Ox Beetle

I recently found this Ox beetle (Strategus Aloeus) which is one of the largest beetles that is part of the Scarab Beetle family however this beetle is a subfamily of the Rhinoceros beetle but it's completely harmless growing up to a maximum of 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length. Though not only large in size for a beetle they are also very powerful insects. An Ox beetle despite how hard and dry the ground can be at times of no rain will burrow underground with ease, using their thorax as a shovel. They'll stay underground for shelter and protection from predators during the daytime. Also when threatened the Ox beetle will enclose and tuck itself inside it's body like a turtle to stay safe from predators while their wings act like armor plates for protection.

Male Ox beetles tend to have two different type of horns, major and minor, while females don't have any horns at all. The major horned males have very large posterior horns with one horn coming out from the beginning of their thorax pointing upwards and the other two horns are adjacent to one another at the end of the thorax also pointing upwards. A major horned male's horn can reach up to a maximum size of 3/4 of an inch in length. While the minor horned males just have small nubbed horns like the one I photographed above. The main purpose of the horns is to fight with another male for a female to mate with or for territory.

After the mating, the female will be ready to lay her eggs in which she will lay them in rich soil, a compost heep, or in rotten wood. The female will also cover the eggs in leaves to help the process of production and development in the eggs. After the eggs hatch into a larvae, which are grubs, they will mainly feast on plant roots, fallen fruits or leaves, or on rotten wood and will stay underground. This is the longest process for an Ox beetle is during the grub stage. This stage can take up to a year or longer for the Ox beetle to actually morph into beetle. This is the process where the larvae turns into a pupae and is then created into a beetle. However this process can be sped up if the grub is in a warmer climate. After an Ox beetle finally turns into a beetle they don't have much time to live. The life expectancy of an adult beetle is only approximately four months or a little over that occasionally. Only enough time to mate and reproduce and to enjoy spectating them.

From left to right: Major horned male, Female, Pupae, Larvae.



But if you want to have some fun looking for a grub. You can look underneath almost anything that is on top of and laying on the ground and probably find a grub. If you find a fairly large grub, and depending on where you live in the States, chances are it's an Ox beetle but it could be a Rhinoceros beetle or a Elephant beetle but the most common large grub you'll find is an Ox beetle. If the grub you find is small in size it's probably a June Beetle. Those little small brownish tan beetles that are all over the place around a light during the night and are mainly active during the month of June.

An adult Ox beetle's diet consist mainly of fallen fruit, vegetables, roots, and whatever alse they can find. But the Ox Beetle is mainly active during the months of March to August here in Texas. The Ox Beetle lives in areas with a lot of misture but they can also live in areas where the weather is very arid. Ox Beetles can be found in Arizona streching all the way to Florida as well as Puerto Rico, Mexico and as far south as Brazil.

Ox beetle hotspots in Texas.

But all in all the Ox Beetle remains one of the most impressive beetles here in the States, for being able to withstand and survive all the different environments and climates that it encounters.

But one more thing in case you happen to find one. It's true they are harmless but if you close your hand on them they're so powerful that they'll try to pry out of your hand and that's when they can hurt but they can't bite nor sting so don't worry about that just don't close your hands on them. Also their feet have small little claws at the end of them that act like velcro so they're pretty hard to get off of your hands once they have latched on.