The devil’s coach-horse is an unusual
looking beetle as unlike most other beetles it’s wings do not completely cover
its abdomen.
It is a relatively large beetle common
throughout most of Europe, including Malta , but not often seen as it
spends most of the day hidden under a stone or under vegetation and is active
mostly during the night.
It is a predatory species hunting
invertebrates such as worms and woodlice and carrion. It seizes its prey in its
strong jaws and uses its front legs to cut off pieces of flesh which it
masticates into a bolus before swallowing it. Having a devil’s coach-horse in
your garden is good as like other predators it helps to keep pests under
control.
I have not found any information about the
biology of this species in the Maltese islands. In the rest of Europe in autumn it lays eggs in the soil which hatch
about one month later. The young live mostly under the soil surface. Their
feeding behaviour is similar to that of the adults.
In Irish mythology the name devil’s
coach-horse ate sinners and could cast a curse by raising its abdomen.
In Maltese the devil’s coach-horse is known
as Katarina-għolli-denbek (Catherine
raise your tail). The name comes from this insect’s habit of raising its
abdomen like a scorpion when it feels threatened. This habit has given rise to
another English name, cock-tail while its association with corruption and the
devil gave rise to other names such devil's
footman, devil's coachman and devil's steed.
The devil’s coach-horse belongs to the rove
beetle family, a large family represented in Malta by about one hundred and seventy
species including one known in Maltese as kappillan.
The devil’s coach-horse does not sting but it
has strong pincer-like jaws with which it can bite if handled from the wrong
end. It also has a pair of glands on its abdomen which they emit a odorous
liquid strong enough to warn potential predators to back off.
This article was published in the Times of Malta on 18 December 2014.
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