I found this fly in my back garden that looks like a beetle with wings and it hovers.
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What is it?
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1$\begingroup$ @Remi.b I did add what environment I found it and where in the world I found it $\endgroup$– Muslim_1234Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 21:42
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1$\begingroup$ Did you know that all beetles do have wings, and many of them do fly? I think it's going to be hard to identify based just on that picture, since it is quite blurry, but who knows, there are some masters here. It's almost certainly a beetle of some kind, though. $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 22:00
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$\begingroup$ I got a clear video, shame you can't post videos. $\endgroup$– Muslim_1234Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 22:01
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3$\begingroup$ It's slightly frowned upon because StackExchange likes to have everything contained on this site where possible to preserve the content of both questions and answers, but in this case I think it would be fine to link to a youtube video, or some other video service or video-to-gif host. Just if you do so, please don't remove it after you get an answer. If someone is able to answer your question they can put a high quality image in their answer. $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Commented Jun 12, 2017 at 22:05
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1 Answer
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It is of course it is difficult to tell exactly from the quality of the image, but with mandibles of that size relative to the body (approx. 20-25% of total length) it is very likely to be a male Stag Beetle Lucanus cervus, the mandibles will grow much larger. The antenna sticking out from the side of the head just in front of the eye matches your photo (note: in the image below it looks like two on each side, but it is just the shadow in the photo)
Picture from Wikimedia commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucanus_cervus_1922.png
They can be found flying at dusk, and are found in the SE of England from late May to August.
If you are looking for a good insect ID book, I can recommend "A comprehensive guide to Insects of Britain & Ireland" by Paul D. Brock, published in 2014
