This little beauty is one of the iconic beetles of my part of the US:

Cactus longhorn beetle, Moneilema gigas

Ah, Moneilema gigas.  What a stunning creature.  This longhorn beetle eats cactus, prickly pear and cholla mostly, hence its name.  It’s also got one heck of a powerful jaw.  And, I have witnessed (though not experienced) this myself: if one of these gets hold of a finger with that strong little mouth, you’re just going to have to take it for a while.  They really don’t like to let go!

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