Құмырсқа ұясында тіршілік ететін қоңыр қоңыз (Qumyrsqa uyasynda tirshilik etetin qoñyr qoñyz)

Species of beetle

Velleius dilatatus , the hornet rove beetle, is a species of rove beetle belonging to the family Staphylinidae. This beetle is commensal with the European hornet (Vespa crabro), living in its nests.

Velleius dilatatus was first formally described in 1787 as Staphylinus dilatatus by the Danish biologist Johan Christian Fabricius with its type locality given as Saxony ("Halae Saxonum"). This species is classified within the genus Quedius by some authorities who treat Velleius as a subgenus of Quedius.

Velleius dilatatus spend most of their adult lives in the nests of European hornets, typically in tree hollows but they have also been recorded from houses. They feed upon diptera larvae etc. which they find by the accumulated debris in the nest. However, they are known to leave nests on warm evenings, when the temperature exceeds , to prey on other insects or to visit sap runs on oak and beech trees. They have a keen sense of smell and they are thought to be able to detect sap and navigate to and from the nest by following the scent. These beetles are good fliers and they normally land at a sap run roughly an hour after dark and there may be a few of them in attendance at a single sap run. They do not associate with each other, remaining separated and do not move much when feeding. They will stay at the sap run for much of the night, regularly detecting and preying on other insects that come to the sap run. Their larvae grow within the nest detritus, eating other insects and, maybe, the dead and dying hornets too. As many as ten adult beetles and larvae may be found in a nest, and while they do not appear to prey on the hornets or their larvae, the nest must be occupied by hornets for the beetles to persist.