[PF] Summon Monster Death

[Barstro]

I cannot find it, but I believe I read that when a summoned monster dies, it goes back from whence it came. Meaning no corpse, etc.

Assuming that's true, how would that work with a Fire Beetle?

A fire beetle's glowing glands provide light in a 10-foot radius. A dead fire beetle's luminescent glands continue to glow for 1d6 days after its death.

Could one summon a fire beetle and squash it to keep light around for a while, or would all the glowing goop go away?

[Andvare]

Summoned monster don't actually die, they just disappear when they go below zero hp.
The idea is fun though, and with one of the effects that allows your monsters to stay after they dropped below zero, you might convince your GM otherwise.

[Deathkeeper]

I believe it's said in either 3.5 or PF fluff somewhere that summoned animals aren't real animals- they're essentially just magic copies, which is why it takes stronger SM spells to summon extraplanars. I think it came up when someone jokingly asked if there was a small chance of Summoning the same lion trying to kill you.
So yeah if they're not "real" I wouldn't say they drop a body.

[Barstro]

Didn't think I could make it work. Thanks for verifying.

[Perseus]

I believe it's said in either 3.5 or PF fluff somewhere that summoned animals aren't real animals- they're essentially just magic copies, which is why it takes stronger SM spells to summon extraplanars. I think it came up when someone jokingly asked if there was a small chance of Summoning the same lion trying to kill you.
So yeah if they're not "real" I wouldn't say they drop a body.

I need to find that language. Does anyone know where it is?

[ArcturusV]

Well, in 3.5 it's in the player's handbook, page 173. To quote the relevant part:

"Summoning: A summoning spell instantly brings a creature or object to a place you designate. When the spell ends or is dispelled, a summoned creature is instantly sent back to where it came from, but a summoned object is not sent back unless the spell description specifically indicates this. A summoned creature also goes away if it is killed or if its hit points drop to 0 or lower. It is not really dead. It takes 24 hours for the creature to reform, during which time it can't be summoned again.
When the spell that summoned a creature ends and the creature disappears, all the spells it has cast expire. A summoned creature cannot use any innate summoning abilities it may have, and it refuses to cast any spells that would cost it XP, or to use any spell-like abilities that would cost XP if they were spells."

Dunno if PF has anything like that. But in 3.5, your Fire Beetle is both Not Dead, and No Longer There, so you wouldn't get any effect.

Edit: Also on the previous page, it mentions summoning spells "create a manifestation of" rather than "brings a being", the latter being what Calling spells do instead. That might be where the idea of being able to summon up the exact creature trying to eat you right now comes from. Because you're not actually calling up that lion, you're calling up a manifestation of that lion...? Eh. I dunno, seems something to minor and unclear that if it ever happened it was basically just DM screw. If your Summon Nature's Ally got you a copy of exactly what is trying to eat you right now, it was a 1 in several hundred billion shot, that never would have happened.

[Kudaku]

Summoning: a summoning spell instantly brings a creature or object to a place you designate. When the spell ends or is dispelled, a summoned creature is instantly sent back to where it came from, but a summoned object is not sent back unless the spell description specifically indicates this. A summoned creature also goes away if it is killed or if its hit points drop to 0 or lower, but it is not really dead. It takes 24 hours for the creature to reform, during which time it can't be summoned again.

It's from the CRB, the subsection under Conjuration in the magic chapter.