The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 35,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change. Several groups formerly treated as subfamilies have been elevated to family rank, and some reduced to lower ranks. The subfamilies listed in this article are in accordance with those in Catalog of Life (2023).
The Hercules beetle is a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the rainforests of southern Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Lesser Antilles. It is the longest extant species of beetle in the world, and is also one of the largest flying insects in the world.
Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family (Scarabaeidae). Other common names – some for particular groups of rhinoceros beetles – include Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles. Over 1,500 species and 225 genera of rhinoceros beetles are known.
Dynastes tityus, the eastern Hercules beetle, is a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the Eastern United States. The adult's elytra are green, gray or tan, with black markings, and the whole animal, including the male's horns, may reach 60 mm (2.4 in) in length. The larvae feed on decaying wood from various trees.
The Goliath beetles are any of the six species in the genus Goliathus. Goliath beetles are among the largest insects on Earth, if measured in terms of size, bulk and weight. They are members of subfamily Cetoniinae, within the family Scarabaeidae. Goliath beetles can be found in many of Africa's tropical forests, where they feed primarily on tree sap and fruit. Little appears to be known of the larval cycle in the wild, but in captivity, Goliathus beetles have been successfully reared from egg to adult using protein-rich foods, such as commercial cat and dog food. Goliath beetles measure from 60–110 millimetres (2.4–4.3 in) for males and 50–80 millimetres (2.0–3.1 in) for females, as adults, and can reach weights of up to 80–100 grams (2.8–3.5 oz) in the larval stage, though the adults are only about half this weight. The females range from a dark chestnut brown to silky white, but the males are normally brown/white/black or black/white. Goliath beetles, while not currently evaluated on the IUCN Red List, are facing growing conservation challenges across their African range due to habitat loss, over-collection for the international pet trade, and the potential impacts of climate change.
Macrodontia cervicornis, also known as the sabertooth longhorn beetle, is one of the largest beetles, if one allows for the enormous mandibles of the males, from which it derives both of the names in its binomen: Macrodontia means "long tooth", and cervicornis means "deer antler". Measurements of insect length normally exclude legs, jaws, or horns, but if jaws are included, the longest known specimen of M. cervicornis is 17.7 cm; the longest known specimen of Dynastes hercules, a beetle species with enormous horns, is 17.5 cm, and the longest known beetle excluding either jaws or horns is Titanus giganteus, at 16.7 cm.
Dynastes is a genus of large beetles belonging to the family Scarabaeidae. They occur in the Nearctic realm and in the Neotropical realm, from the United States to Brazil; four North American species, three with distributions extending from Central America either north or south, and two species endemic to South America.
Dynastes hyllus is a large scarab beetle species that ranges from Mexico to Guatemala. Its larvae have been found to associate with the logs of Persea americana.
Xylotrupes gideon, the brown rhinoceros beetle, is a species of large scarab beetle belonging to the subfamily Dynastinae.
Dynastes satanas, the Satanas beetle, is a species of beetle belonging to the family Scarabaeidae. The name is sometimes misspelled as "satanus".
Cybister explanatus, alias Cybister fusculus, is a species of beetle in the family Dytiscidae that occurs in western North America. It is in the Nealocomerus subgenus of Cybister, which denotes a Cybister species from the Nearctic region. Being a predaceous diving beetle, it is aquatic and primarily found in lentic, or still-water, habitats, as well as valleys. It has been known to often have an important predatory role in these ecosystems. Distinctive physical traits of C. explanatus include the sharp points of the hind legs’ metafemora and the yellow lining of the elytra and pronotum's margins. C. explanatus is notable for being edible, serving as a taco filling in Mexico and as foodstuff.
Inca clathratus is a species of flower chafer in the family Scarabaeidae, indigenous to Central and South America. These beetles can be seen surrounding the sap flows from injured or diseased trees anytime in the day and sometimes at night. They mostly feed at the sap flows of the trees, including avocado and mango trees. Like other beetles they also feed off of rotting fruit. There are a few different subspecies of Inca clathratus including: Inca clathratus sommeri, Inca clathratus clathratus, and Inca clathratus quesneli. The species name has been frequently misspelled as "clathrata" but the genus name Inca is masculine.
Dynastes moroni is a large scarab beetle endemic to the Sierra de los Tuxtlas region in Mexico.
Holotrichia rufoflava is a species of dung beetle found in South India and Sri Lanka.
Schizonycha ruficollis, is a species of dung beetle found in India and Sri Lanka.
Caccobius unicornis, is a species of dung beetle found in many Asian and South East Asian countries such as: India, Sri Lanka, China, Java, Borneo, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Myanmar, North Vietnam, Philippines, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indochina.
Telegeusinae is a small subfamily of beetles in the family Omethidae recognizable by enlarged palpi found in males. Though relatively rare, males are sometimes found in large numbers in black light traps. Females are not known in this group, but it is theorized that females are larviform as found in many closely related taxa.
Dynastes neptunus is a beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. D. neptunus is very similar to the Hercules beetle but differs from it in slightly larger size and more of a slender and curved horns.
Dynastes maya, the Maya white beetle, is a species of New World scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae). It has a distribution range in the Central American region, specifically in southern Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
Evides pubiventris is a South African wood-boring jewel beetle species in the family of Buprestidae. It has a metallic green coloration that is not reflective in the near-infrared renge of the spectrum. Its host-tree is Lannea discolor.
