Getting the lowdown on Teesdale's dung beetles

IT’S a dirty job – but wildlife officers are hoping there will be plenty of outdoor enthusiasts willing to do it.

Volunteers are being sought to help out with a research project into the dung beetle population of upper Teesdale.

And that means getting down and dirty with the invertebrates which provide a vital service as they recycle the droppings of cattle, sheep and horses – and anything else they come across.

A two-day course on identifying and recording species of dung beetles is being held at Newbiggin Village Hall on September 16 and 17 as part of the North Pennines AONB Partnership’s cold blooded and spineless project.

The course is being run by members of the Dung Beetle UK Mapping Project (Dump), based at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Mandy Oliver, cold blooded and spineless project officer at the AONB, said: “Dung beetles are really important in our ecosystem and really important recyclers.

“There is an island where dung beetles were wiped out by a flood and subsequently, the dung pile was about two metres high because there were no dung beetles to recycle it. They really do an important job.

“We want to know what kind of species we have got in the North Pennines,” she said.

According to Dump, there are about 60 species of scarab beetles that on dung across the UK.

However, the group says British dung beetles are in decline for a number of reasons, such as overwintering livestock in barns, not fields, and converting pasture to other uses.

Ms Oliver said volunteers taking part in the course would spend some time indoors learning about the life cycle of dung beetles.

“Then we will be outside, ferreting through different sorts of dung, as different sorts of dung attract different sorts of beetles.

“We will be looking at sheep fields, cattle fields and horses.”

She added: “It is part of our ongoing upskilling of volunteers to be able to identify invertebrates and record them.

“No research like this has been done before. We have some records for dung beetles in the North Pennines, but not many. We would like to know more because they are so important.”

Once the training has been completed, Ms Oliver said it was hoped to organise some fieldwork so the volunteers could put their new-found skills to good use.

The results of the volunteers' research will be fed into the AONB wildwatch wildlife recording site online, which in turn is passed on to the national record centres.

There are just 12 spots available on the two-day training course and places are still available. Places cost £60/£50.

For further information, contact Ms Oliver at the AONB on 01388 528801.