Giant longhorn beetle

Giant longhorn beetle
	Giant longhorn beetle ( titanus giganteus )
Systematics
Order :	Beetle (Coleoptera)
Subordination :	Polyphaga
Family :	Longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae)
Subfamily :	Broadbuck (Prioninae)
Genre :	Titanus (genus)
Type :	Giant longhorn beetle
Scientific name of the genus
	Titanus
	Audinet-Serville , 1832
Scientific name of the species
	Titanus giganteus
	( Linnaeus , 1771)

Titanus giganteus

The giant longhorn beetle ( Titanus giganteus ) is a representative of the longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae) from the tropical rainforests of South America .

Besides the Hercules beetle with a maximum body length of 17 centimeters, it is the largest species of beetle in the world. According to reports, specimens with a body length of eight inches have even been seen. The head and thorax are black-brown in color. The wing covers are also so dark at the front at the base, but become significantly lighter towards the rear end. Also striking are the powerful jaws and the unusually short antennae for longhorn beetles.

In 1771, Carl von Linne described the beetle as Cerambyx giganteus, not based on living material, but only on the basis of a drawing by the French naturalist Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton . It is the only species of the monotypical genus Titanus .

Little is known about the beetle so far. Its distribution area includes the tropical north of South America, the Amazon basin , including Peru, Colombia and the Guyanas , proven in Brazil in Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Mato Grosso. Adult beetles are observed from December to March. Males can be attracted by light traps .

Individual evidence

^ Charles Leonard Hogue: Latin American Insects and Entomology. University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 0-520-07849-7 , p. 280
^ Yves Bousquet, Daniel J. Heffern, Psatrice Bouchardi, Eugenio H. Nearns (2009): Catalog of family-group names in Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Zootaxa 2321: 1-80.
↑ Miguel A. Monné, Eugenio H. Nearns, Sarah C. Carbonel Carril, Ian P. Swift, Marcela L. Monné (2012): Preliminary checklist of the Cerambycidae, Disteniidae, and Vesperidae (Coleoptera) of Peru. Insecta Mundi 213: 1-48. download
Jump up ↑ Claudia Martínez (2000): Escarabajos Longicornios (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) de Colombia. Biota Colombiana, vol. 1, núm. 1: 76-105. PDF
↑ Miguel A. Monné (2013): Catalog of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of the Neotropical Region. Part III. Subfamilies Lepturinae, Necydalinae, Parandrinae, Prioninae, Spondylidinae and Families Oxypeltidae, Vesperidae and Disteniidae. PDF
^ José Rafael Esteban Durán: Cerambícidos exóticos del ámbito amazónico. Foresta 28 (2004): 48-55.

Web links

Commons : Giant longhorn beetle - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Book of Insect Records (English)
BBC Science & Nature: Video of the giant longhorn beetle in the Life in the Undergrowth series
Titanus giganteus: Species of the day. Natural History Museum London
Pictures at Entomofauna Guyane

[1] Charles Leonard Hogue: Latin American Insects and Entomology. University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 0-520-07849-7 , p. 280

[2] Yves Bousquet, Daniel J. Heffern, Psatrice Bouchardi, Eugenio H. Nearns (2009): Catalog of family-group names in Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Zootaxa 2321: 1-80.

[3] Miguel A. Monné, Eugenio H. Nearns, Sarah C. Carbonel Carril, Ian P. Swift, Marcela L. Monné (2012): Preliminary checklist of the Cerambycidae, Disteniidae, and Vesperidae (Coleoptera) of Peru. Insecta Mundi 213: 1-48. download

[4] Jump up ↑ Claudia Martínez (2000): Escarabajos Longicornios (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) de Colombia. Biota Colombiana, vol. 1, núm. 1: 76-105. PDF

[5] Miguel A. Monné (2013): Catalog of the Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) of the Neotropical Region. Part III. Subfamilies Lepturinae, Necydalinae, Parandrinae, Prioninae, Spondylidinae and Families Oxypeltidae, Vesperidae and Disteniidae. PDF

[6] José Rafael Esteban Durán: Cerambícidos exóticos del ámbito amazónico. Foresta 28 (2004): 48-55.