Almost two years ago I found the first Green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) to be recorded at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park (see A Surprising beetle find, May 2024), and I’ve been looking on and off since then for any more.

Ten days ago, on 21 April, I finally spotted another one, and then the very next day I found two more. Of course, this means there must have been more back in 2024, at least one male and one female, for this species still to be present at Cosmeston, and not just a one-off anomaly.

I shall continue checking the location where I found these, an area where a lot of loose limestone fragments and spoil from the adjacent former quarry was dumped when the park was first created in the 1970s. Though plants have colonised the area, much of the rock remains exposed; this holds the sun’s warmth well, which these insects seem to like.

Having seen these beetles again, and spent time watching them, I’ve become more familiar with their way of moving, which helps with spotting them. They’re almost impossible to see when still but move away when I walk the paths through the area. If you didn’t know them, you might think they were large flies, as they fly a short distance, scuttle, then stay very still. Green tiger beetles are active in the spring and summer so fingers crossed I find some more in the weeks to come.

I am often amazed at how creatures manage to move long distances, especially small creatures like this Green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris) I found at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park yesterday. At just 15mm long, this little beetle can run much faster than you might think, and it can also fly quite well for short distances, but it has never been recorded at Cosmeston before, and a check of the Welsh biodiversity database shows the nearest records were over 10 kilometres away and not recent. So, did it hitch a ride in someone’s car, catch a train and fly from the station, hop on a bus? And, if there’s one, are there more? I will be looking.