The flame-coloured sun worshiper
It’s summer and it’s sunny. In the garden here in Oxfordshire, as we house-sit for friends, there are insects aplenty. Many are …
There’s a beetle-shaped hole in our lives
In the UK the species Trichodes alvearius and another, the Bee-Eating Beetle, Trichodes apiarius, “Have not been seen since the 19th century and are likely to be extinct.”
Sexton
This summer in Orkney we met up with two friends and fellow enthusiasts for a moth-trapping evening. I loved setting up their …
Boring beetles
Beetles are never boring, unless they’re tunnelling, of course. How fabulous are these tunnels under the bark of this tree? I’d love …
Spotting chafers
We’re walking in the heat through pungent herbs, surrounded by butterflies and day-flying moths with Lesser Kestrels overhead. We’re in Matera in …
Mediterranean Spotted Chafer
It’s taken me a while to identify this beetle I saw in Italy this summer. It really shouldn’t have taken me this …
The tiger with six spots
We’re walking along the River Potomac in Virginia, in Scott’s Run Nature Preserve. It’s hot and humid: Along the path are the …
Reed Beetle on the reeds
Habitat. It’s the key to the survival of our planet. One species isn’t enough: everything depends upon everything else in a complex …
Cockchafer
Apparently this is a Cockchafer. I’ll take whoever named its word for it. I’m not about to try it and see for …
The Bee-Hive Beetle
That’s bright! It’s got bright red and black striped warning colouration. It’s the Bee-Hive Beetle, Trichodes alvearius, named by Johan Christan Fabricius …
Violet Oil Beetles
In Dunsford Wood there are glades and clearings full of wild daffodils. As I meander around them, stepping on Ramsons and sniffing …
Simple pleasures
Life is a sequence of experiences. The ones I’ve treasured most have been ones that I’ve shared, with people, with family and …
A yellow-spotted green Tiger
The Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris) has yellow spots on an amazing textured metallic emerald green back. Green Tiger Beetles prey upon …
Beetles and bicycles
I’ve spent an age getting ready to go cycling. I’ve got changed, put my padded cycling trousers on, packed my rucksack with …
Bloody-Nosed Beetle
There’s a Bloody-Nosed Beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa, marching across the field in front of me. They are flightless beetles which struck me as …