Safeguard rare beetles’ habitat (From York Press)

Safeguard rare beetles’ habitat

8:00am Saturday 2nd February 2013 in Letters By Reader's letter

IT IS pleasing to see that efforts are being made to safeguard the rare Tansy beetle along the banks of the River Ouse near York (The Press, January 30).

I hope some of the work has been concentrated on the stretch between Nether Poppleton and the York outer ring road which, four years ago, held a large and thriving population of this rare insect.

However, in recent years, large areas of Tansy plants have been shaved off close to the ground right up to the top of the riverbank in early August, when the beetles are at their most active. This has led to their almost complete annihilation.

It is no use conservation groups expending their time on a project if this then happens.

Alec Acomb, Hillcrest Avenue, Nether Poppleton, York