Excitement as rare beetle found in Arundel

Staff have been excited by the discovery of the reserve’s first great silver water beetle.

This beetle has never been spotted at the wetland centre before as these beetles are mainly found in the Somerset Levels and are very rare in Sussex.

The centre’s aviculture warden, Sam Halpin, said: “I’m surprised the large beetle survived in the exhibit with the hungry sea ducks that like to eat arthropods.”

In almost 40 years, there have only been two confirmed recordings of the beetle, one at Chichester Canal in 1990 and the other at Ifield Pond in Crawley in 1978, said Penny Green, manager of Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre.