LITTLE GREEN SPACE ~ BY PENNY BUNTING
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
There are more than 4,000 species of beetle (Coleoptera) in the UK, from familiar and endearing ladybirds to spectacular stag beetles to luminous glow-worms.
Many of these species are useful allies in gardens, allotments and community green spaces. Beetles can pollinate our crops and flowers, keep harmful insects like aphids under control, and improve the quality of the soil.
Beetles are also a vital part of the food chain, contributing to a balanced ecosystem. Hedgehogs and birds, for example, feed on them. So by creating a habitat for these remarkable insects, you’re helping all sorts of wildlife.
The first action to take to encourage more beetles onto your patch is to avoid use of pesticides. Pesticide use is a key cause of global insect declines, harming butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects, as well as beetles.
Pesticides contaminate the soil, which can have a devastating effect on soil-dwelling species such as ground beetles (Carabidae). This is a large family of beetles, with more than 360 species, and includes the pretty, iridescent violet ground beetle.
Instead of using pesticides and other harmful chemicals, try organic gardening techniques such as companion planting, hoeing or hand-pulling of weeds, and boosting beneficial insect populations – including beetles!
Homes for beetles
Creating suitable habitats is the next step – and, as is so often the case when trying to help nature, not being too tidy is the way to go.
Beetles love dead and rotting wood. If you have space, try piling up branches, logs and twigs in a quiet corner and leave them to decompose naturally. This is a much more nature-friendly option than burning garden debris on a bonfire.
If you have a lot of branches and twigs, you could make a ‘dead’ hedge to form a boundary or divide up areas of the garden. This involves pushing larger branches vertically into the soil, then weaving thinner twigs and branches between them. This creates a fantastic habitat for beetles and all sorts of other creatures. See www.wildlifetrusts.org/gardening for a detailed guide.
Compost heaps, rock piles and piles of leaves are also good habitats, providing shade and shelter. And don’t be too hasty to clear away dead plant stems and leaf litter in garden borders – these provide safe hiding places for beetles.
Not much space? You could create a beetle bucket by filling a bucket with wood and leaves – this will provide a home for all sorts of insects.
Just like bumblebees and butterflies, many beetles are excellent pollinators, and will be attracted to nectar-rich flowers.
Open-structured flowers and umbellifers (flat-topped flowers that radiate out from a main stem, a bit like an upturned umbrella) are preferred by many beetles. Ladybirds and red soldier beetles, for example, will be attracted to yarrow, fennel, cow parsley, daisies and angelica. Bugle (Ajuga reptans), alyssum and penstemon are also good choices.
Five beetles to look out for
Violet ground beetles can be found in gardens, meadows and farmland across the UK. They’re around 20-30mm long and can be identified by their shimmering, metallic body and wing cases – usually in shades of violet or blue, but also sometimes green.
Violet ground beetles are nocturnal hunters – and are particularly useful in the garden, as they prey on unwanted insect species such as aphids, as well as slugs.
Ladybirds are a common sight in the garden and instantly recognisable. There are more than 40 different species of ladybird in the UK – two of the most commonly seen species are the 7-spot, with seven black spots on red wing cases, and the 2-spot. Not all ladybirds are red though. They could also be yellow with black spots, orange with white spots, or black with red spots.
A single ladybird can munch its way through around 5,000 aphids in its lifetime. So attracting lots of ladybirds to your garden is a good, chemical-free way to help protect your crops and flowers.
Ladybirds need places to shelter during cold weather, and will hunker down in cracks and crevices, leaf litter and hollow stems. For this reason, it's best to wait until they emerge from hibernation – usually in April – before you tidy up the garden by cutting down dead plants.
Red soldier beetles. Also known as ‘bloodsuckers’, red soldier beetles are a common sight throughout the UK on warm summer days. Despite the terrifying nickname (a result of its bright, orangey-red colouring) red soldier beetles are completely harmless to humans. But garden pests better beware – adult red soldier beetles feed on aphids, and the beetle larvae prey on ground-dwelling invertebrates, including slugs and snails.
Red soldier beetles also eat pollen and nectar, so plant plenty of open flowers and umbellifers to attract them. As adults, they are particularly romantic beetles, spending much of their short lives in pairs – look out for them on cow parsley and hogweed plants along hedgerows.
Green tortoise beetles are so-called because, when threatened, they retreat into their tortoise-like ‘shell’, pulling in legs and antennae and gripping tightly onto the surface of a leaf. This beetle has a flat, round shape and leaf-green colour which keeps it camouflaged from predators. It feeds on white dead-nettle and hedge woundwort.
Green tortoise beetles might be confused with green shield bugs, which look similar but have a shield-shaped body. Shield bugs are not beetles at all, but ‘true bugs’, belonging to the insect group Hemiptera. True bugs differ from beetles in that they have sucking mouthparts, for extracting sap from plant stems and leaves.
Stag beetle. Although not present in the Peak District, it would be a shame not to mention the magnificent stag beetle – a nationally scarce species that’s found in the south of England. At up to 75mm in length, this is the UK’s largest beetle. It lives in woodlands, hedgerows, gardens and parks, and needs trees and woods to survive – loss of its native broadleaf woodland habitat has led to declines in populations.
Just like deer stags, stag beetles use their antler-like mandibles to fight with and fend off rivals – a display of strength used to impress a mate.
For more information about beetles, and how to help them thrive, visit the Buglife website at www.buglife.org.uk.
Penny Bunting
