After disappearing from Britain decades ago, the New Forest cicada is back following a landmark reintroduction effort.
Eleven female cicadas were collected from woodlands in northern France and transported to a custom-built enclosure at Paultons Park on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire.
The insects, known for the males’ distinctive high-pitched song, were once widespread across the New Forest, but the last confirmed sighting was in the 1990s.
Scientists at the Species Recovery Trust are now working to re-establish a breeding population in the region where the species once thrived.
“We finally have New Forest cicada on English shores again and we look forward to the next phase of the project to explore re-establishing this species in the New Forest,” says Graham Horton, acting deputy director at Natural England.
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The New Forest cicada, or Cicadetta montana, is the UK’s only native cicada species. Adult cicadas are dark with golden ring markings and clear wings.
The hope is that the newly arrived females, which grown up to 5cm in length, will lay eggs in raspberry canes and young hazel trees within their enclosure, triggering the start of a new UK population.
The cicadas were released on 12 June into habitats designed to replicate their natural environment. But the wait for results will be a long one – the species spends most of its life underground as a nymph, only emerging after four to six years. The earliest signs of success may not appear until 2029.
“This has been a really challenging project so it's amazing to see New Forest cicadas in England after all this time. It's like bringing them back from the dead,” says Charlotte Carne, project officer at the Species Recovery Trust.
The team are also studying cicada populations in Slovenia to understand their behaviour more closely and may bring more individuals from France in the future to strengthen the UK group.
Forestry England has been working alongside the trust to ensure woodland management practices can support the reintroduction.
Dominic Price, director of the Species Recovery Trust, says the loss of the cicada may have been linked to changes in land use, but a warming climate and improved habitat conditions now offer new hope.
Main image: New Forest cicada reintroduction. Credit: Pete Hughes
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