As the Chair of Natural Devon

Pelecocera tricincta (hoverfly), hairy dragonfly, ruddy darter
Wetland – Marsh fritillary, Eristalis cryptarum (bog hoverfly), narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth, small pearl-bordered fritillary, southern damselfly, marbled white, keeled skimmer, double-line moth, Syndyas nigripes (dance fly), Tipula marginata (cranefly)
Farmland / Hedges – Small eggar (moth), brown hairstreak
Bold font = UK Priority BAP

56 UK priority invertebrates (excluding butterflies and moths) occur in Devon and only 14 are listed above. Species missing include all the priority bumblebees, oil beetles, flies, spiders (only two spiders listed out of a county list of approx. 400 species) and moths (including Ectoedemia heckfordi which was discovered by Bob Heckford in the Dart Valley in 2004 and, so far, is not known anywhere else in the world). This list with be revised in liaison with organisations such as BugLife, Butterfly Conservation and the Devon Moth Group.

Devon Species Action Plans have been produced for the following species:

Pink sea fan

Data	Poor
Context	Pink sea fans are very slow growing corals which are widely distributed in the south west of Britain. They are attached to the seabed and provide an important habitat for the nationally rare sea fan anemone and the sole habitat for the sea fan slug.
Range / population	Unfavourable inadequate. In Devon, the pink sea fan is found in far higher concentrations on the south coast where estimates suggest that there are several million at present. Population trends are not known. However, it can be assumed that numbers and distribution have been negatively affected by destructive fishing practices (e.g. dredging and bottom trawling), sediment smothering, recreational activity and climate change.
Habitat	See above.
Future prospects	Unfavourable inadequate but improving. Protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Protected from commercial fishing activities via the Lundy Marine Conservation Zones, the Lyme Bay designated area. The proposed new network of Marine Protected Areas and improved management of fishing activities in European Marine Sites should further reduce direct impacts. Future prospects rely on effective implementation of proposed conservation measures.
Overall Devon status	Unfavourable inadequate
UK status (BARS, 2008)	Stable

Freshwater pearl mussel

Data	Poor
Context	This species has been exploited for its pearls since Roman times, and is now a rare globally threatened species that has been lost from all but seven rivers in England. In Devon it was historically found in the Tamar, Exe, Dart, Teign, Taw and Torridge. Devon has the only remaining populations in southern England.
Range	Unfavourable bad. Small populations are now only found in the Taw and Torridge.
Population	Unfavourable bad. The results of a 2002 survey of the Torridge suggested a maximum 1,800 individuals along a 20 km stretch of the Torridge.  A 1999 survey found only 49 mussels in the River Taw and a tributary.  No mussels were present in dense beds as would be expected in a healthy population and all remaining mussels are at least 50 years old. Extinction is likely within 10-20 years in the absence of successful reproduction and recruitment of young mussels.
Habitat	Unfavourable bad but improving.  The freshwater pearl mussel is a bivalve living in fast flowing and nutrient poor rivers.  The decline in population is largely due to fine silts clogging the river bed, high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous and potential decline in fish which act as larval hosts.
Future prospects	Unfavourable bad but improving.  A national breeding and research programme is underway with a long term aim to re-stock rivers.  Habitat management on tributaries of these rivers is underway. Translocation of mussels to suitable habitat within the catchments is being considered.
Overall Devon status	Unfavourable bad
UK status (JNCC, 2008)	Unfavourable bad and deteriorating

White clawed crayfish

Data	Good.
Context	Although still widely distributed throughout England and Wales, the white clawed crayfish is in serious decline due to competition from introduced American signal crayfish and the crayfish plague they carry. In Devon, the species was historically found in the rivers Exe, Culm, Clyst, Creedy, Creedy Yeo and Otter.
Range / population	Unfavourable bad. Currently present in the Creedy Yeo and Creedy system (below the Yeo confluence) and the Culm. Although Devon is currently free of crayfish plague these two remaining populations are declining and likely to become extinct as signal crayfish are spreading through their river reaches, killing/out-competing them as they go.
Habitat	Unfavourable bad. See above. River habitat is suitable but presence of signal crayfish makes this irrelevant to native crayfish survival.
Future prospects	Unfavourable bad. The Environment Agency is working with Buglife and Devon Wildlife Trust to translocate native crayfish, under licence, from rivers to suitable water bodies in order to prevent their extinction in the county. There is currently no solution to controlling signal crayfish. Please refer to: http://www.buglife.org.uk/conservation/currentprojects/Species+Action/UK+Crayfish+Website
Overall Devon status	Unfavourable bad
UK status (JNCC, 2008)	Unfavourable bad and deteriorating

