A headstand
When threatened it stops, lowers its head and points its tail straight up in the air.
The desert · Beetles
Pinacate beetle
Eleodes
A plain, jet-black, long-legged beetle that stands on its head when alarmed.
- Size
- 2 to 3.5cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Deserts and dry grassland across western North America
Walks after you, and stands on its head if you get close. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Stink beetle
Good to know
Six things about the stink beetle
Then it sprays
If that does not work, it squirts a dark, foul-smelling liquid from its tail.
It cannot fly
Its wing cases are fused shut, which helps to keep water in. It walks everywhere.
One mouse has the answer
The grasshopper mouse grabs the beetle, jams its tail into the sand and eats it from the head down.
Others pretend to be it
Harmless beetles copy the headstand, though they have nothing to spray.
A long life for a beetle
Adults can live for several years.
The real thing
Photos of the stink beetle
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look for a black beetle walking steadily across open ground, often in broad daylight. Its tracks in the sand look like a tiny zip.
How to help
Give it room and it will carry on walking. It eats dead plants and seeds, and tidies the desert floor.
Keep going