The titan beetle (''Titanus giganteus'') is a
Neotropical
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
longhorn beetle
The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...
, the sole species in the genus ''Titanus'', and one of the largest known
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.
Description
The titan beetle is one of the largest beetles, with the largest reliable measured specimen being in length,
comparable to such beetles as ''
Xixuthrus heros
The giant Fijian long-horned beetle (''Xixuthrus '') is native to the island of Viti Levu in Fiji, and is one of the largest living insect species, with specimens around 15 cm long, excluding legs, antennae, or jaws. It is closely related ...
'' () and the Hercules beetle, ''
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 ...
'', in which giant males occasionally can grow up to ,
[Ratcliffe BC, Cave RD. 2015. The dynastine scarab beetles of the West Indies (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae). Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum 28: l-346.] but the Hercules beetle males have an enormous horn on the pronotum or
thorax
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...
making up around half of its total length. As such, the body of the Titan beetle is considerably larger than that of the Hercules beetles. The short, curved and sharp
mandible
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 teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...
s are known to snap pencils in half and cut into human flesh.
[Zahl, P. A. (1959): Giant insects of the Amazon. Natl. Geogr. Mag. 115 (5): 632-669.] Adult titan beetles do not feed, searching instead for mates via pheromones while in flight.
The larvae have never been found, but are thought to feed inside wood and may take several years to reach full size before they pupate. These beetles are also thought to feed on decaying wood below the ground. Boreholes thought to be created by titan beetle larvae seem to fit a grub over two inches wide and perhaps as much as one foot long. A famous "life-sized" photograph of a putative larva of this beetle appeared in ''
National Geographic'' magazine, filling an entire page,
[ but it turned out to be of a different species of beetle, possibly '' Macrodontia cervicornis''.
The adults defend themselves by hissing in warning and biting, and have sharp spines, as well as strong jaws. The adult beetles central nervous system structure shown that the cephalic ganglion is composed of the central brain and optic lobes that connect to the sub esophageal ganglion (SOG). This is a common structure for diurnal insects. The size of the size sensory integration were larger complex eyes that have structured large optic and antennal lobes.][
]
Distribution
It is known from the rain forests of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the Guianas, and north-central Brazil.
Gallery
File:Titanus giganteus specimens.jpg, ''Titanus giganteus'' beetles for sale at international meeting of entomologists in Prague
File:Titanus giganteus MHNT dos.jpg, ''Titanus giganteus'' male
File:Cerambycidae - Titanus giganteus-001.JPG, ''Titanus giganteus'' at the Montréal Insectarium
File:Titan beetle (Titanus giganteus) found by Jean NICOLAS (10331669783).jpg
See also
* List of largest insects
References
External links
*
*
''Titanus giganteus'' pictures at Bio-Foto.com
Video clip of the Titan beetle from Life in the Undergrowth
Giant beetle visits Oxford University
BBC news article with photograph
BBC article which covers the beetle's grubs
*https://www.kidsdiscover.com/quick-reads/34551/
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q858284, from2=Q12092818
Prioninae
Beetles described in 1771
Beetles of South America
Arthropods of Colombia
Arthropods of South America
Fauna of French Guiana
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus