Whilst monitoring bats on our site in Molesey, Ross Baker from the Surrey Bat Group, noticed this colourful creature.  It is a very rare Sexton Beetle. 

Sexton Beetles require dead Carrion for their larvae to feed on – they actually burrow beneath the carcasses of birds and small mammals to bury them, lay their eggs underneath, forming a “crypt” – hence the alternative name burying beetle. Unusually in the insect world both parents remain with the brood to assist in feeding.

It is a slightly ghoulish insect to mention to the kids during Halloween!!