Spotted a stag beetle? Help save the UK’s largest land beetle

Sadly, their numbers are dwindling across Europe due to loss of habitat and predators including cats, magpies and humans. In parts of Britain stag beetles are already extinct, so help is needed to prevent further decline. This spring, People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is asking the public to record any sightings of these iconic insects by taking part in their annual Great Stag Hunt.

Stag beetles emerge from mid-May onwards, and live in gardens, parks, woodland edges and traditional orchards. Stag beetles are prevalent throughout southern England and coastal areas of the south west, while they are less common in the north of England and the South Downs. PTES also want to hear from people living in areas that border the stag beetles’ known range, such as Devon.

Stag beetles can reach up to 75mm in size, which makes them second largest of all UK beetles after the water beetle, but also easy to spot! For the majority of their life cycle, stag beetles remain underground as larvae, feeding on rotten wood. They can remain as larvae for as long as 7 years, and once fully grown they build a large cocoon in the soil where they pupate before finally metamorphosing into their adult, more recognisable, form.

Last year’s Great Stag Hunt saw 5,796 recorded stag beetle sightings including 901 sightings in Hampshire alone (appendix 1). There are no set rules for the Great Stag Hunt, just simply record any sightings of stag beetles online at www.ptes.org/stagbeetles, which will help PTES’ wider conservation strategy.

Laura Bower, Conservation Officer at PTES says, “The Great Stag Hunt has involved thousands of people over the last 20 years. Now is the right time of year for people to start recording sightings of stag beetles, as they emerge from mid-May onwards. Gardens in particular are very important habitats, as stag beetles rely on decaying wood in contact with soil to feed on as larvae. Volunteers can help by retaining dead tree stumps or building a log pile in their gardens to ensure there is a good supply of dead wood for female stag beetles to lay their eggs in. We hope to see more volunteers joining this year’s Great Stag Hunt to help reverse their population decline.”

To further raise the profile of beetles, PTES is working with MG Leonard, author of the best-selling children’s novel Beetle Boy. This heart-warming story follows the adventure of a young boy and his friend Baxter, who is in fact a beetle. Beetle Boy is the first part of The Beetle Trilogy, and was published in March 2016 by Chicken House.

Laura concludes, “PTES and MG Leonard are keen to show children and adults alike that beetles aren’t something to be afraid of, and in fact are something to be admired. PTES’ Great Stag Hunt is a fantastic way for the public to gain wider knowledge of stag beetles and for PTES to find out what their populations look like, which will in turn aid our wider conservation efforts.”

For more advice on how to identify a stag beetle, to find out what to do if you find a stag beetle or dig up stag beetle larva, visit: www.ptes.org/stagbeetles.