It may be a holiday but as they say the show must go on so hold onto your hats because here comes another Wild Fact. After writing about the Glow Worm on Friday, I had a great idea (well I think it is a great idea). I am going to do a whole week dedicated to insects. Now before you throw your monitor out of the window in disgust, I promise to choose some of the most exciting insects I know about. To get the week started right we are going to learn about the Titan Beetle. Trust me, you will want to stick around for this one!
The Titan Beetle happens to be the largest beetle that can be found in the Amazon rain-forest. As you can imagine it is also one of the largest insect species in the world. What creeps me out about this is the fact that there is an insect out there bigger than the 16 cm (6.5″) Titan Beetle. This beetle is over half a foot! Just because they are big doesn’t mean they are vicious, right? The good news is that the adult Titan Beetle does not feed. The bad news is their mandibles are capable of breaking pencils in half and would definitely break the skin.
Since they don’t feed, the adults simply survive in this form to mate. They will fly around looking for a partner before they perish. So the question you have to ask yourself is what do the juveniles look like? Well that is a good question that I can’t answer for you. Believe it or not we have yet to find any larvae of the Titan Beetle. It is assumed that they spend their time inside wood and may take several years before emerging. They have found some exit holes that researchers think belong to the Titan Beetle. Judging by the holes it would put the grub at over 2″ wide and up to a foot long. I know, ewwwww!
Since today’s fact wasn’t that gross or icky, I expect to see you tomorrow for the next interesting insect fact. Have a good one!
I love catching and eating bugs! But I am not so sure about the Titan beetle. Those mandibles sound pretty nasty! But wow, one would make a whole dinner.
hahaha!
You had better be careful with this one, Sparkle. They could definitely give you a good pinch. You are right though, it would definitely fill you up.
I kind of want one for a pet.
Hi Samantha,
I think you might be one of the first people that want a Titan Beetle as a pet. At least one of the few that have wandered across Wild Facts. I agree with you though, I think they would be pretty cool to have around the house. They would have so many uses too. They could take care of a mice problem, guard the house from intruders and they would make a great conversation starter.
Thanks for visiting Wild Facts!
why dont entomologists keep adult titan beetles in captivity just to see the grub for the first time.it would be an amazing sight
I have to agree with you Keith. It would definitely be an amazing site to see the grub. You would have thought that this had been done at some point in time. Interesting!
We found a bug in our backyard that looks A LOT like this – could it be a Titan Beetle?
Hi Linda,
I suppose it is possible that you have found a Titan Beetle. It would be tough for me to say since I am not sure where you are located or what the bug exactly looked like. Feel free to e-mail me a photo and I will do my best to identify it for you.
Thanks for stopping by!
hi linda,
Unless you live in the amazon no its not a titan beetle
Wow! What a large Beetle!
It will surely scare the Wits out of children haha! I really love Insects and it would be great to Pet one but of course be careful for the mandibles it looks like it can decapitate a Finger XD Ouch!
You could definitely have some fun with the children with this beetle. I don’t think I would be putting my finger anywhere near those mandibles! Maybe I am just not as brave anymore.
For the record it is great to find a reader that loves insects. I find them so fascinating and are one of my favourite types of animals to talk about.
i found one on my door step oh and i live porterville,ca in the USA
@peter, its not a titan beetle then peter titan beetles only live in the amazon
I work at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. This past week we had one of these walking across the closed 27R runway near the Charlie-2 Taxiway. It was HUGE! It was at least the size of the one pictured. We had some contractors looking at it. When we came upon it, it started doing some up and down bobbing”dance”. It flew up and attached itself to one of the construction workers upper thigh and we thought he would die of fright. Of course, we had no intention of helping him as it was a source of great amusement for us. Eventually one of the knuckheads sprayed it with orange marking paint and it crawled off into the darkness. One of our other employees has spotted the same type of beetle on another occasion. We figured it came in on a foreign freight carrier. we get regular flights from all over the world every night. It was quite a sight. I wish we had captured it but the crew had to keep moving along since we had a very limited closure window for the runway. If I see another, I will try to collect it and perhaps call a University to pick it up.
These things things are HUGE!!! My younger sibling is doing a research project on them and I was put in charge of looking up the research. This things creep me out sooooo much, but they are very interesting. I will differentially have a nightmare about these beetles tonight. Wish me good luck!
Hi Bella,
It is crazy when you actually think just how big the Titan Beetle really is. I hope you were able to get some good information for your siblings project. I am sure it will turn out to be a great report since the topic is pretty cool.
Let me know if I can help with anything.