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A beetle which had been thought to be extinct in the UK since 1948 has been discovered on a stretch of coastal land in South Devon.

Around 40 short-necked oil beetles (Meloe brevicollis) were found by amateur entomologist, Bob Heckford, while carrying out a wildlife survey between Bolt Head and Bolt Tail.

The discovery is on National Trust land. The site will be monitored and the lifecycle of the beetle examined in more detail so that the National Trust can work with its tenant farmer to make sure the land is managed in a way that helps the oil beetle to flourish.

Oil beetles used to be more common, but their natural habitats and the populations of bees that they rely on have been decimated by intensive farming practices.

David Bullock, head of nature conservation at the National Trust, said: "The discovery of a beetle that was thought to be extinct for nearly 60 years is an amazing story of survival, particularly for a species with such an interdependent lifecycle.

The beetles were found near Bolt Head

"It's likely that this population of the short-necked oil beetle has survived because they inhabit an area of land that has avoided the intensive farming methods on surrounding arable land."

Oil beetles get their name from the highly toxic oily secretions that they produce when threatened.

They have an unusual appearance and a strange life history. Adult beetles are flightless, large and slow moving.

The bodies - especially of females - are swollen and the wing cases are short and rudimentary.

Adult oil beetles, which live for about three months, lay up to 1,000 eggs in a burrow in soft or sandy soil and eggs hatch in the following spring. The young larvae are unusual in being very active and long-legged and are known as triungulins after their three claws.

Once they have hatched, the young larvae crawl up on to vegetation, often lying in wait in flowers, where they hitch a ride on mining bees and are involuntarily taken back to the bee's nest.

The triungulin then changes into a more maggot-like larvae and devours the bee's egg and also the protein-rich pollen stores that the bee intended to provide for its own larvae.听Adults will emerge in the following spring, completing the life-cycle.

David Bullock said it's fantastic to see the little insects back in the UK: "It's great that this oil beetle, with its fascinating lifestyle, has survived against all the odds and is back in business on the South Devon coast."