HOME WEB NEWS IMAGES CLASSIFIEDS YELLOW PAGESPOLLS - SURVEYS WIKI COUNTRIES PHOTOS US UK INDIA
Cities Stocks Weather Movies Coupons Travel Blogs Health Horoscope Maps ASIA EUROPE Classifieds Yellow Pages
 1
|
| Goliath beetles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Goliathus regius | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||||
|
Goliathus albosignatus |
The Goliath beetles are among the largest insects on Earth, if measured in terms of size, bulk and weight. They are members of subfamily Cetoniinae, within the scarab beetle family. Goliath beetles can be found in many of Africa\'s tropical forests, where they feed primarily on tree sap and fruit. Little appears to be known of the larval cycle in the wild, but in captivity, Goliathus beetles have been successfully reared from egg to adult using protein-rich foods such as commercial cat and dog food. Goliath beetles measure from 50–110 mm (2 to 4-1/3 inches) in length as adults, and can reach weights of up to 80-100 grams (3 to 3-1/2 oz) in the larval stage, though the adults are only about half this weight. The heavily armored adults are so large that when flying, they produce a sound akin to a toy helicopter in flight. The females range from a dark brown to silky white, but the males are nomally brown/white/black or black/white.
Contents |
Goliath beetles are members of the insect order Coleoptera, family Scarabaeidae, subfamily Cetoniinae, tribe Goliathini, genus Goliathus.
All Goliathus species are native to Africa. They are primarily tropical, although one species, G. albosignatus, is localized in the more temperate southeastern portion of Africa. It is in the continent\'s equatorial rain forests that the Goliath beetles have reached their greatest diversity.
The female Goliathus lays its eggs in soil early in the rainy season. Goliathus larvae are somewhat unusual among cetoniine scarabs in that they have a greater need for high protein foods than do those of most other genera. Pellets of dry or soft dog or cat food (buried in the rearing substrate on a regular schedule) provide a suitable diet for Goliathus larvae in captivity. However, a substrate of somewhat moistened, decayed leaves and wood should still be provided in order to create a suitable medium for larval growth. The young stage larvae (1st instar) will eat some of this material. Even under optimum conditions, the larvae take a number of months to mature fully because of the great size they attain. They are this is a bunch of bs..lolon materials rich in sugar, especially tree sap and fruit. Under captive conditions, adults can sometimes live for about a year after emerging from their pupal cells. Longevity in the wild is likely shorter on average due to factors such as predators and weather. The adult phase concentrates solely on reproduction (sex), and once this function is performed, the time of the adult beetle is limited, as is true for the vast majority of other insect species.
Wikispecies has information related to:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia
