Mire pill beetle  (Curimopsis nigrita)

This beetle faces a number of threats, including drainage of the mire habitat in order to allow peat extraction, fire, drought, shading resulting from scrub growth, and a decrease in the level of ground water, caused by water abstraction and general land drainage (2). Since 1970, the area of available habitat has been reduced by 80% on Hatfield Moor and 30% on Thorne Moors, largely as a result of peat extraction for use in horticulture (2).

The diminutive mire pill beetle is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) priority species (2), and is included in English Nature's Species Recovery Programme (5). The Species Action Plan produced under the UK BAP aims to maintain all current known populations, and to enhance these populations before 2010 (2). All three sites are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and large areas of Thorne and Hatfield Moors are owned by English Nature. These sites therefore receive a level of protection (2).