On a Sunday walk up Batch Valley we found this large beetle in some of the sheep-grazed grass slopes above Robin's Lye. This is of course a Dor Beetle, the archetypal beetle with its classic beetle shape and shuffling gate. The blue sheen, particularly noticeable when the sunshine comes out after the rain, makes this an attractive and familiar insect.
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| Dor Beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius) |
Dor Beetles are a characteristic species of meadows and grassland, particularly were there are livestock present. Like many species of the Geotrupidae group, they are dung feeders and they fill underground burrows with dung for their larvae to feed on. With plentiful sheep and horses on the Long Mynd, I imagine it is close to being Dor Beetle heaven!
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| Dor Beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius) |
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