I found this beetle on the stalk of a plant in a field at around 3:30 in the afternoon. I live in Austin, Texas and have found that this specimen secreates a somewhat musty smell, like you would smell on the beach, as a defense mechanism. It can also fly short distances, and plays dead if it feels threatened.

Yellow pronotal pubescence and elytral markings place this beetle in tomentosus species.

This is a kind of carrion beetle (family Silphidae), known as a burying beetle or sexton beetle, genus Nicrophorus. They usually work in pairs to bury small animal carcasses which they then "prepare" for their offspring. A rarely seen insect, but apparently quite common. They are usually nocturnal.