The Calder Valley to Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire

Wales has become the first country in the world with a map of its most important areas for insects and other invertebrates. 

Buglife, the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, has published Important Invertebrate Areas: Putting Bugs on the Map in Wales. 

The network of 17 Important Invertebrate Areas (IIAs) has been identified by the charity working with experts and using millions of records collected by naturalists. Wales is home to iconic and threatened species found nowhere else in Britain. 

These include :  

• the Cliff Mason Bee (Osmia xanthomelana), now only known from two short stretches of Welsh cliff top, and 
• the Critically Endangered Scarce Yellow Sally Stonefly (Isogenus nebecula) which is only found in the River Dee and was once feared once being feared extinct. 

The IIAs, which are home to nationally or internationally significant invertebrate populations and their habitats, took nearly five years to map. 

They cover 1,344km2 of Wales, which is just 6.5% of the country, but home to over 10,800 species of invertebrate, including seven of Britain’s endemic species, found nowhere else in the world. 

The IIAs are also home to threatened species, including : 

• the Blue Ground Beetle (Carabus intricatus), Britain's rarest snail 
• the Glutinous Snail (Myxas glutinosa), and 
• the Fen Raft Spider (Dolomedes plantarius) our largest spider. 

Buglife Cymru Manager, Clare Dinham, said, “Wales’ Important Invertebrate Areas, from the Llŷn The full map of IIAs can be explored on the Buglife website, with freely accessible profile documents for each of the 17 IIAs that explain why they are important, the threats they face and what needs to be done to enable their special inhabitants to thrive. 

* www.buglife.org.uk 

* Nikki.Banfield@buglife.org.uk