Devil's Coach Horse (Staphylinus olens)

There are dark doings in the undergrowth as 'Old Nick' takes on fairy form and harnesses his fearsome horses to rove and wreak havoc along the Loweswater fields. This one must have escaped the reins and was taking a headlong scurry across the lane. It is a ferocious predator with its horny jaws able to grab insects twice its size. It also has weapons able to repel anything bigger than itself. As we bent over to have a look it pivoted around to stare back at us, raising its tail in aggression like a scorpion. Had we been foolhardy enough to touch it we would have come off worst; the white blobs on its tail are an extrusion of foul smelling oil and no holds are barred on the nips!
A really exciting end to a session of Keep Fit wild swimming with Loweswater ladies.