New Species of Rhinoceros Beetle Found in Bolivia

Entomologists from Bolivia and Brazil have described a new species of rhinoceros beetle from a subhumid forest in the Southern Bolivian Andes.

The new species belongs to the very rare beetle genus Oryctophileurus.

“Like the other species of the genus, the new species might be rare or has a cryptic way of life,” wrote Dr Robert Perger from the Colección Boliviana de Fauna and Dr Paschoal Grossi from the Universidade Federal do Paraná, co-authors of the paper published in the journal ZooKeys.

The beetle, named Oryctophileurus guerrai, measures about 2 cm long by 1 cm wide.

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European rhinoceros beetle found in Worcestershire garden

An amateur naturalist says she was "very excited" to find a rare giant beetle in her garden.

The European rhinoceros beetle was found by Angie Hill in Martley, Worcestershire.

Conservation trust Buglife identified the beetle from a photo Ms Hill sent them and believes it is the first time it has been found in Britain.

The beetle can grow up to 6cm (2.36in) and can lift 850 times its own weight.

Ms Hill saw the beetle when she went to look at moth traps she uses to count species for the Teme Valley Wildlife Group.

"I saw this huge beetle, which was very shiny like a conker, and so I grabbed my camera," she said.

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How the Rhinoceros Beetle Got Its Horns

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

Sporting a horn on your head two-thirds the length of your body might seem like a drag. For the rhinoceros beetle, though, massive head-weapons are no big deal.

Turns out, pitchfork-shaped protrusions on the heads of rhinoceros beetles don't slow them down during flight, new research shows. The findings may explain why the beetles' horns are so diverse and elaborate, said study researcher Erin McCullough, a doctoral student at the University of Montana.

"Because the horns don't impair the beetles' ability to fly, they might be unconstrained by natural selection," McCullough told LiveScience, referring to the evolutionary process that weeds out weak traits while passing on advantageous ones.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/27851-rhinoceros-beetle-horn-evolution.html

Big horned rhinoceros beetles are healthiest

The size of a male rhinoceros beetle's horn is a genuine indicator of its health, according to researchers.

The horns vary in size from small bumps to two-thirds of the insect's body length and are used in fights.

Investigating the variation, US scientists found cells in the horn are more sensitive to "nutrition signals" than cells in other parts of the body.

They suggest their findings could explain the evolution of super-sized body parts in the natural world.

The study, led by Dr Douglas Emlen from the University of Montana, US, is published in the journal Science.

Although scientists have long assumed that exaggerated body parts accurately represent the ability of a male to survive and reproduce, the link has not been proven.

To understand the relationship, Dr Emlen and colleagues compared the beetle's horn with other body parts including the wings and genitalia.

They found that the horn's cells were much more sensitive to "nutrition signals": fluctuations in insulin due to diet quality and resistance to illness.

This discovery explained the differences in horn sizes between high and low quality males but it also offered an explanation of how the horns grow to such impressive sizes.

Dr Emlen explained that these insulin pathways are also known to regulate tissue growth and body size. Therefore if a body part contains cells that are more sensitive to these signals it will grow to reflect the health of the beetle.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18955652