JWB Creative Life
Devil's coach-horse beetle
Another small creature...With a large name!
The Latin species name olens, meaning smelling, refers to the two white stinking glands on the abdomen.[4] This beetle has been associated with the Devil since the Middle Ages.[1] Hence its common name, which has been used at least since 1840.[5] Other names include Devil's footman, Devil's coachman and Devil's steed. It is sometimes also known as the cock-tail beetle[6] for its habit of raising its abdomen. One dictionary proposed the name developed in parallelism with ladybird and its Norse cognates.[7] In Irish, the beetle is called dearga-daol[8] or darbh-daol.[9] British folklore has it that a beetle has eaten the core of Eve's apple, and that a person who crushes such beetle is forgiven seven sins
Devil's coach-horse beetle
Another small creature...With a large name!
The Latin species name olens, meaning smelling, refers to the two white stinking glands on the abdomen.[4] This beetle has been associated with the Devil since the Middle Ages.[1] Hence its common name, which has been used at least since 1840.[5] Other names include Devil's footman, Devil's coachman and Devil's steed. It is sometimes also known as the cock-tail beetle[6] for its habit of raising its abdomen. One dictionary proposed the name developed in parallelism with ladybird and its Norse cognates.[7] In Irish, the beetle is called dearga-daol[8] or darbh-daol.[9] British folklore has it that a beetle has eaten the core of Eve's apple, and that a person who crushes such beetle is forgiven seven sins