Desert Ironclad Beetle

Description

Zopherus is a genus of desert beetles in the ironclad beetle family Zopheridae (closely related to Tenebrionidae family desert beetles). The ones sold through this listing are black, sometimes with bits of gray coloration/patterning but not always. Though it may vary, the species we tend to ship is Zopherus tristis. They measure somewhere between about half an inch and nearly an inch. Like death feigning beetles, they play dead when disturbed but even more convincingly in that their antennae fall into little recesses designed to protect them (see second photo).

See photos available at Bugguide.Net.