Biology:Chalcosoma caucasus

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Short description: Species of beetle


Caucasus beetle
Scarabaeidae - Chalcosoma caucasus.JPG
Male
Scientific classification
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Species:
C. caucasus
Binomial name
Chalcosoma caucasus
(Fabricius, 1801)
Synonyms

Chalcosoma chiron (Olivier, 1789)[1]

Chalcosoma caucasus (Caucasus beetle) (Thai : ด้วงกว่างเขาสามจันท์) 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]

Male

Description

Chalcosoma caucasus males can reach a length of 90–130 millimetres (3.5–5.1 in), while females grow to 50-60mm.[3] Caucasus beetles are the largest of the genus Chalcosoma and one of Asia's largest beetles. They have a striking sexual dimorphism. The males have specialised enormous, curved horns on the head and thorax that they use to fight with each other to gain mating rights with females. Females are significantly smaller. The elytra of the females have a velvety texture, as they are covered by tiny hairs.[3] When males enter into contests for females[3] the fighting spirit is as strong as in Hercules Beetle of South America. Because they can be captured throughout the year the acquisition of these beetles is easy and the price is quite low. 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 3 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.[4]

Subspecies

  • Chalcosoma caucasus belangeri - Thailand ,Pulau Langkawi and Vietnam
  • Chalcosoma caucasus caucasus - Java
  • Chalcosoma caucasus kirbyi - West Malaysia
  • Chalcosoma caucasus jansenssi - Sumatra

References

Wikidata ☰ Q855805 entry