Stag Beetle (Lucanus Cervus)
How about this! I'm Britain's largest beetle - yes that's me the Stag Beetle. But can you believe it despite being the biggest (and we think the most impressive beetle), we're in crisis as our numbers are falling across the whole of Europe. Our biggest population is found in Britain, and the hot spot is London, we like to party.
You'll find me, if you have sharp eyes and some good luck, flying around on a summer afternoon looking for a mate. Actually flying is not my forte and I am rather clumsy. I find spotting windows challenging and tend to bash into them. When in London I'm forever bumping into bus shelters!
I know I look rather scary, but it's all show. Those huge antlers are used for impressing the ladies. When I find a lady beetle and there's another male stag beetle around, we have a huge, and might I say rather exciting, wrestling match with our antlers. The lady stag beetle doesn't have antlers like us, and little does she know that we don't really hurt each other. Finally one of us rolls over with legs in the air saying \"okay, I give up, you win\".
How can you help? Well our ladies like to lay their eggs under a nice piece of rotting wood (nice and warm and snugly for the larvae when they hatch), so if you could keep a few bits in a quiet corner of your garden that would be great. It also gives us a good place to hibernate in the winter.
Also, another small request, slightly embarrassing, but if we happen to land our backs on a pavement, we find it rather difficult get the right way up again! If you spot us in this situation, would you help by turning us over and putting us in a nearby bush or tree - though do be careful if it is a lady stag beetle, much as we love them, they tend to be a bit nippy and could give you a bite, so perhaps you should ask your parents to help, just in case.
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