Male, Beauchêne disarticulation, MHNT ''Macrodontia cervicornis'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

), also known as the sabertooth longhorn beetle, is one of the largest

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s, if one allows for the enormous

mandibles In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

of the males, from which it derives both of the names in its

binomen In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

: ''Macrodontia'' means "long tooth", and ''cervicornis'' means "

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

antler". Measurements of insect length normally exclude legs, jaws, or horns, but if jaws are included, the longest known specimen of ''M. cervicornis'' is 17.7 cm; the longest known specimen of ''

Dynastes hercules The Hercules beetle (''Dynastes hercules'') is a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the rainforests of Central America, South America, and the Lesser Antilles. It is the longest extant species of beetle in the world, and is also one of the ...

'', a beetle species with enormous horns, is 17.5 cm, and the longest known beetle excluding either jaws or horns is ''

Titanus giganteus The titan beetle (''Titanus giganteus'') is a Neotropical longhorn beetle, the sole species in the genus ''Titanus'', and one of the largest known beetles. Description The titan beetle is one of the largest beetles, with the largest reliable mea ...

'', at 16.7 cm.Beccaloni, G. (2010) ''Biggest Bugs (Life-Size!)'' Firefly Books, 84 pp. Most of this species’ life is spent in the

larval stage A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The l ...

, which can last up to 10 years, while its adult phase is likely to last no more than a few months during which time dispersal and reproduction take place. The female lays eggs under the bark of dead or dying

softwood file:Pinus sylvestris wood ray section 1 beentree.jpg, Scots Pine, a typical and well-known softwood Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. The term is opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. The main diff ...

trees, and once hatched, the larvae burrow into the rotting wood, creating extensive galleries over a metre long and 10 cm wide.

Distribution

This species is known from the

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

s of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,

the Guianas The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * ...

, and Brazil.

References

* Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1c v2.3) * Hogue, C L, and J Hogue. 1993. Latin American Insects and Entomology. University of California Press. p. 280–281. Accessed online 5/13/18. https://books.google.com/books?id=3CTf8bnlndwC.

External links

*
Images of ''Macrodontia cervicornis''

Article and images
at

arkive.org ARKive was a global initiative with the mission of "promoting the conservation of the world's threatened species, through the power of wildlife imagery", which it did by locating and gathering films, photographs and audio recordings of the worl ...

Prioninae Beetles of South America Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Prioninae-stub