Atlas beetle
The Atlas beetle is a giant, shiny beetle from the warm forests of Southeast Asia. The males have three long horns on their head and back, like a little knight in armour. A big male can be longer than your hand is wide.
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Fun facts
The males use their horns to wrestle each other, to win a female.
Males are much bigger than females. Males reach 6 to 12 centimetres, while females are 2.5 to 6 centimetres long.
Its larva is known for being fierce and may bite if it is touched.
Different islands in Southeast Asia have their own kinds of Atlas beetle, which look a little different.
Most asked questions about Atlas beetle
?How big is an Atlas beetle?
Males are about 6 to 12 centimetres long, and females about 2.5 to 6 centimetres.
?Why does the Atlas beetle have horns?
The males use their horns to fight each other for a chance to mate with a female.
?Is the Atlas beetle dangerous?
No. The beetle is harmless, though its larva may nip if you touch it.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Chalcosoma atlas
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Scarabaeidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Scarabaeidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Atlas beetle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by MathKnight and Dr. Zachi Evenor. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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