Chalcosoma chiron

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Caucasus beetle
Scarabaeidae - Chalcosoma caucasus.JPG
Male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae
Genus: Chalcosoma
Species:
C. chiron
Binomial name
Chalcosoma chiron
(Olivier, 1789)
Synonyms

Chalcosoma caucasus (Fabricius, 1801) [1]

Chalcosoma chiron (often called the Caucasus beetle) is a species of beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. This species can be found from Malaysia south into Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Malay Peninsula, Indochina) and Thailand in East region (Chanthaburi province, Sa Kaeo province). [2] It was formerly known as Chalcosoma caucasus, a name which is a junior synonym and not valid. [3]

Contents

Male Chalcosoma caucasus.JPG
Male

Description

Chalcosoma chiron males can reach a length of 90–130 mm (3.5–5.1 in), while females grow to 50–60 mm (2.0–2.4 in). [4] Caucasus beetles are the largest of the genus Chalcosoma and one of Asia's largest beetles. They have a striking sexual dimorphism. The male has specialised enormous, curved horns on its head and thorax that it can use to fight with other males to gain mating rights with females. A female is significantly smaller. The elytra of the females have a velvety texture, as they are covered by tiny hairs. [4] Caucasus beetles differ from Atlas beetles (for which they are often mistaken) in that they have a small tooth on their lower horns.

Their grubs go through three molts, and generally live underground for 12–15 months; the larger males remain grubs longer than females. Their pupae live 1–2 months, while the adults live for 3–5 months. Females live longer than males. [5]

Subspecies

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moellenkampi beetle</span> Species of beetle

The Moellenkampi beetle, is one of four large species of rhinoceros beetles from Southeast Asia belonging to the genus Chalcosoma. The Moellenkampi beetles belong to the beetle family Scarabaeidae along with other rhinoceros beetles. They are characterized by having two large, forward-projecting horns on the pronotum or thorax, and another large, forward and upward-projecting horn on the head. They also have a distinct metallic lustre, which is the reason behind their genus name, which derives from Greek, chalko-, and is the combining form of chalkós, meaning copper.

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Chalcosoma engganensis is a large (35–60 mm) and heavy beetle. The body is shiny black. The male has a sharp horn on the head. On each side of pronotum there are curved, forward directed horns. Across the head there is a short but powerful spike. This species differs from the normally developed specimens of the other Chalcosoma species in that horns are shorter, male can look a lot like small copies of Chalcosoma moellenkampi. The female lacks these horns and spikes, and is smaller.

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References

  1. "Taxon profile: Chalcosoma chiron (Olivier, 1789)". BioLib.cz. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  2. Insect Life Forms
  3. Krell, Frank-Thorsten. (2002). On nomenclature and synonymy of Old World Dynastinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Ent. Blätter 98: 37-46.
  4. 1 2 Natural World
  5. The breeding manual of a Chalcosoma chiron Archived March 1, 2013, at the Wayback Machine