Aegialia concinna is, as you can tell from the italicized Latin name, a species – it refers, in fact, to a type of beetle.
This post is going to be a tad rushed, as well, because submissions for Machine of Death 2 are due in two days and I'd much rather work on that.
As I was saying, this is a type of beetle, more specifically a scarab beetle, which is apparently a very controversial family in the beetle community, as entomologists frequently disagree on just what qualities a beetle must have to be considered a scarab. Apparently, there’s more to it than merely “looking like the ones from that scene in The Mummy.”
It is very close to being endangered, as it only thrives in the sandy dunes of southern California and surrounding regions; I cannot muster very much in the way of sympathy for the creature because seriously, fuck insects. I mean, I grant you, it doesn’t look nearly as repulsive as some of its beetle brethren, but it is still not something I would want crawling around. And besides, it’s just a species of beetle. There are too many beetles as-is. Did you know that there are more varieties of beetle than any other insect? According to Wikipedia, there are somewhere between one and one-hundred million species of beetle. Thanks, Wikipedia. Real helpful.
My personal favorite is the bombardier beetle, which is so named because it has the capacity to fire gas from its rear as a weapon against potential predators, such as frogs and birds. In a way, it reminds me of humanity – because we aren’t the strongest species out there, but we are the best at making weaponry, and so we’re able to dominate the others. But I’m supposed to be talking about aegialia concinna here, which is not nearly as exciting a creature, so whatever.
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