Ptinus sexpunctatus

One of the spider beetles, so-called because of their long legs and roundish bodies, although in this particular species the body is less rounded than in some other members of the genus. It is very small (3 or 4 mm) with brown pitted elytra marked with pale creamy patches.

This tiny beetle has the distinction of having previously been discovered in the nests of bees.

Most often seen in summer

It feeds on decaying insects, one of the thousands of useful "tidying up" creatures without which our world would be overrun with refuse.

All British records come from the area south of the Wash. It is probably under recorded due to its very small size.

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 24 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.