Look at this gigantic bug
I sometimes regret posting blog posts which are just "look at this bug I found," but frankly, you should be seeing these bugs. They're crucial bugs.
This bug was over an inch long and, according to iNat, is a "figeater beetle":
All my pictures of the bug are shit. Here's a picture of it digging in the ground, a task at which it was super fast and surprisingly effective:
I was told, once, that this kind of bug is a "fruit beetle," which I guess is correct. They eat the shit out of fruit. I have previously only seen them at Disney Land or at Knott's Berry Farm - for some reason, I have repeatedly seen this kind of bug flying around amongst people in line for attractions at theme parks. People tend to scream and freak out about them. I have certainly evacuated an area because a giant fruit beetle was zooming around at head height, threatening to land on everyone nearby.
The larvae of these bugs apparently do eat the roots of grass in lawns, which may explain why the adult was digging around in the dirt. Maybe it was going to lay some eggs??
Also: this is a native bug! It comes from the southwest US and Mexico. So I can sleep easy at night knowing these huge fucking beetles are supposed to be here.
Beetles are cute. I don't generally mind them! I have raised beetles for science class in middle school and I have held many beetles in my hand. Large beetles, however, have the same effect on me that nearly all moths do: pure terror. If it's big and it's a bug and it can fly, I am gonna avoid it. Taking pictures of bugs is getting me better about approaching them, though! My desire for iNat IDs is forcing me to move closer to the bug, so that I can take a decent picture. An internet-points-based form of exposure therapy...