The Elephant Beetle. 557 
THE ELEPHANT BEETLE, 
(Scarabceus, or Dynastes Elephas,) 
Is found in South America, particularly in Guiana and 
Surinam, as well as near the river Orinoko. It is one of 
the largest beetles of its kind ; it is black, and the whole 
body is covered with a very hard shell, quite as thick 
and as strong as that of a small crab. Its length, from 
the hinder part to the e} 7 es, is almost four inches ; and 
from the same part to the end of the large horn on the 
head (from the resemblance of which to the proboscis of 
an elephant, and its great size, the beetle has obtained 
its name) four inches and three quarters. The trans- 
verse diameter of the body is two inches and a quarter ; 
and the breadth of each case, for the wings, upwards of 
an inch. The horns are about an inch long, and termi- 
nate in points. The head-horn is an inch and a quarter 
long, and turns upwards, making a crooked line termi- 
nating in two horns, each of which is nearly a quarter of 
an inch long. Above the head is a prominence, or small 
horn, which, if the rest of the trunk were away, w r ould 
cause this part to resemble the horn of a rhinoceros. 
There is, indeed, a beetle named after that animal, whose 
lower horn resembles this : its scientific name is Oryctes 
lildnoceros. 
