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A rare beetle has been spotted at Bovey Heath in South Devon - the first time in years it has been seen at the site.

The beetle - Kugelann's ground beetle (Poecilus kugelanni) - is one of the rarest in Britain, so the discovery at Bovey Heath has caused excitement among conservationists at the Devon Wildlife Trust, which bought the site in 2002.

In fact, May 2002 was the last time the beetle was seen at the heath, and the four year absence had prompted fears that the colony had been completely lost.

Bug expert John Walters with a kugellan's beetle

The beetle is included in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as a priority species and until recently was only known to exist in the New Forest.

The species has been in serious decline from its former range because of the destruction of its key habitat, heathland.

Along with the five sites in the New Forest, it is now known to exist at only six sites in Devon, two sites in Dorset, and in 2005 it was rediscovered at a site in north Cornwall.

The Bovey beetle was found by student and Bovey Heathfield volunteer Lucy Borde while out checking her beetle traps.

It was then confirmed to be Poecilus kugelanni by local entomologist John Walters from Buckfastleigh, who has been studying the beetle for many years.

Lucy said: "We had a record of the beetle on the site four years ago but none sinc. Then this week (August 14thn 2006) it turned up in one of my traps along with a few lizards.

"Normally if there are lizards in the pot the beetles don't survive, so we are especially surprised to see it alive and well!".

Bovey Heath

The beetle prefers south-facing patches of ground with bare earth and low lying heather for cover.

The heath at Bovey is now ideal for the beetle to thrive, as there has been a concerted effort to reduce the amount of scrub on the reserve. Until the DWT bought the heath in 2002, the important area of habitat had fallen into neglect.

Nature Reserve Officer Stephen Carroll said: "We have been looking for this beetle ever since DWT took over the site four years ago.

"We had hoped that the species had been able to cling on through the decades of neglect but were starting to give up hope of finding it again.

"It's these sort of discoveries that really say the biggest thank you to the volunteers that have helped us manage the site."