Rove beetle

How to recognise it

Slim elongated beetles with very short wing cases that leave most of the abdomen exposed - they often curl the tail up like a scorpion when disturbed. Fast, ground-dwelling.

Mistaken for

The raised tail makes people think it stings. It does not. Because they swarm over rotting material they are also assumed to be causing the rot rather than hunting in it.

What it eats

Cabbage root fly, Carrot fly, Flea beetle, Slugs and snails

How to attract it

Same as ground beetles: undisturbed mulch, ground cover, no digging where possible, and a compost heap left alone.

Plants that help

Straw or compost mulch

Lifecycle

Adults and larvae both hunt soil-surface eggs and larvae, especially root fly eggs laid at plant bases.

Months: March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October

The thing people get wrong

They specialise in exactly the eggs that ruin brassicas and carrots. A cardboard collar around a cabbage stem works partly as a barrier and partly because it gives rove beetles a warm dry hide right where the root fly is trying to lay.