What the hell is this thing

[Pudsey Bear]

I was locking up the house last night and this thing scooted across the kitchen floor, I squirted a kitchen spray at it to slow it down.

I was about an inch and a quarter long, we've never seen one before, and am wondering how it got into the house as it's been closed up for weeks.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I think it was the Devils coach horse.

Devil's coach horse | The Wildlife Trusts

A ferocious and fast predator, the Devil's coach horse beetle hunts invertebrates after dark in gardens and on grasslands. It is well-known for curling up its abdomen like the tail of a scorpion when defending itself.

www.wildlifetrusts.org

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Pity you harmed it with your kitchen spray, Kev.

Devil's Coach Horses are voracious predators of garden pests, such as slugs, weevil larvae, etc.

They do bite when frightened though.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Yes I just wanted to stop it going under the kitchen units.

 

[BunnyB]

Yes I just wanted to stop it going under the kitchen units.

Wish I had one, the slugs here are rampant, have to collect the dogs balls up and wash them incase the slimy blighters have been playing with them

 

[trevskoda]

Wish I had one, the slugs here are rampant, have to collect the dogs balls up and wash them incase the slimy blighters have been playing with them

There is a name for people who handle dogs balls.

 

[CriftinsCampers]

I haven’t seen one of these for ages, so first there was this post and then I nearly trod on one walking the dogs this morning
unlike wagon wheels these are still as big as I remember as a child!

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Nasty bite too it seems.

 

[Pauljenny]

We recently found some in Portugal. First time in 20 plus years.
Evil looking bu99ers.
They're not keen on a size 8½ shoe.

 

[Rumour]

Why on earth do people kill things when they find them? What gives us the right to determine what lives or dies? There are other ways.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

No right at all, must be nice to never have killed anything though, but doubtful.

 

[Rumour]

No right at all, must be nice to never have killed anything though, but doubtful.

It's not about never killing anything, more not killing anything unnecessarily. Stepping on a bug just because you don't like the look of it. Shooting a deer because you want a head on your wall. Killing wasps just because they can sting, but leaving bees even though they can too. We all inadvertently kill things when we drive or walk/run. But to kill something because it doesn't suit? Not really a nice thing to do.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

No matter what I say you have made your mind up so I'll say no more except judging people is easy to do based on very little and is usually wrong.

 

[Rumour]

Who is judging? It is my opinion that we should not kill something on a whim! That beetle is harmless. It is not about making up my mind, it is about doing the right thing.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

I'm biased because I am fascinated by insects. I became hooked around 1974 when I was out walking in Surrey and first set eyes on a solitary strange looking thing hanging suspended from a slender branch just above my head. It had a beak and what looked like a sting in its tail. I thought I had discovered something quite new and dangerous, but I was wrong.

Image from YouTube:

It's really quite common, the beak cannot bite, and the tail cannot sting. It's a Scorpion Fly and the "sting" shows that it's a male and used as a clasper during mating. How could anyone not love it?