I came across this beetle while waiting for the sky to darken at a star party. I just happened to look down and found this interesting beetle walking around my feet. I have never seen one like this before so I played with it and found it to be quite an active critter. It didn't seem to mind my playing with it, which is the opposite effect described in a number of web sites I looked at to research this interesting find. Most of those web sites repeated the same text, so here it is as found on the web:
"Blue death-feigning beetles are herbivores, and tend to eat decaying plant material and seeds. They inhabit the desert lands of the Sonoran Desert . As their name implies, they feign death to avoid predators. If a beetle feels threatened, it will roll over on its back and its body will become rigid, until the threat has passed."
Photographer: Rick Scott
Date: April 2, 2011
Camera: Canon PowerShot S90 digital camera
Lens: Internal 6.0-22.5 mm, set to 9.6mm
Exposure: 1/60 second at f/4.5 with flash set to -1 ev
Camera Mode: ISO 100 RAW
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS3 for raw conversion and image processing
Updated: 3 April 2011