A very big beetle!

[Xanadu2]

Hi Folks,

Can anyone help me identify this, please?

Today I finally got round to clearing out my car after last summer's galivanting around. (Yes, I know... but that cold weather caught me out before I'd got a lot of things done...) Some of the junk from the bottom fell on the kitchen floor on its way to the bin and I thought: 'Surely that's not a beetle?'

I picked it up to look. It has brown wings and is over an inch long, not counting the downwards projection of a 'tail' ending in a point. It is almost 1/2 inch wide. It has lost its antennae. The sides of its body have a zig-zag black and white pattern. I'll try to take a photo tomorrow.

Where did it come from? I live on the border of England and Wales, but I remember trips to Lincolnshire, Dorset, and Wales from the Wye Valley to Snowdonia. I normally drive with the window open... I vaguely remember chafers something like that when I was a kid, and scared of them!

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Xanadu2

I normally drive with the window open... I vaguely remember chafers something like that when I was a kid, and scared of them!

That's what you've got - a cockchafer!

Jim

[Jason Green]

Evening Xanado, and welcome to WAB!

Google the Latin name Leptoglossus occidentalis, this is known as the Western Conifer Seed-bug, and is fairly new to the UK.

Take care,

Jason

EDIT: Jim may be correct...

[Klaas Reißmann]

Good morning,

how about showing a photo?

Regards
Klaas

[Xanadu2]

Originally Posted by Klaas Reißmann

Good morning,

how about showing a photo?

Regards
Klaas

Thanks, folks!

I will take a photo, but the camera has flattened its batteries after only a few days and...errr...in this sort-out I can't find my supply of batteries...

Jason....you say take care .... with bugs that size flying through open car windows! I recall seeing them as a kid, jumping on my bike and getting the hell out of there! I don't know what I thought they were going to do to me!
It's that pattern of black and white triangles down their sides that triggered the memory.

[Xanadu2]

Hi folks,

I googled Leptoglossus occidentalis and it is different. Thanks for the suggestion!

I've uploaded two photos and will try to find out how you link to them....... So I try to link to my pics, and get this message 'You don't have any photos in the Image Library' But I've just uploaded them!

What do I do, please? I thought I'd read the instructions! Or do I have to wait until a mod is happy that my beetle pics are what I say they are?

Sorry about this!

[shenk1]

Make sure you uploaded them to the library (start by clicking Images in the top right of the page) then when you've uploaded them ,if you do more than one, you have to press the Submit button. When adding images to a post click on Library Images and then click on the image you want to add (it adds a code to your post).Then check its right by pressing preview post.

Hope this helps.

shenk1

[Jason Green]

No apology necessary!

The Gallery is moderated to keep to a standard of good photos correctly named in the format 'Common Name - Scientific name'. You may have unwittingly put them here.

You need to upload unidentified photographs to the Image Library. If you think they're good and at least 800x600 pixels then you can upload them to the Gallery when they are identified

Try here Wild About Britain Pics to upload to the Image Library.

[Xanadu2]

Thanks a lot folks!

I think my images may have been too large, although I tried to downsize them. I always save images as bmps so I can make changes without loss of quality, so I'll try again. Maximum size just over 500 kb, I think? I have one about 80kb but the other was much bigger than I intended.

The trouble with downsizing them is that you might end up not seeing the insect well enough.

[Matt Smith]

Brown beetle - "big" - black and white zigzags down the side - pointed tail = female cockchafer.