Ground beetles

Morning all, I have lived here quite a few years now and one thing I never have in the garden are "ground beetles" a house I previously lived in for 13 years and about 15miles away I would regulary see them .... when tidying up the garden etc .... I just think its odd why I dont have any ?
Spruce

 

Well I've lived in the same place for years and I must admit I rarely see these types of beetle anymore, but used to see them through the summer months.
Same as grass hoppers/crickets, and all sorts of things, those red beetle like insects, ( dont mean lily beetle), that used to land on you fairly often.

I think it's all part of the insect decline, lets face it, if its not covered in houses, its a farmers field, well it is around here anyway, neither of which is likely to promote the right conditions for insects.

 

You very often need to visit a nature reserve to see wildlife these days [1], and lots of those appear to be in decline.


[1] Or a well managed allotment (AKA messy plot).

 

I've seen 1 or 2 here but not offen

 

Reminds me of a walk in Teneriffe up on mount Teide one May. Beautiful pine forest, lovely paths climbing the hillside.

Then it struck us. It was too quiet. No birds. On the path there were a lot of fallen pine cones, all unnibbled. No squirrel nor bird had fed on the seeds. The oddest thing was the lack of ants. We sat quite a while in the sun, and didn't see a single ant even though the place looked like an insect haven.

I don't think Teide is very polluted and the site is a national park so no pesticides were used. It was very odd and eerie to be in that lovely lush nature and then to realise that all that small scuttling and going ons were missing.

 

I'm trying to manage my garden so that it encourages wildlife and insects. I create the odd woodpile, plant beneficial plants, etc and leave it looking a little wild in areas. Sitting out in the garden yesterday afternoon it was filled with flying insects, ladybirds, spiders, etc. Try and create little wildlife refuges and restore a little balance and create food sources for insects such as beetles