The Actor - _TNY_5337
This beetle with impressive mandibles and peculiar antennae is a Margarinotus merdarius. It is a member of the clown beetles, also known as Hister beetles.
The reason behind the names is clown because of the flattened legs which someewhat resemble the loosefitting pants and flat shoes of a clown and Hister from the latin word for "actor" as these are quite fond of playing dead when threatened.
This particular one (shot at 3:1 magnification) plowed straight through a spider web just before I took the photo and remnants of the web can be seen on it.
The Actor - _TNY_5337
This beetle with impressive mandibles and peculiar antennae is a Margarinotus merdarius. It is a member of the clown beetles, also known as Hister beetles.
The reason behind the names is clown because of the flattened legs which someewhat resemble the loosefitting pants and flat shoes of a clown and Hister from the latin word for "actor" as these are quite fond of playing dead when threatened.
This particular one (shot at 3:1 magnification) plowed straight through a spider web just before I took the photo and remnants of the web can be seen on it.