While searching for arthropod subjects to photograph on Steve’s property, we decided to check the compost/midden pile and found something completely unexpected.
![gold-and-brown-rove-beetle-staphylinidae-ontholestes-cingulatus, Farmington, MO](https://ozarkbill.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/gold-and-brown-rove-beetle-staphylinidae-ontholestes-cingulatus-img_6908.jpg?w=924&h=740)
These beetles were crazy to watch – super speedy while flipping their gold-tipped abdomens over their backs in display. These guys yield even more support to my contention that the vast majority of ideas used in the sci-fi genre (particularly the creature-features) were taken from somewhere within the natural world.
![gold-and-brown-rove-beetle-staphylinidae-ontholestes-cingulatus-img_6903](https://ozarkbill.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/gold-and-brown-rove-beetle-staphylinidae-ontholestes-cingulatus-img_6903.jpg?w=500&h=400)
Check out those chompers!
![gold-and-brown-rove-beetle-staphylinidae-ontholestes-cingulatus-img_6900](https://ozarkbill.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/gold-and-brown-rove-beetle-staphylinidae-ontholestes-cingulatus-img_6900.jpg?w=500&h=400)
-OZB