Picnic table redo and some beetles

This old picnic table dates back to the original owners of our home, the Bendeles. Ag-shop students made it a verrryyyy long time ago. Yesterday, James took off the rotted planks and replaced them with new ones. Then he stained and painted everything. While I was out there, three BIG beetles flew past and landed in our vicinity. Were they attracted to the smell of the paint, we wondered?

I had to go back in my blog to see what kind of beetles they were– Texas eyed click beetles big-eyed elaters, which I observed last year about this time of year. Aren't they pretty? They STILL remind me of ironclad beetles!

APRIL 5, 2016 UPDATE–We concluded that the paint fumes attract these big beetles. Two more showed up today while he was working. They like to play dead, just like ironclad beetles do.