Pretty Beetle

I found a beetle at work a week or so ago. I brought it home and took a number of pictures before inserting the insect into Terrarium 2, but annoyingly had the aperture set poorly and got a bunch of shots of a half blurry bug.

Tonight, I found a beetle a floor away from the terrarium. Again, I took it upstairs and took some shots of it. After studying its beautiful markings, I'm now convinced it is the same beetle, especially as it seems to walk with a small limp and the second picture above seems to show an odd growth or damage to its body.

I'm under no delusion that most of the creatures in the terrariums could escape if they wanted to. With the exception of the millipedes, which seem drastically clumsy compared to most insects, they all scurry with such grace that I think the only thing that holds them in the tank is the pleasant environment.

But, apparently the above pictured beetle didn't feel the same way. And, as if knowing its eventual fate, it leaped from the table where it was getting its picture taken and easily escaped by way of the back room carpet.

I'll look for it next week downstairs again...