National Insect Week | 25th June

We live on the ‘Planet of the Beetles’! Beetles (which belong to the insect order Coleoptera, meaning sheath-winged) have lived on Earth since long before the age of the dinosaurs. There are over 370,000 known species of beetle and they are found in every land and freshwater habitat in the world. Beetles typically use just their hind-wings for flying: the front pair are modified as hard wing-cases, which cover and protect the flight wings when the beetle is at rest. Like many other insects, beetles undergo a complete metamorphosis in their life-cycles and the immature larvae look very different from the adults. In the UK alone there are over 4000 beetle species belonging to over 100 families, so the examples illustrated in this Beetle Gallery are just a small selection from the huge variety of British beetles.
© Roger Key	Agonum assimile – a ground beetle (family Carabidae) One of the many British ground beetles (though not all of the 370 or so species actually live on or under the ground). This quite common species is most often found under the bark of decaying wood in shady woodland. Like most ground beetles, it is a predator on other insects.
© Roger Key	Ampedus sanguinolentus – a click beetle (family Elateridae) These beetles get their common name from the distinctive click that they make as they propel themselves into the air (as shown here) with a special mechanism that uses powerful muscles in the thorax. Their larvae have a long thin body and are often called ‘wireworms’, some of which are pests in fields or gardens because they damage plant roots.
© Roger Key	Byrrhus fasciatus– – banded pill beetle (family Byrrhidae) This pill beetle is one of the very few insects that eats moss. It is a slow-moving beetle but it has an effective defence from attack: it can withdraw its legs and antennae into special grooves on the underside of its body, making it difficult for a predator to get a grip. When it is folded up in this way, it can also be difficult for predators to find because it looks like a rabbit dropping!
© Roger Key	Cantharis pellucida – a soldier beetle (family Cantharidae) Soldier beetles are so-called because they are slender and straight, and often have red, black, blue or yellow colouring reminiscent of regimental uniforms. Cantharis pellucida is a common species, though the adults are seen only for a rather short period in early summer. They sit on flowers, waiting for other flower-visiting insects on which they prey, but also feeding on pollen and nectar themselves. The velvety larvae are predators found in grass litter in the spring and late summer.
© David Element	Carabus violaceus – violet ground beetle (family Carabidae) This is one of the largest of British ground beetles. It is widespread in the UK: it is especially associated with wooded areas, but is also commonly found in gardens. Like most ground beetles it is a nocturnal predator and often spends the daytime hidden under stones or logs. Ground beetles are fast runners, using speed to catch their insect prey.
© Roger Key	Cetonia aurata – rose chafer (family Scarabaeidae) This typically metallic-green chafer is on the wing – rather noisily – in midsummer, and is usually seen feeding on flowers. This species is restricted to southern areas of Britain and is not found north of the English Midlands, though a similar bronze-coloured relative is found in Scotland. The larvae live in decaying plant material such as compost, peat and rotten wood.
© David Element	Cicindela campestris – green tiger beetle (family Cicindelidae) Tiger beetles are closely related to ground beetles but, unlike ground beetles, they always fly away when disturbed. They are mainly found in areas with sandy soils. The larvae live in burrows and wait for prey passing close to the mouths of their burrows: the adults are very fast runners. The distinctively-coloured green tiger beetle is the commonest member of the group in the UK.
© Roger Key	Cteniopus sulphureus – sulphur beetle (family Alleculidae) The very distinctive sulphur beetle is the only bright yellow beetle found in the UK. The adults live in flowers, where they feed on nectar and pollen. The species is usually only found in very dry places such as chalk or sandy grassland in the south of England, and is mainly restricted to coastal sand dunes in northern England. This family of beetles is closely related to the Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) and is sometimes classified as a subfamily of the Tenebrionidae.
© Roger Key	Curculio glandium – acorn weevil (family Curculionidae) All weevils have a snout (known as a ‘rostrum') with the mouthparts at the end, and this acorn weevil has the most strongly-developed snout of all British weevils. The species spends most of its life as a white larva that hollows out the kernels of acorns. The adults are active in midsummer and are quite commonly seen at the edges of oak woodland.
© Roger Key	Graphoderus zonatus – spangled water beetle (family Dytiscidae) Like all dytiscid diving beetles, the spangled water beetle is predatory on other aquatic animals, including tadpoles, and can swim fast with its broadened hind legs and its streamlined shape. However, Graphoderus zonatus is a protected species in Britain since it is extremely rare and is now known at only one wet heathland pool in Hampshire.
© David Element	Lilioceris lilii – lily beetle (family Chrysomelidae) Many chrysomelid leaf beetles are brightly coloured and metallic. One of the most striking is the bright red lily beetle. This species was only sporadically found in UK until the mid-20 th century when it became established. In recent years it has been expanding its range in Britain and has become a serious horticultural pest of lilies and fritillaries.
