FOREVER YOUNG

The prehistoric-looking insect that never grows up

- Nick Baker

IT WAS THE BUG OF MY DREAMS. AND THERE it was right in front of me, sat proudly atop a rotten tree trunk in a steamy Malaysian forest, as if someone had placed it there for me to find. The mossy green softness of its perch contrasted with its hard and bright edges. Dappled sunlight filtered through the vast forest canopy to illuminate it like a stage spotlight.

The trilobite beetle (Platerodrilus paradoxus) is undoubtedly an odd beetle. It is large and spectacular, growing to around 8cm in length, and its textured black body is decorated with bright orange-red spots and trim. It's fair to say that it doesn't really look much like a beetle at all but more like something from another time - as its common name suggests. However, it is not a trilobite or even closely related to one: Platerodrilus paradoxus evolved 200 million years after the last trilobite crawled the Earth. Yet it is a beetle of the most extraordinary kind.