{"product_id":"texas-ironclad-beetle-zopherus-nodulosus","title":"Texas Ironclad Beetle (Zopherus nodulosus)","description":"\u003cp\u003eTry to pin a Texas Ironclad Beetle (Zopherus nodulosus) and you'll understand how it got its name. This tanklike insect from the south-central United States and northern Mexico has an exoskeleton so heavily armoured it can reportedly bend an entomologist's mounting pin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Texas Ironclad Beetle is found in deciduous woodlands and scrubland across Texas, Oklahoma, and neighbouring states, where it feeds on fungi growing on the bark of dead and dying trees - particularly pecans, oaks, and elms. It is slow-moving, flightless, and largely nocturnal, relying on its extraordinary toughness rather than speed or flight for defence. The exoskeleton is so hard that entomologists have historically struggled to pin specimens without bending their pins - a practical difficulty that has become part of the beetle's legend.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis remarkable durability has drawn the attention of materials scientists studying biological armour. The beetle's exoskeleton achieves its strength through interlocking joints between the wing cases - a form of biological engineering that distributes force across multiple connection points rather than concentrating stress. Research into these structures has influenced the design of fasteners and joints in aerospace engineering - a satisfying example of a small, slow beetle contributing to the science of flight, despite having given up flying itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Axisophy","offers":[{"title":"Large (50 × 70 cm | 20 × 28 in)","offer_id":45864087191713,"sku":"APW-BUG-TICB-P-500x700-AM-COL","price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"XLarge (70 × 100 cm | 28 × 40 in)","offer_id":45864087224481,"sku":"APW-BUG-TICB-P-700x1000-AM-COL","price":80.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0483\/1546\/5889\/files\/Axisophy-TexasIroncladBeetle-mockup-1.jpg?v=1770825710","url":"https:\/\/axisophy.com\/products\/texas-ironclad-beetle-zopherus-nodulosus","provider":"Axisophy","version":"1.0","type":"link"}