© David Element	Lucanus cervus – stag beetle (family Lucanidae) The male stag beetle – with its huge antler-like mandibles that are used in fights with other males – is the largest British land beetle. The larvae feed on decaying wood and their development takes up to five years. Due to overzealous clearance of dead wood their numbers have declined greatly and the stag beetle is now a protected species. It is still found in several parts of southern England, where it is increasingly dependent on habitat conservation in gardens and parks. For more information, see the PTES’s Biodiversity Action Plan for stag beetles www.greatstaghunt.org
© Roger Key	Meloe rugosus – rough oil beetle (family Meloidae) Oil beetles such as Meloe rugosus and its relatives have become much rarer than in the past due to reduced numbers of nests of the solitary bees on which they are parasites. Thousands of oil beetle larvae are produced in wildflower grassland, but only a few manage to find a flower-visiting bee and hitch a ride to the bee's nest where they consume the bee larvae and food store. The species Meloe rugosus is now restricted to the Cotswolds.
© Roger Key	Mezium gibbum – shining spider beetle (family Ptinidae) As their common name suggests, ptinid beetles have the appearance of small spiders. The peculiar-looking Mezium gibbum has very shiny translucent wing-cases that resemble a bead of condensation. Although it is usually found indoors feeding on accumulations of dust and fluff, its natural habitat is in mammal and bird nests where it feeds on hair and feathers.
© Roger Key	Oedemera nobilis – thick-legged flower beetle (family Oedemeridae) This spectacular metallic-green beetle is usually seen on flowers. Only the male – seen here – has the characteristic thickened hind ‘thighs' (femora). This species is common in gardens and grassland, and in open spaces in woods, in the south, but is more often found in coastal areas in the north of the country. The larvae feed and develop within plant stems.
© David Element	Phyllobius pyri – common leaf weevil (family Curculionidae) The weevil family is one of the largest in the animal kingdom, with a huge number of species (there are more species of weevils in the UK than birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined). All weevils have a snout (known as a ‘rostrum') bearing their mouthparts. However, in some species such as this common leaf weevil – seen here with wing-cases open and wings spread ready for flight – the rostrum is rather short and stout.
© Roger Key	Pogonocherus hispidulus – a longhorn beetle (family Cerambycidae) Longhorn beetles are characterized by their long antennae, which are often as long as – or longer than – their body, as seen here. Pogonocherus hispidulus is actually quite common but is rarely noticed by casual observers because it is superbly camouflaged as a bird dropping. The larvae feed on small branches and twigs of dead wood.
© David Element	Pyrochroa coccinea – black-headed cardinal beetle (family Pyrochroidae) This distinctively-coloured cardinal beetle has a somewhat flattened shape and comb-like antennae. The adults are usually found on flowers near the edges of woods. The carnivorous larvae live underneath dry bark, where they eat other insects – or each other.
© Roger Key	Rhagium mordax – a longhorn beetle (family Cerambycidae) Some longhorn beetles do not have particularly long antennae – this species is one of them. Rhagium mordax is a common species in the early summer, when the adults are often seen on hawthorn and hogweed flowers. The larvae tunnel and feed in soft well-rotted dead wood of broad-leaved trees.
© Roger Key	Rhagonycha fulva – black-tipped soldier beetle (family Cantharidae) This is probably the commonest British soldier beetle and the adults are found later than other species, in July and early August. It is usually seen on flowers where it feeds on nectar and pollen, but also robs and eats other flower-visiting insects: it can also very often be seen mating. Although it is completely harmless to humans, children's folklore refers to this and other soldier beetles as ‘bloodsuckers'.
© Roger Key	Staphylinus erythropterus – a rove beetle (family Staphylinidae) Rove beetles are characterized by having greatly shortened wing-cases with their flying wings much-folded underneath. This gives them narrow flexible bodies that allow them to chase their prey rapidly through complex spaces such as densely matted grass. Staphylinus erythropterus is common on heaths and moors, especially in the north, but is more often seen conspicuously crossing paths and other open spaces. Rove beetles are very successful: over a quarter of Britain's beetle species belong to this family.
© David Element	Timarcha tenebricosa – bloody-nosed beetle (family Chrysomelidae) Unlike the majority of chrysomelid beetles, which are brightly coloured, often with a metallic shine, the adult bloody-nosed beetle is black. It is slow-moving and feeds on bedstraw plants. Its distinctive feature is its defensive reaction of producing a blood-red liquid from its mouth when it is attacked or disturbed, giving it its common name.
© Roger Key	Typhaeus typhoeus – minotaur beetle (family Scarabaeidae) The minotaur beetle is a spectacular dung beetle of heaths, moorlands and mountains, especially in the north and west of the British Isles. The males use the long prongs on the thorax (as seen here) to compete for females. Large males have relatively even larger prongs, whereas the females have only small points in their place. They are most often seen with other dung beetles (especially the dor beetles of the related genus Geotrupes ) on rabbit middens and sheep droppings.
The images for this Beetle Gallery were kindly provided by Roger Key of English Nature and by David Element. If you would like to get involved in observing the geographic and seasonal distribution of beetle species in the UK, see more details of the beetle recording schemes (and those for other insect orders) at the BRC website. ‘The Coleopterist’ is the main journal for students of the beetle fauna of the British Isles, and their website at has an extensive photo-gallery of UK beetles, many of which are by our contributor Roger Key.