Found these in an oak log that was riddled with galleries -- probably of ants since I saw some of them but no ter*mites as I hacked away with my hatchet. All but one of these colorful clicks played dead after (and no dobt before) I gave them a bath to clean them up for their photo session.

I have suspected for some time now that many beetles have a reflex that retards their metabolic rate when they are immersed in water. It would serve them well during flooding periods when the log or soil would otherwise trap them in a watery tomb. I have often watched tiny beetles struggle vainly to escape from a water droplet in my light arena, up until the point they are immersed in the droplet. Then they appear to die, only to come back to life some time after they have dried out.