Beetles
More than 4,000 different species of beetle have been recorded in the UK of which 1,500 have so far been found in Wiltshire and another 5-800 still await discovery. The number is unlikely to advance much beyond this because the county does not possess a coast line which is a favoured locality for many species.
Beetles eat many different foods and as a result are to be found in a wide range of habitats including: the nests of animals, birds and other insects, fungi, fruit, leaf litter, flood debris, trees, dung, and carrion; on plants, under bark and in wood. The larvae of some beetles (beetles undergo metamorphosis like butterflies which can last in some species for many years and in others for only one) live and feed differently from the adults.
Not all species are black like the well-known ground beetles which are largely carnivorous, nocturnal and without wings. Some are brightly coloured and found on flowers and leaves, ladybirds, for example, which feed on aphids. Glow-worms and Cockchafers (sometimes called May bugs) are also beetles. Some beetles live in houses and are well-known pests: Woodworms (larvae of the common furniture beetle), for example, and the weevils which feed on flour and pulses. The Carpet Beetle is one of domestic beetles most often reported to the WSBRC. Interestingly it is not found commonly in carpets as its name implies, but in birds’ and other nests in roof spaces. The Mealworm Beetle, another domestic insect frequently reported, is introduced as the mealworms fed to pet birds. The so-called ‘black beetle’ or Cockroach is not a beetle but a member of the Blattidae which is a different group.
Another well-known insect, the Stag Beetle, is very rare in the county and there have been only half a dozen reliable records in the last decade. The Lesser Stag Beetle, on the other hand, which also lives in rotten stumps and logs is very common throughout the county and frequently to be found crawling around in gardens and woods. Neither the male nor the female of this species possess the antlers which characterise the much larger Stag Beetle.
To find out more about take a look at the County Recorders beetle pages
