Japanese rhinoceros beetle

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Japanese rhinoceros beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae
Subfamily: Dynastinae
Genus: Trypoxylus
Species: T. dichotomus
Binomial name
Trypoxylus dichotomus
(Linnaeus, 1771)
Synonyms

Allomyrina dichotoma
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The Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Japanese horned beetle, or Kabutomushi (カブトムシ?), Trypoxylus dichotomus, is a species of rhinoceros beetle found in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. It is sold as a pet in department stores in many countries of Asia, where it is also frequently depicted in popular media as a common cartoon character for various uses, for example much as cartoon bears, lions, or alligators are seen in advertisements and product labels in the United States.

Contents

[edit] List of subspecies

  • Trypoxylus (Allomyrina) dichotoma dichotoma
  • Trypoxylus (Allomyrina) dichotoma inchachina
  • Trypoxylus (Allomyrina) dichotoma septentrionalis
  • Trypoxylus (Allomyrina) dichotoma takarai
  • Trypoxylus (Allomyrina) dichotoma tunobosonis

[edit] Gambling

Main article: Insect fighting

Kabutomushi are a very popular subject in gambling, like Siamese fighting fish and cricket fights. In the most popular game, two different male beetles are placed on a log. The two beetles will battle each other, trying to push each other off the log, the one to stay on the log is the winner. This is a huge source and loss of money to many people, especially in the Ryukyu Islands.

[edit] Pets and breeding

Many children of Japan will buy, or catch these bugs, including stag beetles, and breed them. At hardware stores, male and female will cost about 500-1000 yen, (around five to ten US dollars). Male beetles will usually die in the fall after mating many times, and the female will die after laying eggs. The eggs are laid in the ground. The eggs hatch into larva, which usually mature in a year. Japanese scientists are trying to find supplements to make them mature faster, and turn out bigger. Disturbing the beetle during its pupa stage is known to cause deformations in the beetle's appearance and if you touch too suddenly the beetle could die in shock. This means that you shouldn't disturb it when it's in its pupa stage.

[edit] Popular culture

Kabutomushi in a garden

Japanese rhinoceros beetles are very popular in anime, tokusatsu, advertisements, televisions, and films in Japan, including:

The pairing of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle with the stag beetle is also popular.

Often, they are linked to the element of lightning. It is probably due to their horns somewhat resembling a Lightning Rod.

OWI manufactures a robot kit called kabuto-mushi that can grasp a pen in its jaws and write with it.

[edit] Lifespan

The kabutomushi will live most of its life underground, for it only lives about 4 months as an actual beetle. The earliest beetles will come out of the ground in late spring, they will usually die around middle September to early October. They usually will die after mating and laying eggs.

[edit] External links

See the Japanese Wikipedia entry for much more information about these creatures, including what they eat, how to care for them, etc.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_rhinoceros_beetle"