Bring back our beetles - Discover the UK's beetles and how you can help them - Wild About Gardens
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
#wildaboutgardens wildaboutgardens.org.uk Bring back our beetles Discover the UK's beetles and how you can help them
Brilliant beetles
Beetles (in the order Coleoptera) make up more than
a third of all known species on earth – that's around 400,000
worldwide. In the UK alone there are more than 4,000
species, and you can find them in almost every habitat, all
year-round! Although a handful may eat your plants, beetles
Stag beetles are only found in South East England.
are a vital part of a healthy garden.
Not only do beetles come in an amazing
variety of colours, sizes, and shapes - they Beetles you didn’t
are also important predators, they act as know were beetles...
Weevil © Margaret Holland. Glow-worm © John Tyler. Ladybird © Jon Hawkins Surrey Hills Photography. Devil's coachhorse ©RHS
food for larger animals (such as hedgehogs
and birds), and pollinate our flowers and Not all beetles have the word ‘beetle’
crops. They even help to recycle nutrients, in their name. Here’s a few you may
by eating and digesting plants and not have guessed belong here:
returning their goodness back to the soil.
In this booklet you’ll discover some of
the threats beetles are facing, learn about Weevils
their weird habits, and of course, ways you
can help. We’ll even bust some myths!
What is a beetle?
Glow-worms
Beetles are insects with hardened front
wings, although you'd be forgiven for
not realising this as they are often seen
crawling around rather than flying. The
wing cases protect the second (hind) pair
Ladybirds
of wings and are called ‘elytra’.
Devil’s coach horse
Cover image: Cardinal beetle © Penny Frith
Ladybird © Jon Hawkins Surrey Hills Photography
2 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 3
Beetles under threat Alternatives to
Sadly many of our beetles are struggling, and here’s why…
using pesticides in
your garden
Loss of habitat Climate change
1 The way we use our land in the
3 Climate change is having an
UK, from intensive farming to urban impact on all wildlife and beetles are
development, has led to shrinking patches no exception. Warming temperatures
of habitat for beetles, making it difficult and shrinking habitats can mean
for many populations to survive. But by beetles struggle to survive where they
following the activities in this booklet
you can create more places for our
once thrived, and of course this causes
problems for the other animals and plants
1 To get started, try to learn as much
as you can about the sort of To learn more about the
precious beetles to live! that rely on them, too. invertebrates that may feed on your threats beetles are facing,
plants. Consider if they really pose a how to avoid using pesticides
Loss of connected habitats Pesticides
2 4 threat, or whether they help contribute to and herbicides, plus other
As well as getting smaller, habitats The use of pesticides is resulting a balanced, healthy garden. If co-existence ways you can help, download
are becoming more fragmented, with less in serious declines across lots of is out of the question, there are many The Wildlife Trusts' guide to
taking #ActionForInsects:
connection between them. That’s why our invertebrates, including many beetles. ways to control unwanted visitors whilst
www.wildlifetrusts.org/
gardens can make a huge difference – not Even pesticides that aren't intended to avoiding pesticides that can cause
take-action-insects
only are they important habitats, they can target beetles can harm or kill unintended harm to beetles and other
also provide corridors for beetles to pass them, so it's important to avoid creatures in your garden.
through until they find the perfect spot. using them.
2 Tolerating some nibbled leaves and
even a few aphids will encourage a
balanced garden where damage does not
get out of hand.
3 Encourage natural predators such
as predatory beetles and other
invertebrates, hedgehogs, birds, and frogs
by creating food and shelter for them in
your garden.
4 Plant the right thing in the right
place – stressed plants are more
likely to succumb to damage.
5 Pick up and move any invertebrates
that might be nibbling crops a little
Mint beetle © Amy Lewis
more than you'd like during the spring
Sexton beetle © Derek Moore and summer; checking after rainfall for
slugs and snails can help too!
4 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 5
Fascinating beetle facts Beetles
We have over
60 species of dung beetle
Asparagus beetles
and lily beetles let
and your garden
out a high-pitched
here in Britain and, true to
squeak when under
Beetles bring balance to your garden
their name, most eat dung.
