Stag Beetle update and request
Colin Hawes Suffolk Lead partner Biodiversity Action Plan for the Stag Beetle,
3 Silver Leys, Bentley, Ipswich, IP9 2BS, Tel: 01473 310678, or email
colinjhawes@btopenworld.com.
Road-Kill Surveys 2004 - help urgently required
Stag beetle road-kill surveys form part of the research being undertaken for the People's
Trust for Endangered Species, through Royal Holloway University of London, to
determine not only the biology and ecology of the insect but also methods for monitoring
its populations.
Data collected over a four year period (2000-2003) strongly suggest that annual stag
beetle road-kill surveys can be used to monitor the insects' abundance. Further evidence
is required, however, before we can be certain that the methodology is reliable. The
nature of the road-kill research is such that it is heavily dependent on volunteer support.
Without this help the amount of data collected annually would be severely limited.
Volunteer support in the county has been extremely good. In fact, Suffolk has produced
more assistance for this project than any other county. Can we come up trumps again?
Volunteers are urgently required for this year's survey. If you can help, please contact
Colin Hawes, details above.
Recording in 2004
Records are required of all stag beetle sightings made in 2004. Please send them directly
to me (they will be forwarded to the SBRC and the PTES) and include the date and
location of the sightings (a grid reference and postcode is also helpful) and your name
and address. A telephone contact number is also useful if there are any queries.
Stag Beetle Corpses Required
Stag beetle corpses are required for DNA studies being earned out at RHUL. Corpses
will also be measured in a study of size variation among the beetles. Please send any
corpses found to Colin Hawes (put each corpse, or part of corpse, in a separate sealed
container e.g. polythene bag, envelope, film canister, with a note of the site and date
when found). Corpses can be sent in one batch at the end of a season.
Stag Beetle Biology
Our knowledge of stag beetle biology has, until recently, contained numerous gaps.
However, many of those gaps have now been filled thanks to research carried out by
PhD student Deborah Harvey at RHUL. The outcome of part of her research can be read
in "The Private Life of the Stag Beetle" (Harvey, D. & Gange, A. Bulletin of the Amateur
Entomologists 'Society Vol. 62 December 2003).
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 44, May 2004 11