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Kaydubs PhD
@kaydubsthehikingscientist

32,710 followers

What a lucky bug lady I am. In the nighttime forests of Virginia, Handsome Kevin told me there was a big beetle I would probably want to see on the ground and boy was he right. I flashed the headlamp on the ground where he pointed and it was one of the LARGEST and HEAVIEST beetles in the US! I have never seen one of these Eastern Hercules beetles (Dynastes tityus) alive before. This is a female that is around two inches long and she is only slightly smaller than the males. There is some remarkable sexual dimorphism in this species though. The males have a horn that they use to battle other males for the right to mate with a lady beetle. That horn gives them their other common name of rhinoceros beetle. If you find one of these beetles you can likely come back to the same spot for many years to find more Hercules beetles. They commonly lay eggs not far from where they spent 12-18 months as a larvae and 6 months as a pupae before emerging as an adult. They will utilize decaying logs as a food source for many generations until the log disappears. The adults live 6-8 months during the spring and summer months. I am happy to have found my person that hikes and camps with me and my moth light, hunts and cooks mushrooms with me and appreciates a good beetle. ❤️🪲 #Dynastestityus #beetle #hercules #herculesbeetle #rhinocerosbeetle #virginia #forests #wildlife #entomology #nature #science #ecology #lovebattle