64 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



nut. It is most commonly known to the English 

 planters in the Orient as the black beetle. 



The Rhinoceros Beetle. — In the French colonies 

 it is usually called " Khinoceros," and this name is 

 also used in English and German (Nashornkafer). &f 

 jJaftsc , r ^ne Tagalog name " Uang " and the Cingalese 

 name " Kurunimiya " have been taken up in literature. 

 This species, Oryctes rhinoceros, ranges from India at 

 least to the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. 

 It is not yet known in Polynesia. 0. rhinoceros is 

 unknown iu Africa and Madagascar, but is represented 

 by a number of related species having the same habits. 

 Prudhomme names O. anglias, 0. colonicus, Coq., 

 0. insularis, Coq., 0. pyrrhus, Burm., O.ranavalo, Coq., 

 and 0. sinnar, Coq., as found in Madagascar. Vosseler 

 has made a study of 0. boas, F., and O. monoceros, 

 01., in German East Africa ; and Morstatt reports and 

 figures the remarkably large 0. cristatus, Snell, from 

 the same region. 0. preussi is reported from New 

 Guinea. 



It has no immediate relative dangerous to the 

 coco-nut in the American tropics, although an American 

 species of Oryctes does prey on another palm. 



0. rhinoceros attacks several other palms as well 

 as the coco-nut ; among them are Elaeis (oil palm), 

 Borassus (Palmyra palm), Roystonia (royal palm), 

 Nipa, Corypha, and perhaps Areca (betel palm). 



The adult rhinoceros varies from 34 to as much 

 as 60 mm. in length according to sex and the condition 

 under which the larva grew ; as a rule the males are 

 between 40 and 50 mm. long, and the females less 

 than 40 mm. Both are very dark and shiny brown 

 or practically black above, and lighter brown beneath. 

 The head is small for so large an insect, but conspicuous, 

 at least in the male, because of the horn. In large 

 males this is often a centimetre or more in length. In 

 females it is smaller, and sometimes hardly evident. 

 The mandibles are stout and strongly toothed, and, as 

 pointed out by Banks, used by the insect in making 



