"soup" wrote in message
.uk...
David (in Normandy) wrote:
This sounds exactly like a black insect we have here in Normandy -
this also arched its back in a menacing way - Devil's Coachhorse.
They can also run like Linford Christie on Speed!
Try this link:
http://www.essexwt.org.uk/species/de...e%20beetle.htm

Sounds and looks exactly right ,
http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/devils...tcm3-60302.jpg
so should I worry about seeing one in the house?

Devils Coach Horse beetles or Rove beetles (famiy Staphylinidae) are
completely harmless (to humans). There are lots of species (those big ones
are just the tip of an iceberg of different kinds). They are predatory (eat
other insects) and therefor beneficial in the garden. The only nasty thing
they do is excrete a defensive chemical thast makes your fingers STINK if
you pick them up.
So you can stop worrying :-).

Des



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