Friend or foe?

[JoceAndChris]

Right, we have a steady stream of these now, down the scullery steps and making themselves at home in the old butler's sink.

Is it a stag beetle? Is it eating my house somewhere?

 

[Matt Green]

Yup. Looks like the Lesser Stag Beetle, Dorcus parallelipedus from the head shape.

Feeds on sap, breeds in rotting stumps. So probably not eating your home, just using it as a bordello.


Matt.
-if the joists are a-rocking, don't be a-knockin. As the Dorcus said to the Xestobium. Thanks- I'm here all week.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Great, thanks Matt. I'll just gently return them to a rotting stump then.

Rotting stump is quite a good description of much of the concealed woodwork here, actually.

 

[biffvernon]

Excellent. Things are looking up. It's just so great to know that you're not just out to kill kill kill anymore.

 

[yamin]

Oh come on Joce, you can't let Biff be smug ( :wink: ), we need to come up with the cruelest way possible to dispatch these creepy crawly visitors, however cute!! :lol:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Gently fried on the patio heater perhaps, and their ashes flown by private jet to Hawaii. In a Jimmy Choo shoebox.

:twisted:

 

[worms]

Glad to hear a positive use for the patio heater but instead of adding to their carbon footprint by sending them to Hawaii, they could be

eaten minus the wings and legs...dry fried in a pan with salt and pepper ... They're nice with Maggi sauce.

http://www.khiewchanta.com/archives/ingredients/meats-fish-eggs/edible-beetles-manggudchi-1.html

 

[Flyfisher]

Yup. Looks like the Lesser Stag Beetle, . . . . breeds in rotting stumps.

We had an old stump removed last year. It was about 2 feet tall and 18 inches diameter. Before grinding it away we cut it as low as possible with a chain saw and this revealed many chambers with white grubs about an inch long. The stump grinder chappie identified them as stag beetle grubs (can't recall the technical term) so instead of disposing of the stump I moved it to a corner of the chicken field (well, enclosure). I turned the stump over a few weeks ago and there were a couple of stag beetles looking pretty identical to Joce's photo, so I was pleased we kept the stump.

From my distant schooldays I remember much larger stag beetles, about two inches at least, with half of that being fearsome-looking jaws - the Greater Stag Beetle, perhaps? I don't recall seeing one since back then.

 

[yamin]

Gently fried on the patio heater perhaps, and their ashes flown by private jet to Hawaii. In a Jimmy Choo shoebox.

:twisted:

:lol: :lol:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Funny lot.

Mmmm - insects - yummy! Didn't Heston Blumenthal put those beetles into his edible Viccy garden when he was making his mad hatters' tea party? I loved that!

Flyfisher - I'm jealous of you seeing the chambers with the grubs, how exciting! When I find it I'll post pics. Sorry, everyone, haven't been able to find a period property creature forum so you'll have to put up with them.

 

[Penners]

So probably not eating your home, just using it as a bordello.

So it's presumably the stag beetle rutting season?

:roll:

 

[Cloudscape]

Yeah... every night's a stag night. :wink:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Right, we have a steady stream of these now, down the scullery steps and making themselves at home in the old butler's sink.

Is it a stag beetle? Is it eating my house somewhere?

No, it is a teaspoon - as far as I am aware, your house is quite safe from them. You're lucky to have a steady stream, in FamilyWiggs Towers, teaspoons are as rare as hens' teeth, odd socks and biro's.

 

[Penners]

in FamilyWiggs Towers, teaspoons are as rare as hens' teeth, odd socks and biro's.

Odd socks are rare in your house? Good grief! We have little else.

In fact, I've been thinking that I could save myself a fortune on sock purchases if I have one leg taken off.

Incidentally, I hesitate* to play the pedant, but there's an apostrophe lurking in the above that needs bringing down with a nuclear missile. :wink:


* Well - there's a first time for everything.

 

[Flyfisher]

Perhaps the FW household doesn't have a washing machine. As far as I can tell, cleaning clothes is merely a secondary function to sending socks into a parallel universe. A partial answer is to only buy a single style of sock, but even then you'll end up with an odd number of them.

 

[yamin]

As far as I can tell, cleaning clothes is merely a secondary function to sending socks into a parallel universe. A partial answer is to only buy a single style of sock, but even then you'll end up with an odd number of them.

No, this simply won't work. You forgot the tertiary function, which is to give different levels of washing attention to said leftover socks, so that even if you only buy one type, there will be differences in fading etc that render them useless to call 'pairs' (unless you are in our household, where both husband and children will happily go to work or school (shorts for the latter!) with socks of different lengths/hue......)!

 

[Flyfisher]

:lol:
Good point - seems that the odd-sock conspiracy is even more advanced than I thought.

 

[JoceAndChris]

In our house I have to tidy Chris' sock drawers and wear his old odd socks myself, even though his Size 9's don't look good on my Size 3 feet.

Life is hard.

 

[Pford75]

Not wishing to advertise...but can heartily recommend http://sockstar.co.uk/

We no longer experience lone socks

 

[JoceAndChris]

A lovely idea, but we should be making the green version of it, from sticky burrs and hawthorn prickles. :wink: