands. The yellow-edged water beetle is the best known among the general public.
The 1.5 cm beetle was spread across the Netherlands until the first half of the twentieth century, but gradually disappeared almost everywhere from the sandy soils, from the river area and from the peat meadow area. The species is also considered extinct in countries such as the United Kingdom and Belgium.
Due to the sharp decline across Europe, the species was included in the most severe protection categories of the European Habitats Directive in 1992.
It is unclear whether the animal has returned or was already there
It is not entirely clear whether the catch in the OmATED Eelderdiep concerns a new establishment or whether the species has been overlooked for a long time. Water and riverbank management, coupled with changed land use, may have allowed the striped water predator to relocate to the area.
However, it cannot be excluded that the species has managed to survive there all along. Almost all reports from Drenthe and Groningen originate from the Zuidlaardermeer area, where the beetle species was also last caught in Drenthe in 1950. The species was caught on the Groningen side in 1976.
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