88 



FAMILY SCARABAEIDAE 



Beetle.— Black, shining, massive, and large, with a prominent horn which curves back- 

 wards on the head, from which it gets its name of rhinoceros beetle. The elytra are very- 

 convex above, the insect being flat beneath. Shanks (tibiae) of 

 Description. legs armed with spikes, the front ones having each three spikes on 



their outer edges. A large roughly heart-shaped depression on front 

 portion of thorax. A series of broad striae and punctures on elytra. Dark rufous beneath, 

 with hair of same colour in parts. The beetle is easily recognizable by its form, by its antennae 

 ending in a series of terminal plates, by its spiked tibiae and five-jointed tarsi, and by its great 

 size. Length, 43 mm. Breadth across elytra, iS mm. 



Larva.— A large, stout, curved grub. Head flat, purplish-brown. Mandibles brownish 

 to black, large, and stout ; antennae five-jointed, basal joint enlarged. On first three seg- 

 ments behind head are three pairs of light-brown, stout, long, three-jointed legs. Body 



yellowish white, last two segments 

 blackish. The head is smaller in 

 transverse diameter than the rest 

 of the body. Body is very thick, 

 corrugated, curved, and swollen 

 out so as to be almost bag-shaped 

 behind. On each side of the third 

 to tenth segments is a large dark- 

 brown spiracle. Body above and 

 below is thickly covered with 

 brown spiky hairs except on last 

 segment, where they are small and 

 scattered. Length, taken round 

 curve, 96 mm. Breadth, 18 mm. 



The beetle is to be 



found on the wing during 



the greater 



Life History, part of the 



year. It may 



hibernate either as a larva 



or pupa, or perhaps beetle, 



from November to about 



March, remains in the soil 



through the winter in the 



resting stage, and appears 



first on the wing towards 



the end of March, remaih- 



>^-' ing as late as the beginning 



of November. The adult 



a, larva; b, pupa ; insect spends some time in 



f, imago (male) ; d, lateral aspect of head and thorax ; this state, and apparently 



e, end of body of male ; /, end of body of female. j -,1 1 -4-4-1 c^ a ;„ 



,\r. , ■ T- jy T\ can do with little rood in 



(After Arrow in r. B. I.) 



this stage of its existence, 



as beetles have been kept alive for over two weeks without food of any kind. 



The insect lays its eggs in the soil or in masses of palm and other 



refuse situated in or near palm topes. The grubs on hatching out feed 



in the decaying trees or in adjacent refuse-heaps, and evidently also con- 



FlG. i\.-Oi-yctcs rhinoceros^ Linn. 



