Last night a large ox beetle (Strategus aloeus) was attracted to my work light. Well in truth my real work light is my headlamp, but I turn on a spotlight away from where I am operating so that most of the bugs go over there. If I don’t coerce them to the spotlight then numerous insects swarm my head, get in my mouth and eyes and nose and ears, and I turn into a nutcase when that happens. So a temporary illumination distraction is necessary. I turn the light off once I am done working and the bugs all disperse back into the desert. No harm, no foul.
Ox beetles are found across the southern tier of US states from Florida to Arizona and then down through Mexico into Brazil. This female has no “horns” on her thorax, unlike males which have three blunt projections used in mating competitions to fend off competing males. The three horns mean that they are sometimes called rhinoceros beetles or Triceratops beetles, although there are tropical species that are more accurately named that. In handling her, she was quite persistent in refusing to be quietly held, and the prickly (but harmless) leg spines are effective at helping these strong beetles burrow through soil and decaying organic matter, which is what the large grubs feed upon. They take 1 to 2 years to develop from grubs into adults and serve an important function in recycling the nutrients in dead wood back into usable nutrients for other organisms.
Arizona is evidently the westernmost edge of their natural range. I saw no references to them being found in California, which is only about 25 miles from here, and I suspect that my property in NW Arizona is one of the most marginal known for the species, as I don’t think they are found in Nevada (less than 40 miles away) either. I last saw an ox beetle several years ago, so while present, they certainly aren’t something I see often. The chestnut coloration and shiny exoskeleton is quite attractive on this 1.5 inch long miniature tank of a beetle. 