Ocypus olens
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The devil's coach-horse beetle (Ocypus olens) is a species of beetle belonging to the large family of the rove beetles (Staphylinidae). It was originally included in the genus Staphylinus in 1764, and some authors and biologists still use this classification.
The Latin species name olens, meaning "smelling", refers to the two white stinking glands on the abdomen. This beetle has been associated with the Devil since the Middle Ages, hence its common name, which has been used at least since 1840. Other names include devil's footman, devil's coachman, and devil's steed. It is sometimes also known as the cock-tail beetle for its habit of raising its abdomen.
One dictionary suggested that the name developed in parallelism with ladybird and its Norse cognates. In Irish, the beetle is called dearga-daol or darbh-daol. The Irish also called it "the coffin cutter." British folklore has it that a beetle has eaten the core of Eve's apple, and that a person who crushes such a beetle is forgiven seven sins. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 7 | Lyon | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Milan | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 9 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 10 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Devil's Coach Horse Beetle sighting in San Francisco on a given day, based on 180 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 98th most-seen of the 737 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October to January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Devil's Coach Horse Beetle in San Francisco on a given day, against under 5% in February to September, the lowest months. Those are among San Francisco's wettest months, with about 70 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Devil's Coach Horse Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
18th of 22
Of the 22 cities where we can rate Devil's Coach Horse Beetle sightings, San Francisco ranks 18th at under 5%. The best odds are in Portland (United States, about 10%), Paris (France, about 10%) and London (United Kingdom, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Devil's Coach Horse Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in San Francisco (180 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
