The Gorey Beetle, 2008

The first ironclad beetle of 2008! Unofficially known in these parts as the Gorey beetle, and also as My Very Special Spotted Bug. I recognized him this morning even though I was inside looking at his underneath as he crawled across the kitchen window screen. Possibly my very favorite bug ever, if it's possible that I can pick just one out of the millions.


To see the 2007 Gorey beetle, click here.

For two 2006 Gorey beetles and one 2005 Gorey beetle, click here.

It's so easy to think that they are all exactly the same until you really look at each one. I had a similar reaction to my toad photos earlier; I would have said that I know what a toad looks like, but I hadn't really ever noticed some things before, such as those ridges around the eyes and the extremely bumpy skin on its legs and how very gorgeous its eyes are, and how its inner eyelid (or the outer part of its eye?) is sort of green. Who knew?

The Gorey Beetle, 2007

Or, This Year's Model

I am intrigued by the scratchy bits on his head region. Are they scratches, or just part of the pattern? Compare him to 2005 and '06 models.

With his legs out

The Gorey Beetle

First seen and documented last year on the steps; last night we found him on the patio.

Later that evening: I just had the brilliant idea of digging up last year's photo to match up the dots. If they match exactly, is it the very same beetle, or do all of them have exactly the same pattern?

6.24.06: Finally, I've found the file of last year's bug, and he's not exactly the same. Also, just after composing an email query about him to What's That Bug? in which I stated that I've only ever seen these two, that very evening upon arriving home the first thing I saw was yet another (below), with a rather different zipper-style down his back. Very interesting!