I found these two Geotrupes between 30 and 40cm down in very soggy fine sandy soil in mixed woods. I had hoped for a new personal species but they appear to be G. balyi, which I had collected earlier in the year. I thought it was remarkable that I found two so close together and suppose that there could even have been more there that I missed spotting. As you can see, they had the company of phoretic mites as they overwintered in the wet, chilly soil. Later in the winter the soil will surely have frozen there.