This makes them a vital part threat, though they
of the ecosystem, particularly may also use this to eetles support lots of garden
B
on farms, where they keep communicate with life; for example the often They also clean up!
the soil healthy – in fact, each other, too.
maligned lily beetle provides
they’re estimated to save the food for three parasitoid wasps Some beetles such as rose chafer
British cattle industry at least
that feed inside its larvae. grubs help clear up dead plant
£367 million per year!
waste, while many help to break
any ground beetles feed on a
M down dead wood, including the rare
range of invertebrates – from violet click beetle, found only in
springtails to vine weevil grubs. three sites in the UK.
ove beetles are vital predators:
R Some, such as dermestid beetles,
the big eyed Stenus species can feast on the last remnants of flesh
walk on water and use on dead animals, leaving a clean
The flightless extendable mouthparts to prey skeleton, while sexton beetles bury
bloody-nosed beetle on springtails! dead animals and feed their grubs on
gets its name from the regurgitated remains!
the blood-like red low worm larvae and snail
G
liquid that oozes hunter ground beetles can Then of course, there are the aptly
from its mouth when come in handy, specialising named dung beetles which feed
threatened, activated to in eating snails. on animal waste, and are most
scare off predators. commonly found in woodland
If click beetles are ater beetles are important
W or farmland.
upturned, they arch their predators too: smaller species eat
backs to create tension in a mosquito larvae, while larger
special hinge in their thorax, species can feed on dragonfly
which when released lets When female larvae and tadpoles, helping the
out a loud click. This action pot beetles lay eggs, each is pond to find a natural balance.
hurls the beetle into the air at covered in a shell made up of
speeds of more than 2-metres her droppings. Once the eggs
A dor beetle, a type of dung beetle © Vaughan Matthews
per second, helping them to hatch, the larvae use their
get back on their feet or out own droppings to enlarge
of harm’s way. this protective ‘pot’, keeping
them helpfully hidden from
predators until they’re
Click beetle © Margaret Holland fully grown.
6 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 7
8 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 9
A year in the life of… A year in the life of…
the 7-spot ladybird a stag beetle
ce m ber Ja nu a
ry ce m ber Ja nu a
ry
De De
r Fe r Fe
be b r be This endangered
b r
m m beetle spends the majority
of its life underground as
ua
ua
e
e
v
v
larva, feeding on rotting
No
No
ry
ry
October to April: wood. This can last from
Ladybirds overwinter three to seven years!
among plant stems Most of the activity above
or sometimes inside ground occurs in the
er
er
Ma
Ma
homes, in a dormant summer months
O c to b
O c to b
state until springtime, August:
rc h
rc h
when they venture out By now, most adult stag
to find food beetles have died; their sole
purpose is to mate and lay
eggs. Typically, they survive
at most for a few weeks,
r
m ber
e m be
though many will only live
as adults for days, often
Apr
Apr
preyed on by magpies or
e
squirrels, or sadly hit
ept
ept
il
il
by cars
S
S
September:
Adults feed
st
st
M
M
ahead of
u
u
g ay g ay
overwintering
from October Au Au
Ju n May: Ju n
J u ly e Male and female
J u ly e May-June:
August: Once pupae have
Adult ladybirds ladybirds mate as
often as possible metamorphosed
emerge from July:
June-July: and with multiple June-July: into adults, and the
pupae and seek After mating, females
Mated females lay eggs partners During the spring and weather is warming
food seek dead tree roots
close to the mating site summer – most typically up, the beetles emerge
to lay their eggs, often
and near a plant with a in June – the male stags from below the
choosing a site near
good supply of aphids. sun themselves, warming ground
to where they
These hatch into larvae, emerged from muscles before taking off
which pass through four in search of a mate. You
instars (stages), eventually can often spot them in
forming pupae slow, low buzzing
flight
10 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 11
Water beetles
Water beetles are an incredibly diverse set of insects.
All of them live in water at some point of their
lifecycle, and there are about 300 species in the UK
alone! If you have a wildlife pond in your garden, no
doubt you will have water beetles hanging around.
Let’s dive into their underwater world...
Relocation, relocation...
Water beetles can fly, so they can relocate to a
new home if their current one isn’t quite right. Are water
However, many have to wait for a very warm beetles good for
day before they make the move, as otherwise my pond?
Water beetles are part of a
their flight muscles don’t work!
healthy pond ecosystem. Many
are predatory and can help keep
Water breeders mosquito larvae numbers in
As they mate underwater, the male great check, while larger species, such
diving beetle uses suction pads on its front as the great diving beetle, will
feet to grip on to the female, whose deeply eat tadpoles and
grooved wing cases help the male to cling on. small fish.
Deep-pond diving
Water beetles come up to the surface every
so often to replenish the air supply stored
beneath their wing cases. Think of it as an in-
built scuba diving tank to enable them to find
prey underwater!
