Invaders and Immigrants

 Wednesday August 10

Beetles are probably the most numerous moth trap invaders at our house. Some are the tiny 2/3 mm long swarm which took over the egg boxes last week  Thought by our beetle expert, A.Duff,  to be Bradycellus sp. prob verbasci.

 

 

I attempted to photograph the underside of a Dor Beetle on Monday. It's a large beetle up to 26 mm long and weakly lustrous, the legs in particular having a bluish tinge. The body shape is very compact and arched toward the top. It is commonly known a the Dor Beetle and also as the Dung Beetle. The latter are quite a large family. This one is Geotrupes stercorarius. When it gets itself onto its back, It obviously struggles, so its legs are constantly on the move. I can't bear to see it struggling, so only took a few shots before righting and releasing it.

 

Last for today, is the impressive Lesser Stag Beetle, the first we've seen in our garden, let alone the trap. We have trapped them at Natural Surroundings.



Last month,  we trapped a Box Tree moth. Acouple of weeks later, we trapped another - which looked completely different. They are both Box Tree moths, NOT male and female. the second photo is the more typical.


 

Another recent immigrant, brought on the hot southerly wind, is the underwhelming Rusty Dot Pearl, a micro moth of reasonable size.

 



 

 

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