I remember my excitement as a child in a London suburb when I found a huge male Stag Beetle in our back garden. It seemed so exotic and monstrous. I have never seen one since even though I have been looking, and have visited sites where special places have been constructed as homes for them. The beetle shown here is the nearest I have come to achieving my goal – but it is a lot smaller than I imagined so I think it must either be a female of that species or the Lesser Stag Beetle (Dorcus parallelipedus) – and unfortunately it is dead.