Darkling beetle - they can get very big.

California broad-necked darkling beetle (according to Google)

I found this beetle 100 feet from our campsite in Clearwater, BC.  It is a darkling beetle.  They are similar to ground beetles but are usually have a matte sheen versus a shiny one.  I wrote about the differences between darkling beetles and ground beetles in a blog you can find here.

When I disturbed it, the beetle lowered its head and raised its abdomen up in the air.  There was a dark, shiny liquid that was emitted from glands located in its back end.  I have seen this behaviour before in other darkling beetles.  My brother and I found a much bigger one in Texas that did the same thing.

The dark brown liquid is made of benzoquinone, which is a noxious chemical that smells bad and tastes worse.  It is used defensively to prevent an attack from some potential predator.  The beetle isn't fast, does not have strong jaws, and is easily seen if in the open.  It uses the chemical as its only way of protecting itself.

Most darkling beetles hide under ground cover; I found this one walking across a bare patch of ground in the middle of the day.  I caught it and saved it until I could photograph it.  My wife didn't want to see it ("Honey, I found this awesome beetle, do you want to see it?").  In fact, she banned it outright from coming in the trailer.  Apparently, they have another defensive mechanism I didn't know about.  The large size causes some people to elicit the response known as the heebeejeebees.  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com