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A first sighting for me

HippophaeHippophae Posts: 154
in Wildlife gardening
Spotted this large insect scurrying around hurriedly on the lawn last week. Believe it is a female stag beetle (Lucanus cervus).
At first I thought she might attempt to bite my fingers with her powerful and intimidating-looking mandibles when I gently picked her up to get a closer look, but she just froze and remained still until I returned her safely to some undergrowth where she made a hasty retreat.




Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Fantastic!  Lucky you 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    You're so lucky. We used to have loads of them, but I haven't seen one for a few years now.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’ve only seen females so far this year, hopefully a male will turn up soon.  There’s a nice picture on here somewhere of a mating pair. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • HippophaeHippophae Posts: 154
    Found another beetle the other day. Some kind of chafer perhaps? Any budding entomologists out there who can put a name to this beetle for me?




  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    That is a common cockchafer also known as the Maybug.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • HippophaeHippophae Posts: 154
    wild edges said:
    That is a common cockchafer also known as the Maybug.
    Thank you for the feedback wild edges!
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