I used to encounter these things in the streets of Hermosa Beach, where I grew up in California. There were a few things from my daily childhood adventures that would regularly invade my nightmares. The potato bug is one of those things. If you've never seen one, don't be fooled by the picture. It's not the size of an ant. It's about the size of a large snail. Large enough that when it looks at you, you know it sees you. Large enough that, no matter how much you hate it, you're not going to step on it because it's gonna really crunch, and too much will be left behind. And what if you don't kill it the first time? No, they're not cool at all.
