After-dinner guest

"What's THAT?" James asked, pointing to our stove in the kitchen. Naturally, I'm thinking "spider" before I even turn for a look.

Not this time! Instead, I found a small beetle, her legs splayed out in all directions. "Think she got cooked?" James joked. Earlier, I'd had the oven on so I could bake my squash casserole. She was sitting right in front of the oven vent. HOT place to be! Sad to say, but yeah, I thought she was a goner.

I poked a leg...she MOVED! The little beetle was still alive! AND she'd found a bit of casserole on my finger. I'd been washing out the pan when James first spotted her. Darn if she didn't eat the whole, soggy crumb. So I scooped her up another helping. She ate her fill, then pushed back and cleaned up her face. Awhile later, I took her outside and released her.

So what beetle species is she? My friends at Bugguide.net say: Kern's flower scarab (Euphoria kernii).