''Megasoma'' is a genus of

rhinoceros beetle Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarabaeidae, scarab beetle family (biology), family (Scarabaeidae). Other common names – some for particular groups of rhinoceros beetles – include Hercules beetles, unicorn be ...

s. Commonly known as the elephant beetles, ''Megasoma'' species are found from the southern half of North America to most of South America.

Appearance

''Megasoma'' are generally large in size (as indicated by the name, which is "large body" in Greek). As a group, the genus contains some of the largest beetle species known. However, there are small species of this genus as well. The largest can be up to 135 mm, while small ones like ''Megasoma punctulatum'' can be around 20 mm. Many ''Megasoma'' species (''Megasoma elephas'', ''Megasoma thersites'', ''Megasoma gyas'', ''Megasoma cedrosa'', ''Megasoma anubis'', ''Megasoma occidentale'', ''Megasoma joergenseni'', ''Megasoma vogti'') have thin microscopic hairs (setae) covering nearly their entire bodies, giving the appearance of being pale or orange. Males of most species have large horns that they use to wrestle with other males. Females do not have horns.

Etymology

The name ''Megasoma'' can be translated as being formed from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

μέγας (''megas''), meaning "large", and σῶμα (''sôma''), meaning "body".

Diet

Larvae feed on tree or shrub roots. Adults usually drink tree sap or suck juice from fruit.

Behavior and habitat

Adult ''Megasoma'' are nocturnal and are attracted to lights, and are often seen resting in trees.

Species list

*'' Megasoma actaeon'' (Linnaeus, 1758) *'' Megasoma anubis'' (Chevrolat, 1836) *'' Megasoma bollei'' (Dechambre, 2006) *'' Megasoma cedrosa'' Hardy, 1972 *'' Megasoma elephas'' (Fabricius, 1775) *'' Megasoma gyas'' (Herbst, 1785) *'' Megasoma hermes'' Prandi, 2016 *'' Megasoma hyperion'' Prandi, Grossi & Vaz-de-Mello, 2020 *'' Megasoma joergenseni'' Bruch, 1910 *'' Megasoma lecontei'' Hardy, 1972 *'' Megasoma mars'' (Reiche, 1852) *'' Megasoma nogueirai'' Morón, 2005 *'' Megasoma occidentale'' Bolivar, Pieltain, Jimenez-asua & Martinez, 1963 *'' Megasoma pachecoi'' Cartwright, 1963 *'' Megasoma punctulatum'' Cartwright, 1952 *'' Megasoma rex'' Prandi, 2018* (considered a likely synonym of ''M. actaeon'' - seeHielkema, Auke J., Hielkema, Meindert A. (2019): An annotated checklist of the Scarabaeoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) of the Guianas. Insecta Mundi 732 (732): 1-306, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3678492) *'' Megasoma sleeperi'' Hardy, 1972 *'' Megasoma svobodaorum'' Krajcik, 2009 *'' Megasoma thersites'' LeConte, 1861 *'' Megasoma typhon'' (Olivier, 1789) *'' Megasoma vazdemelloi'' Prandi, 2018 *'' Megasoma vogti'' Cartwright, 1963

References

* Kirby, W. 1825. A description of such genera and species of insects, as alluded to in the "Introduction to Entomology" of Messrs. Kirby and Spence, as appear not to have been before sufficiently noticed or described. ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London'', 14: 563–572
Internet Archive
riginal description: p. 566*Schoolmeesters P. 2017. Scarabs: World Scarabaeidae Database (version Jul 2016). In: Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J., Penev L., eds. 2017. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 30 January 2017. Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/col. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands. ISSN 2405-8858. Reference page. *2019 winter Bekuwa No.70 Megasoma group * * Dynastinae Scarabaeidae genera Taxa named by William Kirby (entomologist) {{Dynastinae-stub

Appearance

Etymology

Diet

Behavior and habitat

Species list

See also

References