Stag beetle

[FoxHillGardener]

Lookk what I found when doing a spot of digging yesterday

[MrsBond]

Eeeek that is quite a beast, and you found it in London?

I didn't know we get those in this Country, or am I just being a numpty!

MrsB x

[FoxHillGardener]

yes indeedy, south London is a bit of a hot spot for them apparently. see The Stag Beetle Project

I've seen females before over on Gipsy Hill, but this is the first time I've found a male.

[smallblueplanet]

Here's a really cool idea for a different type of 'insect house' MB.

"The stag beetle, Britain's biggest native beetle, is a globally threatened species, protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981, and listed as a priority species for the UK and London Biodiversity Action Plans. The number of stag beetles has been in decline since the 1940s.

The primary factor in their decline has been attributed to the loss of appropriate habitat – dead wood. The stag beetle requires dead wood to complete its lifecycle, as larvae feed on it for up to seven years before emerging briefly, usually in May, as mating adults."

stag beetle info - pdf

Bury Buckets 4 Beetles

stagbeetlehelpline.co.uk

Stag beetles are Britain's largest beetle. The species we have in this country is Lucanus cervus. The males are easily recognisable by their 'antlers' - these are in fact enlarged mandibles. The females do not have the enlarged mandibles and are slightly smaller.

[fiveravens]

I have my own little nature reserve and I am extremely jealous! I'd give my eye teeth for stag beetles...

[Two_Sheds]

That's a beauty. I last saw one in Devon when I were a nipper. I occasionally see Devils Coach Horse up here, which is only a slightly less impressive beastie. Google Image Result for http://www.homepages.mcb.net/wormwell/DCH1.jpg

[Capsid]

Although I have made a log pile to attract these beautiful beetles, I probably live too far north for them. But with global warming.....

[peanut]

Wow!! (s)he's lovely!

You're soooo lucky to have a nest of Stag Beetles.

My mum has some too and in early summer on a still night when they fly off its like a World War bombing mission, they all take off at around the same time, but aren't the best at navigating and end up crashing all over the place, so it's all hands to the decks so to speak to rescue them and set them on their way again, they end up in the house, stuck behind pots, in buckets, all sorts, bless 'em!

[Headfry]

wow you are so lucky FoxhillG.......I would love to find one of those! I have seen those Cochaffer beetles, they seem big enough, but the stag beetle looks huge!
Peanut- well done for your rescue missons, I am just as bad, my poor Mr HF has a lot to put up with! and best of all, it does it with a smile.
I rescued one of those Devils coach thingy beetles from my lounge once, It BIT me, I could not stop laughing! a beetle that bit me....still makes me smile even now.

[Digger-07]

We used to get them when we lived in Colchester. On an evening you could hear them crashing about in the privet hedge. Being from up't north I had never seen anything like it, especially when they flew - they were the size of a sparrow.

I always recall thinking (as I rode my motorbike 35 miles to work along country lanes) of the joke about how do you know if a motorbiker is happy? he is picking the flies out of his teeth. If you hit a stag beetle you would be lucky if you had any teeth left.

[peanut]

I rescued one of those Devils coach thingy beetles from my lounge once, It BIT me, I could not stop laughing! a beetle that bit me....still makes me smile even now.

Some creatures just don't appreciate your efforts do they!!!