COUNTRY LIFE
The great Stag Beetle hunt
S
tag beetles are one of
the most spectacular
looking insects in Britain,
named because the male’s
large jaws look just like the
antlers of a stag.
As well as being one of the
largest, they are sadly one of our
rarer beetles. They spend most of
their life underground as larvae,
only emerging for a few weeks
to find a mate and reproduce.
They are harmless and do not
damage living wood or timber.
Male beetles appear to have
huge antlers. They are actually
over-sized mandibles, used in
courtship displays and to wrestle
other males. Adult males can vary in size
from 35mm – 75mm long and tend to be
seen flying at dusk in the summer looking
for a mate. They live in woodland edges,
strength for the evening’s activities of
flying in search of a mate. This is when you
are most likely to spot them.
One of the ways we can ensure its
survival is to keep a check on where they
are found and try and maintain and
increase the number of beetles. Please
add your stag beetle sightings to our
annual Great Stag Hunt. You can also
create a log pile home for stag beetles.
Visit www.ptes.org/get-involved to learn
more about stag beetles and our work to
save them, and read about what we have
found out from previous Great Stag Hunts.
hedgerows, traditional orchards, parks
and gardens.
During their short adult lives the male
stag beetles will spend their days sunning
themselves in an attempt to gather
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A countryman's diary
T
raditionally we would hit a quiet
patch at the end of April, but the
flexibility of our work now keeps us busy
through most of the summer. Along with
our timber extraction from woodlands,
clients are wanting to create and enhance
wildlife habitats at their homes, and as
the ground begins to dry out, we can
move into their gardens. Ponds, jetties
and ‘dipping platforms’ are a good place
to start as not only does the water invite
a mass of different wildlife, but the
surrounding habitat that can be created
encourages all sorts of flora and other
creatures. It is wonderful how quickly
nature colonises new habitats with even
the smallest of spaces attracting some
interesting new visitors.
This is also a good time of year to carry
out wildlife surveys, to see if the work we
have been doing is making a difference
to their habitats. All species tend to have
a favoured environment and although
we cannot dictate the weather we can try
to create good biodiversity to encourage
and help a wide range of different
species. I was recently invited along
to watch a moth hunt at Briddlesford
Copse to see if the ride work we have
been carrying out over the years is
suiting them. Although the evening was
perfectly still and warm, conditions were
not perfect for hunting, but we did catch
over 40 species with some uncommon
and interesting moths turning up.
Although not as brightly coloured as
their day counterparts, butterflies, they
were still very beautiful with some, the
Green Silver-line and Orange moth’s
being my evening favourites.
www.visitilife.com
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