Many of the trees around Dingestow are 200 or more years old, and as they age and decay their dead wood provides a home for numerous beetle larvae. Detailed recording over the last 15 years, including visits by two national specialists, has produced 112 deadwood specialist beetle species here. This is one of the largest totals for any site in Wales, and the Saproxylic Quality Index (SQI) score for the Dingestow Court parkland reflects this. Among the most notable species here are the Rove Beetle Quedius aetolicus, the Jewel Beetle Agrilus angustulus, and the Wood-borer Dorcatoma substriata.
I put a lot of my beetle pics from Dingestow on to social media to share the excitement. Although I don’t like to blow my own trumpet, I reckon the funky antennae of Ptilinus pectinicornis are particularly worth a look!
This area has flooded a couple of times during recent storms but is dry 364 days of the year. As there are deep ditches nearby I strongly urge people not to try wading for the cache!
I have written a PDF guide to the Dingestow Butterfly cache Series that might be useful for people working out which puzzles to prioritise. I promise it doesn't contain any Hints though.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eCgwQKhpjCcAXxTjjhAUnEFyospeDkON/view?usp=sharing