My first encounter with a Palo Verde beetle

Tweet

I saw it in the laundromat tonight - three inches of shiny black carapace, with a couple inches worth of antennae. Truly the biggest bug I've ever seen, and I've seen some big ones. Some folks wanted me to kill it - I was too squeamish for that! Plus, it wasn't hurting anybody, despite people wondering whether it was going to fly and attack them. I really didn't want to touch this ugly thing, but when an older lady asked if it was dangerous I knew someone had to do something and it looked like it was going to be me. I rummaged around and found newspaper, tore off a couple chunks, and coaxed the beetle onto one piece with the other piece. Then I took it outside and set it on a bush, well away from the lights and people. When I went home and looked this thing up, I found that Palo Verde beetles, though they can and do bite, are mostly harmless, don't attack, and are entirely nocturnal. So this one probably was holding still because the lights were too bright for it. I'm glad I brought it out to a nice dark bush. Funny how scared everyone was, and how none of the big strong men did anything! (The photo below is from the Tucson news, and no, I'm not quite brave enough to hold one.)