My favorite beetle

Okay, I actually have two favorite beetles. But I digress. I first observed an ironclad beetle (Zopherus nodulosus haldemani) years ago at my former home in Blanco State Park. I was amazed and thought it was BEAUTIFUL. I still do. I've since discovered that this species has some interesting attributes, namely that it can play dead. Check out this 2015 post of mine, "You're never going to believe this," about one that came back to life.

ANYWAY, an ironclad beetle has been hanging out by the "pool" (birdbath) in our back yard. Last night, I picked it up so it wouldn't be swept off the beach when I added water to the birdbath. It immediately "died." I laughed. 

I went back later and checked on it. Sure enough, it was back up and walking around. I laughed some more.

This morning, I went back outside and checked so I could add an update to this blog post (photo below). You got it––our ironclad beetle friend is still hanging out around the pool!