OK, this something is I've never seen let alone found, or should I say that Obi found. This is apparently a carrion or burying beetle (genus Nicrophorus; about the size of a bumblebee) with pinhead-sized phoretic mites covering it. Phoretic, from phoresy which is "an association in which one animal clings to another to ensure movement from place to place". The beetle and mite relationship is commensal so, except for making the beetle so top heavy it could barely walk, the mites are not harming the beetle. In fact, the mites go with the beetle to feed on fly larvae that are also attracted to the beetle's carrion dinner. So, in a way, they share the food. Yikes!
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