Beetling back.

A beetle thought to have been extinct in the UK since 1948 has been rediscovered, it was announced yesterday. The National Trust said the short-necked oil beetle, known as Meloe brevicollis, was found by entomologist Bob Beckford on trust land in South Devon. Oil beetles were formerly more common, but their natural habitats and the populations of bees they rely on have been decimated by intensive farming practices. The coastal strip of land where the oil beetle was discovered has been managed less intensively as farmland, therefore creating a habitat where the beetle could survive undisturbed. This important site is to be monitored.