Royal Goliath beetle
The Royal Goliath beetle is one of the biggest beetles in the world. Its back is creamy white with a fancy black pattern, like a painted shield. Males have a Y-shaped horn on their head for pushing other males around.
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Fun facts
Its larva can grow to 13 centimetres long and weigh about 100 grams, as heavy as a big apple.
Even though it is so heavy, it is a good flyer. Its big see-through flying wings fold away under its back.
Females have two sharp spikes on their front legs.
The larva grows up in only about four months, during the rainy season.
The grown-up beetle waits in the ground through the dry season and comes out when the rain comes.
Most asked questions about Royal Goliath beetle
?How big is the Royal Goliath beetle?
Males can be up to 11.5 centimetres long, which is longer than your hand is wide.
?What does a Goliath beetle eat?
Grown-ups eat tree sap and fruit. The larvae eat protein-rich food in the soil.
?Can Goliath beetles fly?
Yes. Even though they are huge, they fly well with a big pair of folding wings.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Goliathus regius
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Scarabaeidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Scarabaeidae
- Lives on
- Africa
Where the facts come from
- Goliathus regius (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 Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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