Male, :commons:Disarticulated taxidermy in the style of Claude Beauchêne, Beauchêne disarticulation, MHNT ''Macrodontia cervicornis'' ( Carl Linnaeus, Linnaeus,

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

), also known as the sabertooth longhorn beetle, is one of the largest

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s, if one allows for the enormous

mandibles In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

of the males, from which it derives both of the names in its

binomen In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

: ''Macrodontia'' means "long tooth", and ''cervicornis'' means "

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

antler". Measurements of insect length normally exclude legs, jaws, or horns, but if jaws are included, the longest known specimen of ''M. cervicornis'' is 17.7 cm; the longest known specimen of '' Dynastes hercules'', a beetle species with enormous horns, is 17.5 cm, and the longest known beetle excluding either jaws or horns is '' Titanus giganteus'', at 16.7 cm.Beccaloni, G. (2010) ''Biggest Bugs (Life-Size!)'' Firefly Books, 84 pp. Most of this species’ life is spent in the larval stage, which can last up to 10 years, while its adult phase is likely to last no more than a few months during which time dispersal and reproduction take place. The female lays eggs under the bark of dead or dying

softwood Scots pine, a typical and well-known softwood Softwood is wood from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. The term is opposed to hardwood, which is the wood from angiosperm trees. The main differences between hardwoods and softwoods is that the sof ...

trees, and once hatched, the larvae burrow into the rotting wood, creating extensive galleries over a metre long and 10 cm wide.

Distribution

This species is known from the

rain forest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,

the Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectiv ...

, and Brazil.

References

* Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1c v2.3) * Hogue, C L, and J Hogue. 1993. Latin American Insects and Entomology. University of California Press. p. 280–281. Accessed online 5/13/18. https://books.google.com/books?id=3CTf8bnlndwC.

External links

*
Images of ''Macrodontia cervicornis''

Article and images
at arkive.org Prioninae Beetles of South America Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Prioninae-stub