We find the imposing deer beetle here as well as the purple fast beetle or the magnificent hornet stone – in a mostly unnoticed, but amazed diverse ecological niche: in dead wood. In stubben and dead trunks, under modern branches as well as in the half -timbered manner of old houses.
One who looked closely there is Thomas Hörren. He is the chairman of the Entomological Association Krefeld, known for the “Krefeld study” for the dramatic insect death in our environment. Here, listeners manage to pack his readers with an apparently brittle topic. He takes us on his excursions in forests, parks and gardens. He speaks to us personally and creates closeness. He encourages simple experiments to take a closer look at the interaction of decay and live in the dead wood. Sometimes a little red wine and sugar are enough to fake fermenting tree juices and thus to attract beetles and moths, which you would otherwise hardly be seen.
Hearing lets us look under loose bark and in water -filled caves broken branches and makes it clear how not only insects benefit from the dead wood. But also many small mammals and birds that find food here, or newts and bats that hibernate here. And that an “messy” dead wood corner in the garden can be a source of lush life. Jürgen Nakott
Thomas Hörren
From life in dead wood
The hidden world of insects and other living things
Residenz Verlag, 192 pages, € 28, –
ISBN 978-3-7017-3620-1