Rare Orcadian beastie gets a new name: introducing the Peedie Reid Gablo

The Plantain Leaf Beetle can be found at Yesnaby in Orkney. It is often quite an elusive beetle, however in recent weeks it’s been putting on quite a show; a whopping 500 were counted in a single day at the cliff-top site in April. Apart from Yesnaby, the beetle can also be found on the Keen of Hamar in Shetland, along the banks of Loch Etive near Oban, and in Norway; it’s found nowhere else in the world. 

Dounby Primary School P5 class has been learning about the beetle through the endangered species conservation programme, Species on the Edge (SotE), as part of their John Muir Award. During visits from SotE Orkney’s People Engagement Officer, Sam Stringer, they’ve learnt about the beetle’s ecology, how to recognise its foodplants, and how to use quadrats and transects to survey the beetle. They learnt how to draw the beetle from local botanical artist, Sarah Crowe, had an online beetle Q&A with expert Suzanne Burgess from invertebrate charity Buglife, and even got to see the rare beauty on a trip to Yesnaby. During their visit they applied their new survey skills, recording important data and submitting it to Buglife which will help inform future conservation efforts.  

With Yesnaby being such a globally important site for the Plantain Leaf Beetle, Dounby Primary pupils thought it was only right that the beetle get a proper Orcadian name. To land on the new name, and to raise awareness of the rare beetle while they were at it, Dounby Primary launched a naming competition open to P4 – P7s across Orkney.  

The class designed and sent competition posters to every primary school across the county, shared their new knowledge of the beetle with listeners of BBC Radio Orkney, and promoted the competition in The Peedie Orcadian. 

Over 30 names were submitted and the winning name was chosen: ‘Peedie Reid Gablo’. Congratulations to Mrs Lesley Spence’s Primary 4 class at St Andrews Primary for the winning suggestion. 

Sam Stringer from Species on the Edge Orkney said: “Orcadian names for wildlife help us understand more about local species and are also lots of fun.  ‘Tirricks’ are Arctic Terns, ‘Watery Pleeps’ are Redshanks and ‘Cattie-faces’ are Short Eared Owls. To have an Orcadian name for the Plantain Leaf Beetle is a fantastic legacy for the Dounby P5 class who have loved learning about this rare Orkney species and care about its future conservation. And what an apt winning name the ‘Peedie Reid Gablo’ is for this special, rare, small, red beetle.” 

Suzanne Burgess, Development Manager at Buglife, said “The enthusiasm the children at Dounby Primary School have shown towards the Plantain Leaf Beetle has been inspiring. This was shown with the range of questions they asked in our Q&A session and it was wonderful to share my knowledge of this fascinating beetle with them. I was delighted to hear its new Orcadian name and think the pupils have chosen a very fitting and worthy title for this special species.”   

Sally Morris, Species on the Edge’s Buglife Officer, said: “Thank you to everyone that’s helping to raise awareness and celebrate this small but mighty beetle. There’s still so much we don’t know but raising awareness of rare species like the Plantain Leaf Beetle can help us to increase our knowledge of its ecology and distribution. As part of the wider Species on the Edge programme, our team and partners are busy carrying out surveys across Orkney, Shetland and Loch Etive, spreading the word about this amazing species, and looking out for new sites!” 

Orkney local beetle recorder, Brian Ribbands, and the team at Species on the Edge are asking the people of Orkney to keep their eyes peeled for the Peedie Reid Gablo, and to share any sightings. If you see it, send the date and location of the sighting and a photo to Brian at queenamidda@gmail.com or record it using the iRecord app or at www.irecord.org.uk/.  

Species on the Edge has produced a Peedie Reid Gablo reporting card that is available to pick up from shops, cafes and community spaces across the West Mainland, or from Sam at SotE: samantha.stringer@rspb.org.uk