From Oban to Shetland, rare Scottish beetle is creating a buzz
Have you ever heard of the Plantain Leaf Beetle?
The Plantain Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina intermedia) is an incredibly rare and wonderfully charismatic wee beetle. It is all black in colour with bright red stripes running down the outer edge of its wing cases (its elytra) and it can only be found in Norway and Scotland and nowhere else in the world.
In Scotland it has been recorded at Yesnaby in Orkney, at Keen of Hamer Nature Reserve on the island of Unst in Shetland, and at the very tip of Loch Etive on the Scottish mainland, first recorded there in 1989. There has been, however, some uncertainty about this last site. Some questioned whether sightings at Loch Etive were actually of a different species of Chrysolina beetle, and not Chrysolina intermedia – the Plantain Leaf Beetle. So, this summer, Species on the Edge Buglife Officer Sally Morris, and Buglife Development Manager Suzanne (Suzie) Burgess, headed to Loch Etive to try and see for themselves; does a population of this rare beastie indeed exist on the Scottish mainland, so far from its two other known sites in Orkney and Shetland? Or has there been a mix-up, and some other Chrysolina species hasbeen masquerading as the Plantain variety all these years at Loch Etive? They were soon to get their answer…
Let the Loch Etive search commence!
It’s mid-August 2025 and Sally and Suzie arrive at the tidal Loch Etive to embark on a two-day beetle search. When they arrive, the tide is out leaving bare the vegetated, marshy beach. The first thing the pair note is how similar the shore of Loch Etive is to Yesnaby in Orkney: bare ground composed of stones of varying size, with several large boulders, and patches of Buckhorn Plantain, Ribwort Plantain and Thrift – plants known to be popular to the Plantain Leaf Beetle. A promising sign!
They spend several hours searching, rooting around in the plantain, hoping for a glimpse of those vibrant red stripes. And… nothing. Accepting defeat for the day, they begin their return to the car. And then, a flash of red! Or rather, flashes of red! Two Plantain Leaf Beetles! Day two proved even more successful, with seven beetles found crawling along the shore on the very edge of the loch – now at high tide. It was an amazing experience for Sally and Suzie, watching this extraordinary beetle crawling around in its only known site on the Scottish mainland, an area only 40-50 metres in length.
Searches in Orkney and Shetland also bear fruit
This stunning finding hasn’t been the only Plantain Leaf Beetle-based excitement of 2025. In March, Suzie ran a workshop at Yesnaby training volunteers how to survey for the rare beetle. During the workshop a whopping 30 adult Plantain Leaf Beetles were recorded along the clifftop site, including several pairs of mating beetles.
And in August 2025, after many unsuccessful beetle-hunts spanning two years, the Species on the Edge Shetland team finally spotted two adult Plantain Leaf Beetles at Keen of Hamar Nature Reserve. This was the first record by project staff since the beetle was recorded there in 2023, which was itself the first Plantain Leaf Beetle record in Shetland since the late 1990s – the Shetland Plantain Leaf Beetles are an elusive bunch!
Could there be more populations out there?
All in all, the Plantain Leaf Beetle has given us lots to get excited about this year. And who knows, maybe there will be more excitement to come! Following the training event in Orkney earlier this year, we now have trained volunteers out looking for the Plantain Leaf Beetle on the north coast of mainland Scotland. There are sites on this stretch of mainland with similar habitat – rocky ground with patches of those plants we know are popular with our wee friend – and the experts think that there could be more populations just waiting to be found. No luck so far, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
If you want to know more about our work for the Plantain Leaf Beetle, or you’re keen to get involved, get in touch with your local Species on the Edge officer:
Shetland: harry.britton@rspb.org.uk
Orkney: helen.cromarty@rspb.org.uk
North Coast: sarah.bird@plantlife.org.uk
Argyll: sally.morris@buglife.org.uk
