just thinking aloud: A SCORPION IN MY TRAINER

just thinking aloud: A SCORPION IN MY TRAINER:   A SCORPION IN MY TRAINER This ferocious looking black beetle jumped out of my garden shoes this morning. We were on a short trip to Dubl...

A SCORPION IN MY TRAINER

 

A SCORPION IN MY TRAINER

This ferocious looking black beetle jumped out of my garden shoes this morning.

We were on a short trip to Dublin for a few days to mark our anniversary. We came back last night. While we were away it has been sunny and hot here. I was a bit worried about young plants in our garden. The first thing in the morning I did, is to go in the garden, many of the plants were on the verge of wilting, the soil underneath was very dry.

I pulled out the hosepipe to give them a good soak. I did not want to get my feet wet this early in the morning, so I pulled my garden shoes, in fact it is just an old pair of trainers.

I was about to put on them when I saw a dry leaf that has fallen inside the left one. To take it out I tapped the shoe upside down hard on the floor. The leaf fell out and this beetle followed. The unusually large size (for a beetle in UK) and a scorpion like upturned tail, gave me a start. I got the phone from the gown pocket and took a snap before it could scuttle away. I did not want to commit a murder before knowing whether it was harmful to me or the garden. Well, if it were some other time in the day and it was not such a peaceful morning with mild breeze and birds chirping, my immediate reflex, particularly when I was still holding the trainer, would have been to splatter it on the garden tile.

I continued watering the plants and later after the breakfast looked online to find
out a bit about this lucky beetle. To my surprise the first thing stood out was the name “Devil’s coach horse beetle.” Frightening isn’t it. But names could be deceiving as is in the case here. Despite looking so fierce and like a small scorpion, it has no sting, The posture is to threaten any rival or predator. Rarely if provoked or handled may bite causing minor discomfort. In similar situations it may squirt a foul-smelling but not harmful liquid. This beetle is extremely useful in keeping garden pests in check.

 its scientific name is “Ocypus olens,” olens in Latin means smelling. If you call it by its proper name, it does not feel dangerous!

The appearance which successfully saves it from eaten alive in nature, also gets it easily killed by us, humans. This was one lucky beetle, and this beetle reminded me again not to judge a person or an object by its appearance.