Lesser Bloody-nosed Beetles

Pete and I spent the day in Bedfordshire, verifying my vegetation map of the Totternhoe nature reserve. Unfortunately the sky was very overcast, but the temperature was just right for walking. In April chalk grassland can look a little barren, with only scattered violets and cowslips flowering in the sward. However, we were amazed by the abundance of these Lesser Bloody-nosed Beetles Timarcha goettingensis, which were locally abundant in the most open-structured areas. At one point we could see 24 in the grassland surrounding us! The larvae feed on bedstraws, woodruffs and squinancywort, the latter of which is locally abundant on the site.