Beetles

The UK is host to some 4,000 beetle species of which, according to the Royal Entomological Society - here - something like 350 are species of ground beetle.  The Society encourages us to make them welcome in our gardens as they eat pests like slugs, although the two shown in this picture were found well away from any garden.  They were part of a mass of members of this species which seem to have emerged, or perhaps congregated, at the same time on the coast to the north of Sanna.  The best identification I can make is that they're bracken chafers - in which case it's probably just as well they're away from gardens as this site describes them as 'lawn destroyers'.

I'm fairly sure this beetle, found in our garden, is the appropriately named bronze beetle.  He's one of a number of species which are said to be in decline.  There's a Daily Telegraph article here about this, and it mentions a beetle called Carabus arvensis, which looks like the bronze beetle but....

....seems to have a smoother carapace, like this one, found at Sanna.  There's a link to a site here which seems to suggest that arvensis is a musical beetle.

Many thanks to Tony Kidd for this picture, of what may be an oil beetle, of which there a five species left in the UK. There's a description of its strange life-cycle here.  This includes a reliance on a bee to provide transport for its larvae.

An evening drink on our upper terrace is frequently interrupted by a beastie of some sort.  On one evening recently we were joined on out bench by this strangely shaped beetle who, when he fell off onto the concrete flagstone, emitted a loud 'click'.  Hence his name, a click beetle.  The elateridae, as they're called, must be an interesting lot as they have their own website - here.

Another beetle who likes flagstones is this one, pictured in our back garden.  He was about a centimetre long and very active.  He looks a little like one of the dor beetles, though, if he is, he's a different one from the character featured in this post a few weeks ago.