As part of a natural history monitoring project by the Botanical-Zoological Society Liechtenstein-Sarganserland-Werdenberg (BZG) and the Office for the Environment, an appeal was made to the public in 2024 to report evidence of the two beetle species Alpine longhorn beetle and stag beetle on the newly created website www.citizen-science.li. The call was answered intensively and a total of 275 reports were received, from which important information on the occurrence of these species was obtained. Due to the similarity between stag beetle females and another beetle species, the Balk's beetle, this species was also recorded. Following its successful launch in the previous year, the website and reporting platform will be continued and expanded in 2025.

Hedgehogs, stoats and ant moths as new focus species

The reporting platform continues to offer the option of reporting stag beetles, European beetles and Alpine longhorned beetles. In addition to these beetle species, evidence of hedgehogs, stoats and antlions can now also be reported. There are still gaps in our knowledge of the occurrence of these three species. All three species have very specific habitat requirements in terms of structure and closeness to nature. Species whose occurrence allows conclusions to be drawn about habitat conditions are referred to as indicator species. Hedgehogs, for example, require varied structures with good hiding places and food supplies. All three species can benefit from human activities to a certain extent. For example, there are often dry places with fine sand around buildings, such as under bridges or canopies, where the larvae of the ant lion create their typical trapping funnels.

Species descriptions in the form of short profiles can be found on the reporting platform. The identification of all species is relatively simple, which makes them ideal for the "citizen science" approach. For the respective insect species Alpine longhorned beetle, stag beetle, barred white butterfly and antlion damselfly, photographic evidence is an important addition and is very helpful and even essential for confirming species identification.

Press contact:

Office for the Environment
Oliver Müller and Olivier Nägele, Nature and Landscape Officer
T +423 236 64 09 and +423 236 64 02
oliver.mueller@llv.li and olivier.naegele@llv.li