Five years ago there was a large fire in the hills above Acton, now known as the Station Fire.

About a month later, I found an abundance of beetles that invaded my property (harmlessly), and I was curious as to what they were. After living in Agua Dulce for 20-odd years, these interesting creatures came about in a flurry of unknown origin.

Most creatures run the other way when they detect a forest fire, but not beetles of the genus Melanophila, sometimes referred to as the “fire beetle” or “fire bug.”

When they detect a forest fire, they fly directly toward it. These half-inch-long black beetles aren’t exhibiting suicidal tendencies, but just the opposite: survival skills.

Their breeding requires being in the vicinity of coniferous trees freshly destroyed by fire. These wood-boring beetles fly into forest fires in great numbers and mate while the forest is still burning. Females then deposit their eggs under the bark. The eggs hatch into larvae that feast for up to a year before pupating and tunneling their way out as mature beetles.

The fire beetle has beaten trees’ defenses by evolving to breed in dead trees. If they attempted to breed in living trees, they’d be goners. The tree’s cell growth would squash the beetles, or its sticky resin, a natural pesticide, would drown them.

The beetle has also evolved mechanisms to detect fires from great distances. This is necessary because once a forest has burned, it can be protected from future forest fires for decades, sometimes centuries.

The beetles are equipped with super-sensitive receptors on their bodies that can detect infrared radiation. Scientists compare the heat-seeking behavior of the beetle to the behavior of a bloodhound in that if either veers in the wrong direction, they lose the scent, so to speak. They adjust their movements as needed to keep heading in the direction of the signals.

Fire beetles aren’t just interesting to entomologists, but also to engineers who might steal some of the beetles’ secrets in designing new infrared radiation detectors for military defense and other uses.

Looking very much like a New Zealand Maori tribe member, this little beetle is harmless and has scientists scratching their heads and looking for clues for new and important direction for the future.

Watch out for these interesting little beetles. You might not have a fire close by, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find them in your soil.

Mari Carbajal is a docent-naturalist at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center.