Get that beetle out of your mouth this instant.

We ran across this walking back from looking at the train bridge. It was at least one inch long, possibly longer, with a slight iridescence on the back.

From google searching, our best guess is that this is a pinacate beetle, also known as a desert stink beetle. The Darkling Beetle is the common name for the beetles. This one appears to be part of the Eleodes genus in the Tenebrionidae family. (From biology, … family, genus, species.) The obscure darkling beetle (Eleodes Obscura) and red-backed darkling beetle (Eleodes Suturalis) are native to Wyoming. Of the two, it looks more like an obscure darkling beetle.

These beetles are sometimes, incorrectly, referred to as stink bugs. Some varieties, including the Eleodes genus, have a defense mechanism. The beetles do a headstand and emit or spray a noxious defense chemical. They mostly eat plant an animal debris.