Black Oil Beetle (female)

Isn't nature wonderful!*
Isn't it exciting
when you spot a little creature
that you've never seen before?

When you spot a little beetle
and you find out all about her
and you even have a picture
of this creature you adore!

And the picture you're so proud of
is, happily, not blurred.
Isn't it exciting?
Yes, exciting IS the word!

© Celia Warren 2017


* Wonderful for some! It's less exciting to learn that the oil beetle (one of a small number of varieties remaining in Britain) is in decline, and found mostly in the south west coastal area. On the other hand, its larvae feed on certain bees' eggs. They are laid in flowers, attach themselves to a visiting bee, and hatch out in its nest, feeding and growing on their host's eggs and pollen, ready to emerge a year later as a beetle.

Black oil beetle Meloe proscarabaeus