Chris Heath has identified this beetle as a Great Capricorn [Chris Heath]

A RARE beetle that has been extinct in Britain for hundreds of years was unexpectedly found in Queen’s Crescent.

Chris Heath was walking down Bassett Street when he came across the endangered Great Capricorn Beetle unexpectedly perched on planks of wood. “It’s a very, very, rare sight,” he told the New Journal.

Mr Heath worked as the education officer at Kentish Town City Farm for 21 years, teaching school children about the environment and animals. And he also has a special interest in identifying insects.

“I can identify my weeds and I can identify my bugs,” he said. “I was thrilled when I saw it. It’s something you never see. I came across this quite by chance. They’re very slow moving, they’re not like a cockroach, and they can nip. They’ve got quite powerful mandibles.”

The Great Capricorn Beetle is an endangered species listed in the European Union’s Habitats Directive, largely due to deforestation.

The shiny black creepy crawly lives for two years as larvae in Oak trees, eating the surrounding bark. It emerges as a beetle, but only lives for a few weeks in this state. The creature was discovered in crates transporting granite kerb stones.

Mr Heath rang up the company responsible which told him the stones had been imported from Portugal.

A secret spot for the beetle’s release on Hampstead Heath

Mr Heath said: “It’s a sign of the forest destruction in Portugal. It’s the habitat degradation which is one of the primary causes of it becoming extinct

“The tragic abduction of this beetle demonstrates there’s environmental costs that often go unnoticed which are nevertheless very important. It’s one less breeding Great Capricorn Beetle out of the pot.”

Mr Heath took the large antennaed insect, which only lives for a few weeks, home and kept it in a dark bug enclosure.

Mr Heath with another beetle – he loves identifying them

He took it to the children’s arts charity Sir Hubert Von Herkomer Arts Foundation so that kids could have a look.

“I shared it with the young people and parents so they had a chance to see something they’ll likely never see in their lives,” he said.

After consulting the Natural History Museum, who “agreed it must have come over in the timber packaging” he released it on Hampstead Heath.

“Although I let it go in the most suitable habitat (Hampstead Heath has lots of oak trees) the chances of finding it a mate are minuscule,” he said.