Hercules Beetle Battles
His thick green shell scarred with the signs of a brutal conflict, the giant beetle lay dead. Who knows how long he fought before being vanquished by the rival that disappeared into the night with the mate that the conquered had hoped to win...
Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 51727710 - Eastern Hercules Beetle; Walton County, Georgia. June 30, 2020. ©williamwisephoto.com
June 30, 2020; Walton County, GA - I couldn’t help but notice this massive Eastern Hercules Beetle on the sidewalk outside the back door of my office. With its large pronotal and clypeal horns, Dynastes tityus is fittingly classified into the “rhinoceros beetle” family. Both its common name and scientific name are steeped in Greek Mythology. No doubt a reference to the beetle’s size, Tityus was a Greek giant that was so large he split his mother’s womb. And Hercules is, of course, known to most of us as the Greek strongman who fought many battles, or labours. In similar feats of strength, there are many short videos on the internet of Hercules Beetles battling it out with each other.
Interestingly, the following morning I found another dead one about ten feet from where I found the first. Since they are reported to be active primarily in the pre-dawn hours, my imagination conjures scenes of battle campaigns between these horned brutes while the rest of us sleep. The only evidence of their nocturnal warfare is the carnage of vanquished foes that lie dead from exhaustion on our sidewalks.
- Walton County, GA
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