In these cases (and if the species has not been recorded since) then we have used the < symbol, signifying that the date is presumed before 1916 (the publication date).

Many of the historical last dates for each species, were originally sourced from J.W. Carr's book "The invertebrate fauna of Nottinghamshire" published in 1916, which was one of the reference sources we used when compiling the "Sherwood Forest Invertebrate Directory 2013", available via our downloads page.

Sherwood Forest Coleoptera - a brief summary

Coleoptera at Sherwood Forest has done reasonably well over the years and by the end of 2012, a total of 1,169 species of beetle had been recorded from the Sherwood Forest area. Of this total, 217 species are currently classed as Red-listed (RDB), or one of three categories of Nationally notable status.

But looking into the available data and records for the area which we have collated over recent years, does show that 315/1,169 (26.94%) species have not occurred at Sherwood Forest since 1916, many of which must now be considered to have become lost from the area. However, it is not unusual for species to suddenly turn up again, which is where the data for Coleoptera differs from that shown in a similar review (January 2013) of Sherwood Forest's larger moths.

If we look at the more recent records of those species recorded since 2000, we find that a total of 728/1,169 (62.27%) species have been recorded since 2000. This total also includes the 250 new species of beetle to Sherwood which have been recorded since 2000. 250 new species, even to such a large site as Sherwood is quite staggering, especially when compared to just the six new species of larger moths recorded over the same time period. It shows that although the small size of many beetles enables them to 'disappear' for decades quite easily, there has been a quite considerable turn-over of species in just over a century of recording.

A brief expanation of the Red Data Book classification system

RDB1 ..... Endangered. Species which have shown a rapid continuous decline over the last twenty years, and now exist in 5 or fewer 10km squares of the national grid.

RDB2 ..... Vulnerable. Species likely to move to RDB1 in the near future, as most or all populations are declining.

RDB3 ..... Rare. Species with small populations which are localised or thinly scattered, but not at present qualifying for RDB1-2.

RDBI ..... Red data book indeterminate. Species believed to be rare, but for which data on their distribution is insufficient to allow a grade to be assigned.

To help things, we have colour coded each species status in line with the colours shown in the table on the left.