[goosey]

There were loads of these on brick work of a sheltering place. They were approx 2cm and found in a very sandy environment of the Amsterdamse waterleidingduinen.



Found on dead wood in the afore mentioned place but in a wooded area. Rather impressive looking

[paul m]

I'll leave the millipede to those who knwo ...
The beetle is a 'longhorn', cerambycid, which I don't recognise immediately. There is a very comprehensive site at:
Cerambycidae
I think it's one of the Lepturinae but may be one of the Cerambycinae .... good luck ...

[black]

The millipede is probably a Striped Millipede Ommatoiulus sabulosus

[black]

The Longhorn looks a bit like Rhagium bifasciatum

[goosey]

Thank you Paul and excellent work black! I had started going through the 80 odd longhorns and hadn't got as far as the "R's", so that was very helpful

I tend to agree with the millipede ID aswell .

[Pudding4brains]

Black is (totally) right about Ommatoiulus sabulosus. Female Megaphyllum projectum look very simmilar, but that species is only recorded for the easternmost parts of the Netherlands (also see waarneming.nl).

Beautiful millipede me thinks
Cheers! Arp

[goosey]

Originally Posted by Pudding4brains

Black is (totally) right about Ommatoiulus sabulosus. Female Megaphyllum projectum look very simmilar, but that species is only recorded for the easternmost parts of the Netherlands (also see Waarneming.nl - de site voor al uw waarnemingen).

Beautiful millipede me thinks
Cheers! Arp

I didn't actually see any legs on any I saw - so was a bit surprised they were millipedes . Not sure about beautiful but they were very shiny .

[goosey]

This flew into the garden this afternoon, the colour glinting in the sun caught my eye. It was about 1cm long. In this picture there are red " inflated bits" at the thigh, but in another image of the same beetle they are not noticable, and the red around the head is much more prominant in this image. Is this a defensive stance - was I annoying him?

[paul m]

In UK this would definitely be Malachius bipustulatus but you may have others? The thick thighs suggest males ... I'll say no more but this is another member of the 'bonking beetle' family which will be seen in abundance on umbellifers and other flowers over the next month or so.

I don't know about defensive, perhaps it was just feeling antisocial?

[goosey]

Originally Posted by paul m

In UK this would definitely be Malachius bipustulatus but you may have others? The thick thighs suggest males ... I'll say no more but this is another member of the 'bonking beetle' family which will be seen in abundance on umbellifers and other flowers over the next month or so.

I don't know about defensive, perhaps it was just feeling antisocial?

Thanks Paul, it does look like Malachius bipustulatus, when I looked it up the Natural England site said "When alarmed, both sexes exude soft, bright red pouches from the sides of the body which give off a smell that deters predators."

[Pudding4brains]

Originally Posted by goosey

"When alarmed, both sexes exude soft, bright red pouches from the sides of the body which give off a smell that deters predators."

Cool to see that on your image Goosey