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It was getting dark, the cat was skulking after something in the shadows around the hutch and the guinea pig was squealing its head off. Something sinister on the patio? No, just another stag beetle.I often say how privileged I feel to have

It's always nice to be shown a 'find' by an excited child, so when I was told of a bright green iridescent beetle found in a neighbour's garden I could hardly wait to see what it was.As it turns out, it was Oedemera nobilis. It's very common

species of rove beetle regularly turn tail and disappear into the morass when I lift off the lids. Last week I found a shiny black domed beetle about the size and shape of a kidney bean - Hister merdarius. It's very scarce, so has no common name and being

.Next is what looks like a tiny animated scrubbing brush; it's the larva of a beetle, Ctesias serra. Related to carpet beetles, it scavenges on bits of insects left by spiders that make their messy webs under loose bark on old trees. Its long bristles protect

queen buff-tailed bumblebee, was examining the compost heap; I guess she was searching out a suitable hibernation site. Every now and then something else would buzz past: rosemary leaf beetles, green shieldbugs and ladybirds were all very active

in there. There are no skaters. They were usually the first insects to arrive and we used to have a squadron of them zooming over the surface. This bunch took advantage of a drowning spider. And there are no boatmen or beetles yet either. But Saturday saw

-invertebrates. There was no dead standing timber to offer fungoid growth for rot-feeding beetles. And it cast no appreciable shade for the benefit of the children.On the other hand, the pond behind it was completely shaded and overshadowed. It was polluted by leaf and twig fall