AVAST, LEST I OPEN A CAN

Well, I’m back in the field these days, and it feels good. Weird bugs and snake feces are, in fact, my idea of a good time.

This fine fellow is a devil’s coach horse, a rove beetle native to Europe that now thrives in California. I don’t know if it poses any kind of ecological risk (given its numbers and those voracious jaws, one wonders how it couldn’t), but I do know that if you poke it enough, it grows angry and does this:

If you keep poking it, it even starts emmitting foul smelling goo from its butt, but my picture of that didn’t turn out as well. The site I linked to above claims its name stems from an Irish belief that it symbolizes corruption, but since they provide no source for that it’s hard to validate. Also difficult to trace is its current scientific name. I found a couple floating around out there, but I think I’ll settle for Staphylinus olens.

In other news, uh, there is no other news.