Eleodes “Desert Stink Beetle” Tenebrionidae
Palouse Falls State Park, WA
June 8, 2015
Robert Niese
Stink beetles are very common throughout the sagebrush deserts of eastern Washington. The Tenebrionid family’s taxonomy is extremely complex and often requires an examination of female genitalia to identify an organism with any further specificity, but most of the large black species fall into this supergenus. This beetle is posed and ready to release nasty-smelling chemicals in response to my terrifying camera lens.
Northwest Naturalist 