AS a schoolboy obsessed with birds and butterflies, I never found the time or inspiration to investigate the third b—the beetles—until I came face to jaws with my first male stag beetle. I still recall what impressed me most. It wasn’t the size, although this formidable beetle was as big as a matchbox, nor the fierce antlers, but the fact that this extraordinary creature could fly, which it promptly did as soon as I got down to investigate it.
Suddenly, it flipped its front wings (its elytra) forward, revealing its improbable hind wings. They whirred into action and the beetle was off—a clumsier flying machine it was impossible to imagine.
In those distant days, it took a visit to the library to find out more. Lucanus cervus was, I discovered, the biggest of the 4,000 or so beetles to be found in these islands. Its lifecycle was as unlikely as the beetle itself, as the larva spends five or six years munching and boring its way through dead wood.
Hardly the most nutritious of food, so it’s no wonder the larva takes so long to mature. When it finally emerges as an adult, it has only a few weeks to mate and start the whole cycle again.
The ability to fly is something that most of the world’s beetles are capable of, although few spend much time in the air. Most are ground-dwellers, their adult lives spent rummaging around in stones or leaf litter. Others, presumably those that are good on the wing, are attracted to flowers: beetles are thought to be the original pollinators, first visiting flowers when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. According to one source, beetles are responsible for pollinating 88% of the 240,000 species of flowering plants around the world, a remarkable statistic.
Denne historien er fra October 30, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 30, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
