''Megasoma'' is a genus of
rhinoceros beetle
Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family (Scarabaeidae). Other common names – some for particular groups of rhinoceros beetles – include Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles. Over 1 ...
s. Commonly known as the elephant beetles, ''Megasoma'' species are found from the southern half of North America to most of South America.
Appearance
''Megasoma'' are generally large in size (as indicated by the name, which is "large body" in Greek). As a group, the genus contains some of the largest beetle species known. However, there are small species of this genus as well. The largest can be up to 135 mm, while small ones like ''Megasoma punctulatum'' can be around 20 mm.
Many ''Megasoma'' species (''Megasoma elephas'', ''Megasoma thersites'', ''Megasoma gyas'', ''Megasoma cedrosa'', ''Megasoma anubis'', ''Megasoma occidentale'', ''Megasoma joergenseni'', ''Megasoma vogti'') have thin microscopic hairs (setae) covering nearly their entire bodies, giving the appearance of being pale or orange.
Males of most species have large horns that they use to wrestle with other males. Females do not have horns.
Diet
Larvae feed on tree or shrub roots. Adults usually drink tree sap or suck juice from fruit.
Behavior and habitat
Adult ''Megasoma'' are nocturnal and are attracted to lights, and are often seen resting in trees.
Species list
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Megasoma actaeon
Actaeon beetle (''Megasoma actaeon'') is a rhinoceros beetle of the family Scarabaeidae.
Etymology
The species name ''actaeon'' derives from the name Actaeon of a famous Theban hero, son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeot ...
'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Megasoma anubis'' (Chevrolat, 1836)
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Megasoma bollei'' (Dechambre, 2006)
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Megasoma cedrosa'' Hardy, 1972
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Megasoma elephas
The elephant beetle (''Megasoma elephas'') is a member of the family Scarabaeidae and the subfamily Dynastinae. They are Neotropical rhinoceros beetles.
Appearance
Elephant beetles are black in color and covered with a coat of fine microscopic ...
'' (Fabricius, 1775)
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Megasoma gyas
''Megasoma gyas'' is a species of large Neotropical rhinoceros beetles. There are no recognized subspecies.M. Prandi, P. Grossi, F. Vaz-de-Mello (2020) Revision of the ''Megasoma (Megasoma) gyas'' (Jablonsky in Herbst, 1785) species group (Coleop ...
'' (Herbst, 1785)
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Megasoma hermes'' Prandi, 2016
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Megasoma hyperion'' Prandi, Grossi & Vaz-de-Mello, 2020
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Megasoma joergenseni'' Bruch, 1910
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Megasoma lecontei'' Hardy, 1972
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Megasoma mars
''Megasoma mars'', also known as the mars beetle or mars rhino beetle, is the largest species in the ''Megasoma'' genus. It is distributed primarily in the west-central Amazon basin of Brazil, ranging down into Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, Ur ...
'' (Reiche, 1852)
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Megasoma nogueirai
''Megasoma'' is a genus of rhinoceros beetles. Commonly known as the elephant beetles, ''Megasoma'' species are found from the southern half of North America to most of South America.
Appearance
''Megasoma'' are generally large in size (as indic ...
'' Morón, 2005
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Megasoma occidentale
''Megasoma occidentale'' is a species of scarab beetle. It is endemic to Mexico and is known from the Oaxaca and Sinaloa
Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 3 ...
'' Bolivar, Pieltain, Jimenez-asua & Martinez, 1963
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Megasoma pachecoi
''Megasoma'' is a genus of rhinoceros beetles. Commonly known as the elephant beetles, ''Megasoma'' species are found from the southern half of North America to most of South America.
Appearance
''Megasoma'' are generally large in size (as indic ...
'' Cartwright, 1963
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Megasoma punctulatum'' Cartwright, 1952
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Megasoma rex'' Prandi, 2018* (considered a likely synonym of ''M. actaeon'' - see
[Hielkema, Auke J., Hielkema, Meindert A. (2019): An annotated checklist of the Scarabaeoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) of the Guianas. Insecta Mundi 732 (732): 1-306, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3678492])
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Megasoma sleeperi
''Megasoma sleeperi'' is a species of rhinoceros beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is endemic to the Algodones Dunes
The Algodones Dunes is a large sand dune field, or erg, located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Californi ...
'' Hardy, 1972
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Megasoma svobodaorum'' Krajcik, 2009
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Megasoma thersites
''Megasoma thersites'' is a species of scarab beetle. It is endemic to Baja California, Mexico. Adults are attracted by light and feed on the cambium of palo verde (''Parkinsonia florida
''Parkinsonia florida'', the blue palo verde ( syn. ''Ce ...
'' LeConte, 1861
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Megasoma typhon
''Megasoma'' is a genus of rhinoceros beetles. Commonly known as the elephant beetles, ''Megasoma'' species are found from the southern half of North America to most of South America.
Appearance
''Megasoma'' are generally large in size (as indic ...
'' (Olivier, 1789)
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Megasoma vazdemelloi
''Megasoma'' is a genus of rhinoceros beetles. Commonly known as the elephant beetles, ''Megasoma'' species are found from the southern half of North America to most of South America.
Appearance
''Megasoma'' are generally large in size (as indic ...
'' Prandi, 2018
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Megasoma vogti
''Megasoma vogti'', known generally as the Texas elephant beetle or Texas megasoma, is a species of rhinoceros beetle in the family Scarabaeidae
The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwi ...
'' Cartwright, 1963
See also
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List of largest insects
Insects, which are a type of arthropod, are the most numerous group of multicellular organisms on the planet, with over a million species identified so far. The title of heaviest insect in the world has many contenders, the most frequently crowne ...
References
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Kirby, W. 1825. A description of such genera and species of insects, as alluded to in the "Introduction to Entomology" of Messrs. Kirby and Spence, as appear not to have been before sufficiently noticed or described. ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London'', 14: 563–572
Internet Archive riginal description: p. 566*Schoolmeesters P. 2017. Scarabs: World Scarabaeidae Database (version Jul 2016). In: Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds. 2017. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 30 January 2017. Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/col. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-8858. Reference page.
*2019 winter Bekuwa No.70 Megasoma group
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Dynastinae
Scarabaeidae genera
Taxa named by William Kirby (entomologist)
{{Dynastinae-stub