Boas rhinoceros beetle
The boas rhinoceros beetle is a glossy, dark reddish-brown beetle from Africa. The male has a very long horn on its head that curves backwards at the tip, just like a little rhino. The female only has a tiny horn.
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Fun facts
Its young mostly grow up in compost heaps.
Farmers see it as a pest because it bores into coconut palms.
On the tip of each back leg it has three spikes that cannot move.
One scientist checked more than 700 of these beetles from 27 different countries.
Behind the male's head there is a big hollow with two pointy teeth at the back.
Most asked questions about Boas rhinoceros beetle
?How big is the boas rhinoceros beetle?
Most grown-ups are 3 to 4 centimetres long.
?Is the boas rhinoceros beetle dangerous?
No. It does not hurt people, but it can harm coconut palms.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Oryctes boas
- Named by
- Fabricius, 1775
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Scarabaeidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Scarabaeidae
- Lives on
- Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Oryctes boas (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 Robert Taylor. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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