The "major" males of this species have three large horns on their thoraces, resembling Triceratops. The "minor" males have horns, as well, but the two back ones are small and the frontal horn is much shorter than the horn in major males. The female ox beetle has a very short horn which has little use in fighting, but is used for digging in the ground. These beetles grow to about 1.0 to 1.5 in (2.5 to 3.8 cm) long as adults when the horns are excluded in the males.
Distributionedit
Although this species occurs in the southern United States, its populations are much higher in the Neotropical realm, throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and parts of South America.
Breedingedit
The larvae of this species feed on roots in the ground, while the adults feed on flowers and all sorts of fruit. The larvae take around four to six months to reach the pupal stage. The pupal stage can be shortened in captivity by placing the pupae in a warm area. The adults are active from May to November, and during this time both males and females try to mate. These beetles are very common near lights in the summer and can be collected in large numbers in some areas. Their larvae are sometimes considered a pest because they can damage lawns and gardens by feeding on the roots.
strategus, aloeus, beetle, species, rhinoceros, beetle, native, americas, male, scientific, classification, domain, eukaryota, kingdom, animalia, phylum, arthropoda, class, insecta, order, coleoptera, family, scarabaeidae, genus, strategus, species, aloeus, bi. Strategus aloeus the ox beetle is a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the Americas Strategus aloeus Male Strategus aloeus Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Class Insecta Order Coleoptera Family Scarabaeidae Genus Strategus Species S aloeus Binomial name Strategus aloeus Linnaeus 1758 Contents 1 Description 2 Distribution 3 Breeding 4 References 5 External linksDescription editThe major males of this species have three large horns on their thoraces resembling Triceratops The minor males have horns as well but the two back ones are small and the frontal horn is much shorter than the horn in major males The female ox beetle has a very short horn which has little use in fighting but is used for digging in the ground These beetles grow to about 1 0 to 1 5 in 2 5 to 3 8 cm long as adults when the horns are excluded in the males Distribution editAlthough this species occurs in the southern United States its populations are much higher in the Neotropical realm throughout Mexico the Caribbean Central America and parts of South America Breeding editThe larvae of this species feed on roots in the ground while the adults feed on flowers and all sorts of fruit The larvae take around four to six months to reach the pupal stage The pupal stage can be shortened in captivity by placing the pupae in a warm area The adults are active from May to November and during this time both males and females try to mate These beetles are very common near lights in the summer and can be collected in large numbers in some areas Their larvae are sometimes considered a pest because they can damage lawns and gardens by feeding on the roots nbsp Ox beetle male left female right nbsp Adult male nbsp Adult femaleReferences editCoin Patrick and Phillip Harpootlian Species Strategus aloeus Online http bugguide net node view 6278 July 29 2006 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Strategus aloeus nbsp Wikispecies has information related to Strategus aloeus Strategus aloeus photos at Beetlespace wz cz Strategus aloeus photos at BugGuide Strategus aloeus photos at Goliathus com This Dynastinae article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Strategus aloeus amp oldid 1195212239, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
