Rhinoceros Beetles

It’s mound time again on the pastures and house lawn, but this time I see they are caused by a much bigger beetle. This large native rhinoceros beetle, Strategus Aloeus, reaches 1.5 inches in length and feeds on decaying vegetation and roots. It is a beneficial part of the ecology and I’m seeing a lot of them in action this week. My mom found this horned male back in Fall and the hornless female from the same time was a better image than I could get recently. I’m catching glimpses of them in surface burrows but no good photo op yet. These have been renamed “ox beetle” in recent times to avoid confusion with a similar, invasive palm rhinoceros beetle, but I still use the old common name from the field guides of my youth. Triceratops beetle would be better still. Catch and release, as usual.
Cactus Island Nursery