Keen senses
Whirligig beetles are
common inhabitants
of pond surfaces, easily spotted as they gather
in large numbers, circling erratically
across the water. They’re
incredibly sensitive to ripples in
the water – these help to guide Great diving beetle © Jack Perks
them towards insects trapped
on the surface, which they
Whirligig beetle then eat!
© Chris Lawrence
Burnet moth caterpillar © Vicky Nall
12 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 13
More ways to help Build a compost heap.
It will be packed with
For even
more ways to take
#ActionForInsects,
beetles in your garden all sorts of creatures head to www.
wildlifetrusts.org/
such as rose chafers
action-for-insects
(for those lucky
enough!) in no time.
There are lots of things you can do to help out the smaller Compost
inhabitants of our gardens, and happily, by helping
beetles, you are providing for other wildlife too.
Log pile © RHS
Find a place for Piles of rocks provide
dead wood in daytime shelter for
your garden. nocturnal beetles, and Thick-legged flower
beetle © RHS
Long grass ©
RHS
This could be a piles of leaves are also
dead or dying great, as many species
tree left to like to lay their eggs in Grow pollen-rich open Replace artificial grass with real
stand, a cavity decaying leaves. flowers for beetles – perhaps grass so beetles have a place to live, and
in an old tree, the world’s first pollinators. try to keep the amount of decking or
or a pile of old Rock pile © RHS
Beetles such as soldier beetles, paving in your garden to a minimum.
stumps and logs. the thick-legged flower
beetle, longhorns and Delay cutting back
© RHS
chafers may pay a visit.
Make a stumpery in a Leave cutting back your
shady corner of your flower beds until late
garden to help feed winter. The dead plant
dead-wood loving stems will be used by
beetles, such as the overwintering beetles
lesser stag, rhinoceros, and other invertebrates
and longhorn beetles. Water butt © RHS such as spiders.
It will also provide a
home for predatory
beetles plus lots of
The black-spotted long
other invertebrates horn beetle © RHS Try to tolerate leaf feeding
and even amphibians. beetle damage. For example,
rosemary and mint beetles
Cover water butts and provide a may appear in your herb
route out of ponds for land-living garden, but they rarely cause
beetles, such as a pebble beach. If Rosemary beetle ©
RHS serious damage and add
you see a dead-looking beetle in vibrancy and colour!
water, take it out – they often revive!
14 www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk 15
About Us
The Wildlife Trusts and the RHS embarked on Wild
wildaboutgardens.org.uk
About Gardens to celebrate wildlife gardening and
to encourage people to act for nature. Over the past
50 years, we’ve seen declines in two thirds of the facebook.com/groups/
UK’s plant and animal species. Many of our common WildAboutGardens
garden visitors – including hedgehogs, house sparrows
and starlings – are increasingly under threat, but
collectively gardens can make an incredible difference.
To discover more about wildlife gardening and for
more resources, visit our website. You can also sign
up to our monthly newsletter to receive updates and
ideas on all things Wild About Gardens.
The Wildlife Trusts The Royal Horticultural Society
The Wildlife Trusts are on a mission to For more than 210 years, the RHS has
restore at least a third of the UK’s land been the force behind gardening in the
and seas for nature by 2030. We believe UK. Our aim is to enrich everyone’s life
everyone, everywhere should have access through plants, and to make the UK a
to nature and all the joy and health greener and more beautiful place. We
benefits it brings us. No matter where believe everyone in every village, town
you are in the UK, there is a Wildlife Trust and city should benefit from growing
inspiring people about the natural world – for stronger, healthier and happier
and standing up for wildlife and wild communities. Our work in education,
places near you. We care for 2,300 diverse science and communities is only possible
and beautiful nature reserves and work thanks to the generous support of our
with others to manage their land with visitors, members, partners, donors and
nature in mind too. Help us bring our sponsors. With your help we can harness
wildlife back in abundance by becoming a the power of horticulture, one gardener
member of your Wildlife Trust today. at a time.
Email: enquiry@wildlifetrusts.org Email: communities@rhs.org.uk
Website: wildlifetrusts.org Website: rhs.org.uk
@WildlifeTrusts @The_RHS /rhshome
/wildlifetrusts the_rhs rhshome
thewildlifetrusts /RoyalHorticulturalSo
/thewildlifetrusts Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262
Registered Charity No 207238
Download The Wildlife Trusts’ #ActionForInsects guide at
www.wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects
You can also read
