Expert analyses extinct beetles that are 3,875 years old
The Oak Capricorn Beetles were found by a farmer in a piece of ancient wood that had been lodged below the ground. He had been splitting the wood only to discover the three-inch insects with distinctive curved long, threadlike antennae. He suspected, because they were in such good condition, they may have been an invasive species and donated them to the Natural History Museum for further research.
But they remained a mystery until Senior Curator of Insects at the museum, Max Barclay, rediscovered them and sent them off to be tested again.
His breakthrough was revealed during Channel 5’s ‘Natural History Museum: World of Wonder’ documentary, which took viewers inside the popular attraction.
Mr Barclay said: “We have one of the largest, one of the oldest, and the most comprehensive collections of its kind anywhere in the world.
“We have here about 22,000 boxes of beetles containing about eight million specimens.
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“One of my favourite things are these gold and silver chafers from the cloud forests of Central America, they have been called bling beetles.
“This is the biggest beetle in the world, and this piece is called Titanus giganteus.
“These can get to about 16 or 17 centimetres long, so they are bigger than a hamster.”
The series went on to explain how the “remarkable” story unfolded, tipping them to be the “oldest complete beetles ever found”.
Mr Barclay added: “This is one of the most incredible things in the collection.
“This is a piece of wood that was dug up in the Seventies on a farm in eastern England.
“In one of these channels, the farmer who dug it up, he found some dead beetles and they are here.
“He brought these into the Natural History Museum and the scientists who were here at the time said ‘this is not a British species of beetle’.
“There was always a mystery about these beetles – what were they doing here? Why were they here? It was put into a drawer and it was left for 30 or 40 years.”
Mr Barclay rediscovered the beetles a few years ago and suspected the reason they were so puzzling was because they have been extinct in the UK for thousands of years.
He added: “I decided that we were going to find out once and for all how old these specimens were.
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“We sent some tiny samples and the wood to be carbon-dated.
“I’ve just got the results back from this, and it’s quite interesting because we always suspected that they were old.
“But, actually, these beetles are older than the Tudors, older than the Roman occupation of Britain, even older than the Roman Empire.
“These beetles were alive and chewing the inside of that piece of wood when the pharaohs were building the pyramids in Egypt. They are 3,875 years old.”
Mr Barclay believes Oak Capricorn Beetles, which exist today in southern and central Europe, may have died out in Britain due to climate change.
The discovery featured in last week’s episode of ‘Natural History Museum: World Of Wonder’ on Channel 5.
You can watch the full episode, as well as the rest of the series, on My5 now.
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