Favorable Substrate for the Development of the Target Species – Osmoderma eremita
This is not the hermit beetle (Osmoderma eremita) but a female titmouse that has made a superb nest in a beech wood box filled with plant material, which we installed within the Putna Vrancea Natural Park, with the aim of providing saproxylic insects with a sort of artificial hollow!
This is precisely what we expected to happen in this first stage! Basically, by the colonization of the box by birds, the vegetable compost will be enriched with minerals and natural elements (chick droppings, egg shells, insect remains, straw, hair, and wool), thus reproducing the natural cycle that occurs in a natural hollow in the middle of the forest. Therefore, the plant material (compost) will gradually transform, with the help of birds, water, and fungi, into a substrate favorable for the development of the target species – Osmoderma eremita.
