Eupatorus gracilicornis
| Eupatorus gracilicornis | |
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| Infraorder: | Scarabaeiformia
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| Species: | Eupatorus gracilicornis
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| Eupatorus gracilicornis Arrow, 1908[1]
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Eupatorus gracilicornis, the five-horned rhinoceros beetle, is a beetle that has four large horns on the prothorax and one extra-long cephalic horn. Rhinoceros beetles, the Dynastinae, are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family (Scarabaeidae). They are also known as Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles, or horn beetles. There are over 300 described species of these beetles, best known for their bizarre shapes and large size.
The five-horned rhinoceros beetle has been found in China, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.[2] Its coloring is shiny jet-black, while the elytra or fore wings are colored yellow or gold. The body is covered by a thick exoskeleton and a pair of thick wings lay atop another set of membranous wings underneath, allowing the beetle to fly, although not very efficiently, owing to its large size.
The flying season is usually in September, when most of the males usually appear to wait for copulation. Its length is 50–95 mm. As a larva, its diet is rotten wood. Its adult diet consists of nectar, plant sap and fruit. It was first described by the British entomologist Gilbert John Arrow in 1908.
References
- ^ Arrow, G.J. 1908: "A contribution to the classification of the coleopterous family Dynastidae," Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 2: 321-358.
- ^ Francesco Vitali (2011). Ondřej Zicha; Jaroslav Hrb; Michal Maňas; et al. (eds.). "Five-Horned Rhinoceros Beetle - Eupatorus gracilicornis Arrow, 1908. Taxon Profile". BioLib. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
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