I'm sure it's nothing extraordinary, but i really have never seen anything like it before.

Looked a lot like a giant ant. Had very ant-like mandables. Abdomen was long and flexable. When threatened, it raised the abdomen up and a white thing poked out of the tip. It was just under an inch long.

Located in northern England.

Click to view attachment

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bkKoKZNHQQ

Thanx.

Looked like some kind of beetle

Certainly hard to see in that pic...evidence of a possible camouflage ability. Possibly a dead leaf mantis?

It's black.. on a green background. That's not really much camo.

I've seen plenty of these in my day. They are some kind of beetle if i'm not much mistaken, however i'm afraid i do not know the name.

It's definately NOT a mantis.

My bug knowledge is appauling, but it's definately not a mantis.

I'd really love to know what it is because i wanna know why the white thing pokes out of it's butt. You can see it better in the youtube clip.

That could possibly have been wings hidden underneath, and it may have been about to fly away if indeed it is a beetle. Some forms of Ant also have wings.

it's probobly some species of sand wasp, but it all really depends on where you are living

What, two little bumps out of the very end of it's abdomen wings? No. If you watch the video you'll see. In the end i accidently crushed it by provoking it to show the bumps.... which just protruded from it's butt.

If all beetles have wings, this wasn't a beetle. It did not have any sign of wings.


Well, if you'd read the post you'd know where it was found.

I can identify it. It's a bug! Squish it!



Ok so I managed read and reply before the photo even loaded. Looks like an ant with a funny shaped abdomen to me.




disclaimer: I do not condone the killing of helpless insects, or anything for that matter unless it's crawling on you and startles you and you accidently give it a thwap. No creepy crawlers were injured in the making of this post.

I apologise i cannot see the video (as it is blocked at my work). But i've seen many insects produce wings from seemingly nowhere. They're hidden beneath the insects shell, which can lift even such a tiny amount that it's basically not noticable to the human eye, and dip the wings out to prepare for flight. Which was the basis for my theory.
However, if you're absolutely sure this was not the case, then i'll take your word for it.

It's unusual for an insect like this to produce any kind of white bumps from the back of it. I'm quite interested, i hope someone can idenifty it for you. I did a quick google search but came up with nothing.

It's a bit hard to explain why i know it didn't have wings, but i coudl just clearly see that if it did not. The abdomen was long and flexible and it curled it upward in offence which is when the white blobs poked out of the tip.

Maybe this pic shows better?

Click to view attachment

There is a bug identifacation guide here http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/bugclub/bugid.html but I couldnt figure it out. ( scroll down a little to find the guide)

I already tried that. I got "Embioptera" or possibly "Isoptera" and it's structure does look similar.

It seems the blob at it's tail tip is a "Cerci" and by the sounds of it is found onyl in males in some species.

Hm?

i see these all the time although i dont know the name but i think there called tiger beetles

^ It was nothing like that photo you posted.

The abdomen was soft and flexible. Not firm like a beetle with a shell/wing case.

ok its either a glow worm or a earwig

^ Does nobody read anything on this forum?
And... Since you edited your post with somthing just as daft...
It's clearly niether.

I decided to scribble it, because i appriciate the photo is difficult to see...

Click to view attachment

The top one is how it looked normally from the top. Seems to have 3 distinctive body sections, last is split into 2... and the head is very ant like. Definately an insect, as it has 6 legs. No wings.

Bottom scribble shows what it did when threatened. It raises the flexible abromen up and two whipe things poke out. Lifts head and opens mandibles.

I got Isoptera also but what the he#% does that mean?

I don't know the exact species, but I'm pretty sure its from the family Staphyliniade, or Rove Beetles.

Here's a picture of one:


"When threatened, it raised the abdomen up and a white thing poked out of the tip" Sounds like this:


Edited for adding second picture

It's a Devil's Coach Horse.

Here's a Google Image page to confirm:

http://images.google.com.au/images?source=...sa=N&tab=wi

Yup! That's the one!

Thank you!!!

I didn't smell any foul smelling stuff. And considering i squished it, i would have thought it was threatened enough

Poor thing. It was at a theme park. A bit lost, obviously.

Thanx again!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil's_coach_horse_beetle

Aparently it's common. I thought i was quite awear of various native creatures, but i've never seen one before that day.

No. Despite the fact Glow-worms are native to Britain, it does not resemble one in the least. A glow worm appears to have many segments, although the "tail" is actually just the abdomen. They really aren't very similar except for the colour.

Same deal with the common European earwig. Wrong colour, and the OP's insect is lacking the external wings and obvious pincers. Actually, Earwig is a corruption of "Earwing", the olde english name for the creature becaus of it's earlobe-shaped wings. Interesting, no?

Actually, I didn't learn all that from wikipedia in the space of a few minutes, I just know alot about bugs, and animals in general.

Now, on the subject of the OP's insect, I'm not sure. Looks like something of the ant or wasp persuasion. My closest geuss would be some type of velvet ant.
EDIT: Yeah, It's a devil's coach-horse. I didn't really read the whole thread until now.

Isoptera are termites

Definitely a Rove beetle.

Hey Frogs, long time no see!

I've got to admit, the apparent lack of elytra did throw me, but they do have the wing cases, they're just very small. Without researching it, I'd have plumped for a beetle of some sort, it certainly didn't resemble any form of hymenopteran I know of. So yeah, Devil's coach-horse, being a very common species of rove beetle, is most certainly it.

I have been quite busy RKD

Woah, devil coach horse is a good name, and I've seen them in highland forest here in my town...

It looks like a African Squirel beetle.

Not Sure of the English name but i know the Latin name for it...

CREEPIUS CRAWLIUS

it is a devil's coach hoarse beetel.

that looks like computer-generated.