Kiltubbrid Loughs ASSI

This site comprises a large basin containing two loughs surrounded by a variety of wetland habitats. The main component is Phragmites swamp but there is a large and complex area of interesting fen in the north-east, which is partly grazed. Transition to the adjacent improved pasture is usually fairly abrupt though in places there is a narrow margin of rush pasture.

Structurally the fen looked of high quality but some expected invertebrate species such as Hydroporus scalesianus (a diving beetle) are apparently absent. Presence of Oplodontha viridula (a soldier fly), Donacia bicolora ( a reed beetle) and Dytiscus circumcinctus ( a diving beetle), species only recorded in the survey at this site, do reflect the rather different nature of the fen, which clearly has affinities with the Fermanagh base-rich fens. Presence of these species together with the carabid Pterostichus aterrimus (a Priority Species ground beetle), means this site is rated highly. Tetrix subulata ( a slender groundhopper) records come from such grazed fens, clearly a requirement of this species at the northern edge of its Irish range.