If you haven’t yet been to Merida, this will probably be new to you but if you have already visited then chances are that you’ve seen the Maquech Beetle (pronounced ma-ketch)  even if you don’t realise it. You’ll have been casually browsing the tourist shops, noting the hammocks or guayaberas when you, or your kids, will have spotted a small tank of bejazzled beetles. You might have taken a closer look but I’m guessing most people leave a little confused, wondering why on earth anyone would bejazzle a beetle and what they’re for.

Let me enlighten you.

Note: No, I am not promoting wearing or decorating animals for funsies. I am simply informing about a Yucatecan tradition that I wanted to learn about and figured others might want to know too.

The legend behind the Maquech beetle

🪲 No one really knows exactly where this practice originates but there have been attempts to fit a story to it. One version is that it’s an ancient Yucatecan legend about a Maya princess who fell in love with a lowborn man (possibly a warrior). Her father found out and banned her from seeing him again. Of course, the lovers ignored the father and carried on seeing each other until they were discovered together. Entirely unimaginatively, the father sentenced the lover to death. To me, the story is similar to that of the callejon de besos in Guanajuato.

At seeing the princess’ grief, the father decided imagination was needed after all and commuted the death sentence. Instead, lover-boy was turned into a beetle that the girl could wear next to her heart forever. She adorned him with precious stones and kept him with her at all times. Obviously.

There are various versions of the story. In some, she is turned in to the beetle, in others it is he. In some a shaman works the magic, in others, her father is more intimately involved. No matter, for surprisingly, this seems to be little more than legend. Experts say there is no record of this legend in Mayan records but that people may have worn decorated beetles for centuries. Still, others say there is no record of anyone decorating a beetle (there’s a sentence one never expects to write) until the 1980s.

How do they make living jewellery?

🪲 Maquech beetles live in hot and damp places. Interestingly, Samuel, the man I spoke to about all things Maquech beetle related, told me that they live around cenotes because they like hot and damp but the internet gods tell me the beetles prefer hot and arid.

They are found across the region but it seems that only in Yucatan do people like to dress the beetles up.

The beetle, unadorned, is a large wingless creature (relax, the ‘large’ is relative, it’s no longer than my thumb) with a sandy brown shell and black limbs. The ‘jewels’ stuck to their back are lightweight and the beetles seem entirely unconcerned about their fancy dress.

Not only do they have little jewels but also a small chain is glued to them. This is then used to attach the beetle to a pin, which allows it to be pinned to clothing or even earrings. I honestly can’t imagine having beetle earrings, I’d be constantly swiping at my head as small creatures crawled over me. Each to their own though.

Before they are bought they live in a small glass tank with a piece of wood in it. The wood is their breakfast, lunch and supper. They eat wood, enjoying the microscopic fungi in it.

I was a little concerned about the pooing situation. I mean, I wouldn’t tie a rabbit to my sweater without expecting to get rabbit poo on me, so what about beetle poo? But no, Samuel assured me that their excretions are inconsequential.

Who buys bejazzled beetle jewellery?

Given that the beetles are in tourist shops I’d say it was a fair assumption of mine that there exist visitors who think that a beetle brooch is a better souvenir of Merida than a hat or a prettily painted jaguar but according to my new friend and expert on Maquech beetles, no. Tourists gawp, but locals buy.

If you do want one, you weirdo, you, then it’ll set you back $180 – $200 pesos depending on the time of year. But remember that you can’t take it out of the country and if you do, PETA might throw paint at you for animal cruelty. Better instead, to ask nicely if you can take a photo. You may be asked to pay a small fee to be permitted to take a photo.

Note: Samuel is a real person. He and his sister have a shop called Creaciones Maxca on calle 60 just down from Plaza Grande, Merida. They sell all sorts of interesting souvenirs and are really lovely and kind people. Go and say hi, maybe you’ll even find something you like in their shop.

What else do I need to know?