Though my visits to the Seven Sisters Country Park were aimed at finding and watching birds, on one occasion, when I was checking where I was about to place one foot, I spotted this little critter.

Appropriately enough, it’s a species of Rove beetle, roving around its patch. And I’m sure many of you will recognise it, from its all black colouring, the squarish shape of its body parts, the formidable-looking pincers, and the way it raised its rear end in a threatening gesture that makes it resemble a scorpion when it realised my foot was near by. That scorpion-like gesture is likely the reason for its association with the devil; the Buglife website has some information about the myths that surround this creature.

This is, of course, a Devil’s coach-horse beetle (Ocypus olens), a ferocious predator of other invertebrates and anything dead it might find in its travels. It may have been out hunting but it might also have been looking for a mate, as these beetles reproduce in the autumn. I took a few photos and stepped back, and the beetle headed off into the undergrowth.