Rare beetle reappears in Sumava, attracted by dry trees

A rare beetle species, Peltis grossa, has reappeared in the Czech Sumava mountains after more than 100 years, attracted by dry trees that have mushroomed there as a result of a bark-beetle calamity, Sumava National Park (NPS) spokesman Jan Dvorak has told media. Peltis grossa, a bark-gnawing beetle, feeds on the dead but still standing torsos of spruces or fir-trees. For the first time, experts uncovered the beetle near Stozec in the southern part of the mountain range that spreads along the Czech southwestern border with Austria and Bavaria.