Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae
Genus: Xyloryctes
Xyloryctes jamaicensis, sometimes called the “rhinoceros beetle” because of the prominent “horn” found on males, can be found from Connecticut to Arizona. Adults, among the largest of the US scarabs at up to 2 cm in length, are slow moving and rarely given to flight. Larvae are white C-shaped grubs with a brown sclerotized head and well developed mandibles, which allow them to feed on the roots of ash trees, their primary food source. Because this species favors the ash tree as its food source, it is not a great nuisance to domesticated crops nor to decorative plants.
Xyloryctes jamaicensis – Rhinoceros Beetle
Xyloryctes jamaicensis – View of head and horn
Xyloryctes jamaicensis on Bugguide.net
Xyloryctes jamaicensis on Encyclopedia of Life
Sources
(1) Arnett, R.H., American Insects: A handbook of the insects of America North of Mexico, (1985), New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
(2) Borror, D.J., C.A. Triplehorn, and N.F. Johnson, An Introduction to the
Study of Insects, 6th ed., (1989), Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
(3) Ratcliffe, B.C. and P.C. Hammond, Insects and the native vegetation of Nebraska,University of Nebraska State Papers in Entomology, vol. 28, (June, 2002), pp. 29-48.
