Some Fascinating Facts about
Rhinoceros Beetles
Extreme
Science would like to thank our resident Scarab beetle expert,
Brett Ratcliffe,
for contributing the following material for your enlightenment
and enrichment:
"Adult
rhino beetles eat rotting fruit and sap; in spite of their size,
they don't eat very much. The larvae, on the other hand, eat
a great deal of rotting wood or the compost in which they live.
In spite of their fierce appearance, they are all totally harmless:
they cannot bite or sting or hurt you with their horns.
Rhino
beetles have three instars,
that is, they go through three molts before changing into the
pupal stage. It is not possible to say what the average life
span is because the name rhino beetle refers to about 300 different
species of scarab beetles; some live in tropical countries and
some live in North America, and so the length of their lives
varies a lot.
Rhino
beetles could be considered helpful because they are important
in recycling plant material back into the ecosystem. On only
a few rare occasions has a species reached pest proportions,
and this has usually happened in sugar cane fields or palm plantations
that have been recently carved out of the jungle. In this case,
humans have entered the home habitat of the beetles and upset
the balance of things. You might also consider rhino beetles
to be extremely beneficial because of aesthetics: they are all
so beautiful.
The
best protection they have from predators is their usually large
size combined with their activity being at night. During the
day, they are hiding under logs or in vegetation and invisible
from the few predators big enough to want to eat them. Surprisingly,
the horn of the male is not used for protection but rather for
the occasional battle with another male over a feeding site.
The victorious male with the feeding site can then often attract
a mate; the females have no horns. It's sorta like the guy in
the school lunchroom with the best lunch can attract the prettiest
girl; she does not really care what you look like but is more
interested in your food. This is some very basic biology for
many vertebrate animals (including humans): males having the
most resources are often the ones chosen by females. These resources
can take many forms: food, territory, ability to care for young,
or brains; big antlers, large horns, or being handsome usually
rate second.
Meet
a scientist who studies rhinoceros beetles, right here at Extreme
Science.
