Local amateur photographer Duncan McNaught was out with his trusty macro lens this week, hunting for insects and bugs to photograph this weeks challenge ‘Dumfries and Galloway Through a Lens‘ Facebook page, when he spiotted a very rare bug indeed.
Duncan told DGWGO ” I spotted this tiny beetle smaller than my fingernail on a post next to the river near where I live, I had no idea what it was but just had to take a photograph as it was so tiny and I do like a challenge when it comes to my photography”
“I then came home and looked it up on line to find out what it was. I posted the photo on the ‘Dumfries and Galloway Wildlife and Birding‘ facebook page, Valerie Harrison who runs the site contacted me to say it was rare and was a great find and I needed to report it formally to the Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Resources Centre (DGREC).”
“The Experts there stated that it was a Rhinoceros Beetle – and it was only the fourth record of the species (as far as we know) in Dumfries and Galloway.”
Just goes to show you how amazing Dumfries and Galloway wildlife is, and the power of social media is fantastic for spreading the word.