Southern damselfly

Data	Very good. Transects counts of adults from all sites and larval assessments at Dartmoor sites annually.
Context	Southern damselflies are restricted in range to the south of England and coastal Wales. They are recognised internationally as in danger of extinction. Up to 25% of the global population is thought to occur in the UK. Since 1950 the range of the southern damselfly has reduced by 16% in the UK. The Devon population also declined until the 1990s and was lost from two known sites (Hense Moor in 1965 and Venn Ottery Common in 1990, the latter is currently subject to a re-establishment project).
Range / population	Unfavouable inadequate. Currently occur on Dartmoor and the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths. Four populations on Dartmoor have been discovered since 1996. Two of these are managed and have stable populations, one of the remaining sites has a relatively large and stable, but unmanaged, population and the nearby fourth site is managed but has a very small population. There are two managed populations on the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths and a third site is the subject of a so far successful re-establishment programme. Five of the seven Devon populations are being managed and numbers suggest a stable or increasing populations of this species relative to early 1990 levels, except for one East Devon site and part of one Dartmoor site where undergrazing is a recent problem.
Habitat	Unfavourable inadequate. Breed in slow-moving streams and boggy runnels. Part of one Dartmoor site and one East Devon site have degraded as a result of reduced grazing pressure in recent years.
Future prospects	Favourable. Climate change may improve this species’ status, providing the flows in its favoured streams and land management inputs are maintained.
Overall Devon status	Unfavourable inadequate
UK status (JNCC, 2008)	Unfavourable inadequate

Marsh fritillary

Data	Good.
Context	Devon is a stronghold for this species and in 1998 supported 20% of known UK colonies.
Range / population	Unfavourable bad but improving. Occurs on the Rhôs pastures of the Culm measures and Dartmoor, and the spring line mires of the Blackdown Hills. A 2005 survey revealed a 35% decline since 1999/2000. Population now thought to be stable.
Habitat	Unfavourable bad but improving. Occurs in a range of habitats, especially wet grasslands, where devil’s-bit scabious is found (its larval food plant). Management issues include grazing levels, burning and cutting.
Future prospects	Unfavourable inadequate. Due to recent conservation efforts to manage habitat (Working Wetlands and the Two Moors Threatened Butterfly Project) the population is currently thought to be relatively stable. However, as for many other species, factors such as agricultural policy, support for agri-environment schemes and support for wildlife projects will influence the population in the future.
Overall Devon status	Unfavourable bad
UK status (JNCC, 2008)	Unfavourable bad

Pearl bordered fritillary

Data	Moderate?
Context	Devon is a stronghold for the pearl bordered fritillary.
Range / population	Unfavourable bad. A 2004 survey showing a 30% decline since 1997/8. There are now only ~ 50 sites in the county. The 2011 survey showed an increase in the Devon population, possibly due to the cold winter followed by a warm spring.
Habitat	Unfavourable bad. Found where violets occur in well drained grasslands with scattered scrub and bracken or wood clearings. Lack of coppicing in woodland sites and traditional grazing on bracken slopes, are likely to have led to a loss of violets. Milder and wetter winters experienced until recently may have caused bracken slopes to become grassier with more bramble, bluebells and foxgloves. Milder winters also mean that parasites are likely to survive in greater numbers.
Future prospects	Unfavourable bad.
Overall Devon status	Unfavourable bad
UK status (JNCC, 2008)	Unfavourable bad

Other species:
Other butterflies and moths (bold = current UK priority species).
Large blue. There have been no sightings at the Hembury re-introduction site over the last four years and it is thought to be extinct in Devon.
High brown fritillary. This species continues to decline in Devon and is one of Britain’s most rapidly

declining butterflies. There are now only 15 colonies in three core areas, The Heddon Valley (Exmoor)

and the Dart and Walkham Valleys (Dartmoor). All outlying colonies have been confirmed as extinct.

