Large beetles hibernating?

Craftybird · #1 (**permalink**) 30-10-2008, 07:52 PM

Hello everyone, this is my very first post here so apologies if I get anything wrong

Walking on a very muddy track through woodland in Hampshire this weekend I came across large numbers of beetles digging themselves into the waterlogged ground. They were pretty big - maybe 1 1/2 cms long. I'd love to know what they were and what they were doing - I'm guessing they were hibernating? The ground was absolutely drenched though, I'd have thought they would drown, but they were very determined! Cheers in advance...

ron1863 · #2 (**permalink**) 30-10-2008, 07:54 PM

Hi and welcome to WAB. I don't have a clue but you will get an answer shortly from some of our insect experts on WAB.

aeshna5 · #3 (**permalink**) 30-10-2008, 07:56 PM

They are Dor Beetles, Geotrupes sp.

Craftybird · #4 (**permalink**) 30-10-2008, 07:59 PM

Wow, thank you ron1863 and aeshna5 that was lightning fast! Ok I'm off to find out more about Dor beetles now

I forgot to add how beautiful they were.

thunder · #5 (**permalink**) 30-10-2008, 08:59 PM

I would suspect they were "not waving but drowning". That is, they were not trying to bury themselves in the wet soil, but had been driven out of previously dry soil by the rise in water level (have you had heavy rain recently?) and were trying to find another dry site. Or just generally disorientated.

henrya

Kayleigh · #6 (**permalink**) 30-10-2008, 11:13 PM

Hi Craftybird welcome to WAB..

Craftybird · #7 (**permalink**) 31-10-2008, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thunder

I would suspect they were "not waving but drowning". That is, they were not trying to bury themselves in the wet soil, but had been driven out of previously dry soil by the rise in water level (have you had heavy rain recently?) and were trying to find another dry site. Or just generally disorientated.

henrya

Hi Kayleigh! Thank you for the welcome!

Hi Thunder, I'm not local to the area so I don't know if there was any sudden rise in the water table due to rain etc, it seemed to me that the ground had been fairly wet for some time. BUT... come to think of it, the beetles were most evident in relatively fresh tyre tracks, so maybe the ground had been churned up by a motorbike (we did see one in the woods) and they were frantically trying to re-establish themselves in the mud. Poor things. They would have done better to have moved a few yards to the left or right, they will only get disturbed again

So can anyone confirm that they were hibernating, or trying to?

Dogghound · #8 (**permalink**) 31-10-2008, 10:03 AM

It looks like they are hibernating or establishing a hibernation site yes.

Craftybird · #9 (**permalink**) 31-10-2008, 10:48 AM

Thank you very much dogghound and everyone else for your help and greetings, it's good to know there is such a friendly knowledgeable forum about UK wildlife

thunder · #10 (**permalink**) 31-10-2008, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craftybird

Hi Kayleigh! Thank you for the welcome!

Hi Thunder, I'm not local to the area so I don't know if there was any sudden rise in the water table due to rain etc, it seemed to me that the ground had been fairly wet for some time. BUT... come to think of it, the beetles were most evident in relatively fresh tyre tracks, so maybe the ground had been churned up by a motorbike (we did see one in the woods) and they were frantically trying to re-establish themselves in the mud. Poor things. They would have done better to have moved a few yards to the left or right, they will only get disturbed again

So can anyone confirm that they were hibernating, or trying to?

The motorbike theory is good - a favourite technique amongst coleopterists is to walk on the spot in a muddy area, then watch. Brings all sorts of beetles to the surface!

henrya