Rare cricket survives Napoli wreck

Missing for nearly 18 months and with concerns for its survival, one of the rarest insects in Britain has been seen again on Branscombe beach in south Devon.

Found at only three sites in the UK, the Scaly cricket (Pseudomogoplistes vicentae) had vanished after the grounding of the MSC Napoli in Devon in January 2007.

First discovered on Branscombe Beach in 1998, this curious little insect, whose life cycle isn't yet fully understood, is nocturnal and lives on shingle beaches feeding on general waste.

Normally found in the Mediterranean, the cricket measures between 8 and 13 millimetres long and they can live for up to three years.

In January 2007 the MSC Napoli was deliberately grounded in Lyme Bay off Branscombe following damage it suffered in a storm - but following the massive clean-up, concerns were raised for the survival of the tiny cricket because of the debris.

Adrian Colston, National Trust property manager for Dartmoor and the Orthoptera recorder who made the rediscovery, said: "This rediscovery has come as a real relief and it's likely a healthy population of Scaly crickets can still be found on Branscombe beach.

"They are notoriously difficult to find and their location away from the main site of the Napoli activity certainly helped increase the likelihood that they would survive."