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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Scarabaeoidea » Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae) » Rhinoceros Beetles (Dynastinae) » Phileurini » Phileurus » Triceratops Beetle (Phileurus truncatus)
Photo#1028828
Large Grubs In Rotting Oak Limb in South Carolina - Phileurus truncatus
Copyright © 2014 theschollbus

Large Grubs In Rotting Oak Limb in South Carolina - Phileurus truncatus
Lane, Williamsburg County, South Carolina, USA
December 25, 2014
I thought these might be Hercules Beetle grubs, but not really sure. Thought it was cool to find so many of them together. The limb fell out during a wind storm on Christmas Eve, it is a 10" diameter limb with a nearly hollow center. Only about 3' of the tip fell off, there is still 10' or so still on the tree, I bet there are over 100 in the remaining limb.

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Large Grubs In Rotting Oak Limb in South Carolina - Phileurus truncatus Large Grubs In Rotting Oak Limb in South Carolina - Phileurus truncatus
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Contributed by theschollbus on 26 December, 2014 - 9:39am
Last updated 27 December, 2014 - 12:47pm

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Like Dynastes tityus, these guys breed in tree cavities. Larvae can easily be separated from tityus by looking at the color of the head capsule; tityus has dark brown head capsule whereas truncatus has light orange head capsule and unlike tityus, larvae of this species can vibrate
… Alan Jeon, 27 December, 2014 - 12:47pm login or register to post comments

Cool!
They're probably Bess Beetles (Family Passalidae). They live gregariously in rotten logs.
… Curt Harden, 26 December, 2014 - 9:55am login or register to post comments

 
I don't think they're passalids...
From my experience, these don't curl up in the c-shape like scarab grubs. See . Also bess beetle larvae have only two pairs of thoracic legs, so if you could get a picture of that it would confirm that these aren't passalids.
… metrioptera, 26 December, 2014 - 12:27pm login or register to post comments

 
Ah..
Thanks, that's good to know..
… Curt Harden, 1 January, 2015 - 3:32pm login or register to post comments

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