Reasons for the decline are likely to be as for pearl bordered fritillary.

Heath fritillary. Heath fritillary was re-introduced to a Butterfly Conservation reserve at Lydford in 1994 and the population was recorded at its highest level in 2010.
Both high brown and heath fritillaries are the focus of the Two Moors Butterfly Project (along with marsh fritillary).
Grizzled skipper and white admiral (neither listed in the 1998 Devon BAP) are both declining in Devon.
The status of other butterflies is considered to be stable in Devon. Devon is a national stronghold for the brown hairstreak and numbers are relatively stable. The silver-studded blue is nationally declining but has shown a slight increase in numbers on the East Devon Pebblebed Heath where management for this species is undertaken by Clinton Devon Estates and the RSPB. The small pearl-bordered fritillary is declining nationally but remains widespread in Devon where suitable habitat occurs.

The narrow-bordered bee hawk moth is known on various sites, especially on Dartmoor and is often associated with marsh fritillary butterflies as they share the same food plant (devil’s bit scabious). The Dartmoor population is through to be stable.

Morris’s wainscot is internationally rare. In Britain it is only known to exist on a short stretch of the West Dorset coast and just into Devonat Culverhole and Axmouth.
The scarce black-neck only occurs on the coast in North Devon and adjacent coast in Somerset and Cornwall. Devon is a stronghold for the double line which is fairly widespread and, in places, abundant in the county. Small eggar appears to be scarce in Devon but may be under recorded. It has suffered from flailing of blackthorn hedges, where the larvae feed.


Other dragonflies and damselflies (underlined = key to Devon in 1998)
Scarce chaser and hairy dragonfly have both increased in range recently, possibly due to climate change,
Downy emerald has small but apparently stable populations at a few sites in the Bovey Basin and on the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths. The status of ruddy darter remains precarious, but probably stable, in the county.

The red-eyed damselfly has been lost from a few sites during the past 20 years and, although a few sites have been discovered, the poor colonising ability of this species suggests an overall decline.

There is no evidence of any clear population trends for small red, scarce blue-tailed and white-legged damselflies.

Beetles (bold = current UK priority species)

Devon is a national stronghold for the blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus) with most of the UK population occurring on the southern edge of Dartmoor. The Dartmoor population is thought to be stable.

Devon supports the only UK population of the Mediterranean oil beetle and is one of only two known locations of the short necked oil beetle (Meloe brevicollis) thought to be extinct in Britain until it was rediscovered on the south Devon coast in 2006.
The Lundy cabbage fly beetle is a global endemic, found only on Lundy.


Bees, ants and wasps (bold = current UK priority species)
Devon supports the only remaining English population of the narrow headed ant (Formica exsecta). The only remaining UK population of the cuckoo bee (Nomada sexfasciata) occurs along a short stretch of the South Devon coast with the Prawle Point to Start Point SSSI.. The long horned bee (Eucera longicornis) is the the host of N sexfasciata and the population at Prawle is thought to be significant nationally (this species was not listed in the 1998 BAP). The soft cliffs of this SSSI are recognised as being one of the most important sites for solitary bees and wasps in the UK.
The bee Lasioglossum angusticeps is found in the Sidmouth area and distribution seems relatively unchanged since 1998. However the tormentil mining bee (Andrena tarsata) (not listed in the 1998 BAP) used to be all over South Devon heaths and moors but there are no known recent records.

