Saturday, June 09, 2007

Its a beetle - but what sort ?

Just found these pictures on my mobile and remembered I was going to do a short post on them.

I found the beetle on the footpath when walking of to the Humphrey Malins 10 years / Woking council victory bash. Knowing my daughter loves bugs and such I scooped him up and brought him back to the house.

The reaction wasn't what I'd hoped for (screams and 'don't let it in the house... please .. please ). I also managed to drop the little fellow on the road and had to risk picking him up again before he and I got splatted.

But the question remains - what sort of bug is it ? A Stag beetle perhaps - maybe not its too black and the jaws, whilst impressive when your close up maybe aren't big enough There's nothing for comparison in the pictures, but I'd say it was 1 to 1.5 inches.

Looks like some of the bugs from Starship Troopers to me !

7 comments:

Rachel Joyce said...

This is bizarre - I just put up a post asking what a pupa was on my blog - must be that time of year!!!
Any help would be appreciated - http://racheljoyce.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-is-this.html

Your beetle looks like a Dor Beetle to me - also known as a common dung beetle or shardborne beetle. Not sure, however.

Rachel Joyce said...

My husband reckons it is either female stag beetle or lesser stag beetle- the plot thickens!

Anonymous said...

Hi there, just dropping in, looks like a dung beetle. There are some on wikipedia if you want to see photos for comparison,
Barbara

Anonymous said...

Dear MIAS

May I recommend a better camera and the Collins Gem Insects book?

Man in a Shed said...

Billy,

My wife keeps asking what to buy me for my birthday. I always say a surprise - but perhaps I could be more specific this year !

On the Camera - its in the phone. Most interesting stuff has flown away / been trodden on - before I can get it.

Anonymous said...

Dear MIAS

The point of a better camera than is contained in your phone is that you learn to keep it with you and create a visual diary of life.
A compact digital with macro isn't expensive for a man about to enjoy a birthday and it would make bug identification easier!
Do yourself, and us, a favour. Use a decent camera for bug recording and a phone for phoning.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a female stag beetle; bit difficult to tell from that angle/ without size ref... Check out the 2007 staggy survey and photo comp: www.greatstaghunt.co.uk