#dor beetle

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Did you know that the Dor Beetle (Anoplotrupes stercorosus) is a species of dung beetle known for its digging? The adult will dig tunnels as far as 1m deep and lay an egg (and drop food) into the bottom of each one. The food provided by the mother beetle is dead plant matter and/or dung from a herbivore. The adult will feed on dung, various fungi, and carrion.

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I haven't been drawing much because I've been consumed by learning lino prints!

The newest: a cool bug based on a dor beetle

Camera didn't quite catch their vivid blue exoskeleton. Still gorgeous.

I think it's George.

Sandy Beetle – a dor beetle (Geotrupidae) in the sand dunes of Dorset

Ben James

Ten of my favourite photos I took in October 2025 and month summary

The photos are of; devil’s fingers at Denny Wood in the New Forest, fly agaric and Tawny Owl in the New Forest, Mute Swan cygnets at Winnall Moors, Clouded Yellow and Common Darter at Lakeside Country Park, pigs and bog myrtle leaves in the New Forest, yellow autumn leaves at Lakeside and sky at home.

Pannage pigs trotting beside the road to tackle the mast year acorn crop, a magnificent Tawny Owl tucked snuggly in a tree and masses of fairytale toadstool scarlet fly agaric mushrooms were key sightings in an amazing month of New Forest visits that were a key strand of a fantastic wild autumnal month.

The festival of fungi this year is one of my most memorable fungi autumns. Otherworldly devil’s fingers, charming amethyst deceiver, colonies of dusty honey mushrooms and distinctive shaggy inkcap were other principal species seen. Other highlights included brown roll-rim, larch bolete, parasol, golden scalycap, sheathed woodtuft, blusher, panthercaup, false death-cap, sulphur tuft, grey coral, penny bun, King Alfred's cakes, turkey tail, puffball, earthball, porcelain fungi a key one this year, bleeding oak crust, birch polypore, clustered bonnets, common bonnets, bleeding fair helmet, ugly milkcap, charcoal burner and yellow stagshorn. Slime moulds, moss including bank haircap and lichen including stubby-stalked cladonia have also been good to observe this month.

Seeing Peregrine and Grey Wagtail multiple times in Winchester as well as Grey Heron, Red Kite and young Mute Swans and Cetti’s Warbler heard at Winnall Moors brought some birding joy to in office working days this month. I saw Siskin at Winnall Moors too which was one of the stars on working from home day walks at Lakeside Country Park with a few seen and heard there this month. Other Lakeside highlights were Common Gull, Mandarin Duck, a super large gaggle of Greylag Geese at times, Coot, Moorhen, Cormorant, nice views of Great Crested Grebes, a few Jays, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wren and Nuthatch. Blue Tit was good to see and hear a lot in the garden. Other key birds seen this month include Great White Egret, Little Egret, Lapwing, Green Sandpipers, Egyptian Geese, Shoveler, Goosander, Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Stonechat, Long-tailed Tit, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard with Water Rails heard.

Butterflies were still a welcome presence in my October with the high point coming on a Lakeside lunch time walk getting astonishing views of a Clouded Yellow and a Small Copper close by, resplendent and colourful species. Brimstone at Lakeside, Peacock and Speckled Wood were other highlights with Rush Veneer moth a key species of my year seen near the Clouded Yellow and Small Copper, Large Yellow Underwing and White-shouldered House moth good moths seen. Common Darter and Migrant Hawker brought splashes of colour to the month and Woodland Dor beetle and Seven-spotted and Harlequin ladybirds kept beetles going. Grey Squirrel, Brown Rat, Rabbit, Fallow Deer and New Forest Ponies were nice mammals seen in October. Also standing out this month were snails including Garden snails and worms in wetter parts, seasonal crane flies, bee, Grey-spotted Sedgesitter on the lavender in the garden, Ladder-backed hoverfly, wasps, common spangle gall, mossy rose galls and spiders including outdoors and Long-bodied Cellar spiders at home.

There were a few flowers hanging on this month with herb-Robert, wood avens, self-heal, hogweed, yarrow, shepherd’s purse, daisy, Michaelmas daisy, oxeye daisy, sea aster, dandelion, autumn hawkbit, bristly oxtongue, sowthistle, buttonweed, common chickweed, creeping cinquefoil, common mallow, viper's-bugloss, surprisingly sweet violets, meadow crane's-bill, groundsel, periwinkle, dogwood, annual mercury, bird’s-foot trefoil, pineappleweed, water forget-me-not, thyme-leaved and grey field speedwells, white deadnettle, red deadnettle, common heather and tormentil good to see in bloom. Fruit of course continued to play a big part with captivating scenes of hawthorn berries, blackthorn sloes, cheery holly berries, white dogwood berries, snowberries, climbing nightshade berries and rose hips, chestnut, conker, apples and the many acorns encountered. There were some good seed heads seen including hemp agrimony, dandelion, fleabane, wild carrot, teasel and old man’s beard with common plantain enjoyed too. As the year continues to shut down the ever increasing simplicity of the landscape allowed me to appreciate plant’s leaves more with leaves of foxgloves, colourful bog myrtle and bramble, cleavers, ferns and bracken, dock and common mallow standing out.

When I went back to check on the enormous slime mould from earlier this month, a large sphere of spore mass had fallen off the log and landed on the forest floor. A dor beetle had found it, and seemed happily engrossed in rolling it around the leaf litter.