Stag Beetle Kingdom on the Forest Floor

A stag beetle with huge curved orange antlers and a teal, spotted head crawls through leaf litter and moss. A stone castle with a drawbridge stands on its head, and two children swing from one antler. The wing cases are laid out as a patchwork of coloured plates marked with a crown, a moon, a star and a diamond, and on top sit striped circus tents, a smoking forge, two horses and a market cart. A washing line hangs between the legs, with a child beneath it, and ladders lean against the side. A well, a pink earthworm, a snail shell, an acorn and a line of ants share the ground. Fly agaric mushrooms, violets, red hips, feathers and autumn leaves crowd the edges. The patchwork shell plates are easy to tell apart.