That's a tough one--it looks more elaterid (click beetle) to me than most other types of beetle. Definitely not a Japanese beetle, your beetle is not in the scarab family.

larry_gene, I think you are absolutely right. The first image i found under elaterid looks almost identical. The head on my beetle seems to have a neck, whereas the beetle in this photo either doesn't have a neck or its head is pulled back. Since I don't know beetles, I don't have a clue. Nevertheless, I think you nailed it.
Marc
http://bugguide.net/node/view/795810

This post was edited by MarcPerr on Mon, Apr 7, 14 at 13:21

The posture of your beetle may cause it to look different in the thorax area than the bugguide image. There are so many beetles that our ID needs to be considered tentative.

If you come upon this creature again, if elaterid, it will flex at the neck when handled and make a tiny click sound, or when put on its back on a solid surface, it will attempt to click upright after very few seconds instead of simply waving its legs aimlessly like most beetles.