In reply to Des Higgins ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On Sep 14, 9:47 am, "Uncle Marvo"
wrote:
Someone in the village saw a beetle in a pile of wood yesterday
which was, he says, as long as his finger (about 3"?) and iridescent
green. It isn't one pictured in the Oxford Book, and I don't think
it's a six-spotted tiger beetle cos they shouldn't be in the village
in a pile of wood, AFAIK.

Anyone got any ideas?

Rose chafers are big and very shiny but mainly found on coasts and
heaths. They are big by UK (and Irish :-) beetle standards but
nothing like 3 inches; closer to one inch and volkswagen beetle
shaped.

Calosoma is a genus of carabid (hunting) beetles one or two of which
are very big (over and inch; but again nothing like 3 inches) which
are found on trees and are big and green? Try googling them and maybe
put "UK" in the query to avoid seeing madagascar genital wasps or
australian pit lice.

http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/carab.htm

Third one down on the right fits the bill. I've printed it for him to look
at later, thanks!

Was the genital wasp an unfortunate typo? I can't find one anywhere.