True flies (bold = current UK priority species)
Bog hoverfly (Eristalis cryptarum). Thought to now be extinct in Cornwall and Somerset. The only UK population is now found on Dartmoor and is believed to be stable.
Hornet robberfly (Asilus crabroniformis) One of our largest and most spectacular flies found in Wales and southern England and associated with dung.
Spiders (bold = current UK priority species)
Only two spiders Calliepis nocturnum and Episinus maculipes were listed in the 1998 BAP, neither of which are UK priority species.
There are currently 400 species of spider on the county list, 11 of which are on the UK priority list. The Devon list will be updated but of interest is the horrid ground-weaver spider (Nothphantes horridus) which has only ever been found at two old quarries in Plymouth, but hasn’t been seen since 1995. Buglife has set up a project to search for this small money spider which is.one of the rarest invertebrates in the UK and may be one of the rarest spiders in the world.
Snails (bold = current UK priority species)

Amber sandbowl snail (Catinella arenaria) lives in wet hollows in sand dunes in two sites in the UK, including Braunton Burrows.

Corals and sea anemones (bold = current UK priority species)
Sunset cup coral (Leptopsammia microcardia). British populations occur on rocky shores in the south west. Populations are declining. Numbers of sunset cup corals on Lundy island fell by almost a quarter in one recent four year period. They no longer occur at all near Ilfracombe in north Devon.
Sea fan anemone (Amphianthus dohrnii). In Britain most frequently recorded off Plymouth’s coast.

4.6 PLANTS and FUNGI

Key species identified for conservation in Devon (Devon BAP, 1998)
Woodland - yellow bird’s-nest, Graphina pauciloculata (lichen), Schismatomma graphidoides (lichen), rare and threatened whitebeams, golden-hair lichen, orange fruited elm lichen, spring snowflake, small-leaved lime, purple gromwell, greater butterfly orchid, lungwort lichens, Poria guaranitica (lichen), filmy ferns, hay-scented buckler fern, flax-leaved St John’s-wort, Irish spurge, wild daffodils.

Coast and marine – early gentian, chamomile, water germander, round-headed club rush, sea stock, golden-hair lichen, Lundy cabbage, triangular clubrush, Peacock’s tail (alga), shore dock, petalwort (liverwort), sand crocus, sharp rush, Ramalina siliquosa (lichen), Roccella fuciformis (lichen), Heterodermia leucomelos (Ciliate straplichen), Bartula cordata (Cordate Beard Moss), lanceolate spleenwort, maidenhair fern, small rest-harrow, purple gromwell, sea lavender, Nottingham catchfly, small hare’s-ear, goldilocks aster, balm-leaved figwort, tree mallow, dwarf spike-rush, parsley water-dropwort, corky-fruited water-dropwort, frogbit, marsh arrowgrass, thrift, Pterosiphonia pennata (alga), Asperococcus compressus (alga), Bornetia secundiflora (alga), Gelidium sesquipidale (alga), Gigartina pistillata (alga), Gracilaria bursapastoris (red alga), Gymnogongrus devoniensis (red alga), Laminaria ochroleuca (brown alga), eel grasses (Zostera spp.)
Rivers / standing open water – strapwort, multi-fruited river moss, large Atlantic pocket moss,

spring quillwort, lungwort lichens, filmy fern, Cornish moneywort

Inland rock exposures – Tortula solmsii (moss), filmy ferns, forked spleenwort, flax-leaved St John’s wort
Grassland / heathland – heath lobelia, vigur’s eyebright, early gentian, field eryngo, Deptford pink, chamomile, stag’s horn clubmoss, greater butterfly orchid, white rock rose, honewort, small hare’s ear, small rest-harrow, goldilocks aster, autumn squill, little-robin
Wetland – marsh clubmoss, Irish lady’s tresses

Sphagnum imbricatum (bog moss), cranberry, bog orchid, wavy St John’s wort, meadow thistle
Hedges / farmland - bastard balm, Plymouth pear, field eryngo, pennyroyal, broad-fruited cornsalad,

balm-leaved figwort

Species listed due to being characteristic of Devon or of popular appeal – heather, great sundew, oblong-leaved sundew, many-leaved pocket-moss, slender bird’s foot trefoil, hairy bird’s-foot trefoil, green-winged orchid, Royal fern, early meadow-grass, primrose, Western gorse