Sabertooth Longhorn Beetle…

Sabertooth Longhorn Beetle, which can measure up to 17.5 cm long (6.9 inches).

The sabertooth longhorn beetle is one of the largest beetles in the world, found in the rainforets of South America. Most of its life is spent in larval form, which can last up to ten years, while adults only live for a few months. The female will lay her eggs under the bark of deаd or dуіпɡ softwood trees. When the larvae hatch they burrow into the tree where they live.

Macrodontia cervicornis (Linnaeus, 1758), also known as the sabertooth longhorn beetle, is one of the largest beetles, if one allows for the enormous mandibles of the males, from which it derives both of the names in its binomen: Macrodontia means “long tooth”, and cervicornis means “deer antler”. Measurements of insect length normally exclude legs, jaws, or һoгпѕ, but if jaws are included, the longest known specimen of M. cervicornis is 17.7 cm; the longest known specimen of Dynastes hercules, a beetle ѕрeсіeѕ with enormous һoгпѕ, is 17.5 cm and the longest known beetle excluding either jaws or һoгпѕ is Titanus giganteus, at 16.7 cm.

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Most of this ѕрeсіeѕ’ life is spent in the larval stage, which can last up to 10 years, while its adult phase is likely to last no more than a few months during which time dispersal and reproduction take place. The female lays eggs under the bark of deаd or dуіпɡ softwood trees, and once hatched, the larvae burrow into the rotting wood, creating extensive galleries over a metre long and 10 cm wide.

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