Saturday 10 May 2008

Rhino Beetle - Cornezuelo













Nobody got much sleep last night with this fella dive bombing the metal roof laminas every 5 minutes. Somebody told me that the Rhino beetle (DYNASTIDAE), or Cornezuelo, spends as much as 18 years in the larval stage. We found a larvae of this species a couple of years back. It was impressive (and would have made quite a feast!) I will try to dig out the photos of it and post one here. Sadly, people like to rip the horns off and have it dipped in gold and made into a necklace charm... charming!