Found this chap hiding amongst the blocks today……I bet our Aussiie chums have some big'ns too??

I got a nasty nip from one of these last year Doug. not to be messed with if its a male apparently

mikey

Yup, move slowly, be gentle, and all should be well. Blowing gently across them in your cupped hand [and other beetles] will make them slow down a bit [especially after a kebab and 9 pints of Guinness…{it's to do with the carbon dioxide}]

Please Bob, may I post the following, posted elsewhere, please remove if too preachy for YMR?

I forgot to say to un-insect people…..PLEASE do not hurt them, they are rare.

Sometimes very early in the morning at this time of year (UK included) you'll see them crossing a road looking for a shady place to lay up away from predators, if safe to do so, please stop and pick them up

and place them in the ditch. They WILL NOT hurt you, and they live only as larvae in compost heaps or in already dead or rotting wood. They DO NOT bore into your beams or woodwork…or eat the roots of your precious plants.  They eat by breaking down cellulose.

 

Should you want any more info, please p.m. me.

I'm a wild life fan myself Doug so anything that helps is always welcome.

Thanks, Bob!:doublethumb

[I used to do a lot of wild-life too, but the arthritis has slowed me down….:lol::lol:]

"Sometimes very early in the morning at this time of year (UK included) you'll see them crossing a road looking for a shady place to lay up away from predators, if safe to do so, please stop and pick them up

That's a beauty.
Don't think that I have seen anything bigger here in WA.

A bit of digging revealed that in North Queensland there's a rare stag beetle, 'protected' by law.   The biggest recorded specimen was 80mm long - and sold to a collector for $135,000, while in Japan beetles can be bought from vending machines.  All of which makes me sick.

Our Rhinoceros beetle   http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/december2003/rhino.htm

Mike

80mm !!!! it could carry off my sandwich!

I was under the impression that the stag beetles jaws weren't all that strong.

That's still a very impressive and beautiful beast. :cool:  I agree 200% with what Doug said, "preachy" or not.  :thumbs :thumbs

[user=321]SRman[/user] wrote:

I was under the impression that the stag beetles jaws weren't all that strong.

They probably don't like sandwiches anyway.

Indeed a beautiful creature.

Mike - they hiss very impressively

Since buying a digital camera I have been much more interested in beetles, and as they seem to be well received here, I'm taking a break from wall-building [rain] to post this one for you. He's a Longhorn Beetle, and can be a serious pest of fir trees, or, rather, the larvae can be. Fortunately there are millions of fir trees around here, so this chap was allowed to go on his way after a rest-over at Chez Doofer.  Ain't he lovely?

A fiercesome creature from Sci-Fi movies indeed!

[user=95]Sol[/user] wrote:

A fiercesome creature from Sci-Fi movies indeed!

I will admit to being a bit nervous when he lowered those jaws to my wrist, but he didn't bite!:shock:

Great photos Doug. That's a decent set of jaws.

 Mike

Not scary at all.  Beautiful - and great photos all round :thumbs

There are certainly some fearsome looking critters out and about.  They all have as much right to be here as we do.

Stag beetles are quite a sight but won't do you too much harm.  Personally I suffer far more discomfort from mozzies than anything else outside on the railway though the local spider and ant population could give India a run for its money as having the highest population density!

The bull ants here can be over an inch long and have been seen walking off with bits of woodland scenics greenery once or twice :twisted:

 

What a fantastic beast. Very impressive. That dark grey colour helps him blend in with the pine tree bark I suppose?

We get a few here too Doug (stag beetle that is) - our cats are terrified of them but, until Mikeyh said otherwise - I thought they were completely harmless to humans.

I'd always thought the larger a creature is, the less dangerous as they tend to rely on their size to frighten predators away rather than bites/stings etc.  Having said that,  we have some pretty big hornets from time to time and they're more dangerous than bees or wasps.

One of the main dangers in pine trees around us, is the processional caterpillar.  They lay their eggs in "cocoons" high in the pine tress andwhen the caterpillars hatch - loads of them at a time, they link head to tail in chains anything up to several metres in length.  Amazing things to see but their hairs are highly toxic and can even kill domestic pets and young children.  The "hoopoo" (a bird)  arrives from Africa at about the time the caterpillars hatch (in normal seasons) and it's the only creature able to eat them in safety.  What a wonderful thing nature is - a poisonous caterpillar hatches at the same time a migrating bird capable of eating them arrives from another continent !!  apparently these caterpillars are now spreading north as a result of global warming - google it for more info !!

Talking of bees, found the following under one of our trees this week - at bang on head height !!!  Have to call in the man with the funny outfit pronto !!

Further to my previous post, here's a couple of shots of the offending swarm being removed - it sort of gives it some scale !!!

Firstly,  preparing for the "deed"




And the smoke going in to drive them off and calm them down !!