Half buried logs of a spineless cultivar of honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthus).
Photo courtesy of Brett Ratcliffe, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Brett did this in 2010 to encourage stag beetles in his garden, or any other beetles which develop in wood (saproxylic). As he lives in a residential area, he introduced some pinching bugs (Lucanus capreolus) to see if they would establish.
Update:
This logarium was monitored in 2014 without pulling the logs for fear of disturbing the habitat. No luck with stag beetles; just a few ground beetles (Carabidae) and rove beetles (Staphylinidae), which are mostly predators, suggesting there are other small insects in the logs on which they are feeding.
This raises one important question: How good are these log piles for stag beetles?
Do let me know if you got any examples of good colonization by stag beetles in such man-made habitat.
Last modified: Sun Feb 15 2016
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