Eastern Hercules Beetle - Dynastes tityus

Warrior, AL 2007

Found one of these in Warrior, AL (right outside Birmingham) in June 2007. I couldn't believe how big he was.

… Katydid108, 2 November, 2020 - 8:45am

Eastern Hercules Beetle in Missouri

Found this Eastern Hercules Beetle Aug 3, 2013 on a wasp nest Dead.
I had never seen any thing like this I know it's like 2 inches long.

… dewey5260, 3 August, 2013 - 8:56pm

Found in Mt. Airy, MD

I found a male (approx. 2.5-3 inches long including horn) on a gravel road. He had died near a puddle in the 100 degree F heat. I had never seen a beetle this large.

… Tila09, 16 July, 2012 - 2:41pm

Hercules beetle in Brandenburg, KY

My husband and daughter was surprise by this huge bug one night on our front porch. Our little kitten attacked it, but to here surprise it attacked her, lol

… Tkkentuckygirl, 9 July, 2011 - 11:20pm

From Greensboro, NC

I was at a swim meet at night and he came down near me. He broke the tip off of one of the horns. I kept him in a terrarium with a bunch of Goliath beetles. He got along well, eating the bananas like the G. beetles. He died after about 3-4 weeks. (The Goliath beetles can last up to 1.5 years! (G. orientalis preussi)

… D. Pulitzer, 27 September, 2009 - 12:06am

My lucky find, Canton Ga.

As i sit at the mc donalds drive through there he was on the wall. After giving him a new home equipped with a nice brown banana , and began to study him. Found out real quick that a good meal does hercules good after about 3 days of hiding under leaves feeding, he was not the docile beetle i brought home!!! He was now in " defense " mode extremely aggressive not something to be handled without gloves, claws are sharp! Very powerful (note) pics the lowered head don't get fooled anything that has the misfortune to get caught
between the two horns, he is not trying to let go. So with knowledge and a new found respect for my great find with movies and pics to study i placed him under a pile of wood...

… hollywood, 20 July, 2009 - 12:53am

Found in Birmingham, AL

Full grown male, crawling across our back deck.
Pretty, but it scared me at first. Those things are HUGE!

… Jeannine, 14 July, 2009 - 9:10pm

Found in Athens, Al

We found a beautiful Eastern Hercules Beetle right outside our church this morning. He's alive and well. First thought it was a rhino beetle until we investigated further and found this website. He is 2.5" long. Getting ready to turn him loose.

… ranger, 14 July, 2009 - 8:53am

You Can Get Anything at Target!

Coming out of Target in North Charlotte at about 8:45 pm, I heard him hit the pavement and saw him spinning on his back. I nudged him to try and help him flip over. But he wasn't crawling away. I got him on my shoe and off the road but he decided to stay on my shoe and ride all the way to the car. So I took my shoe off and put it in one of the bags for the ride home. I wanted to show him to my 7 year old who really loved seeing him. Our specimen was approximately 2.5-3 inches long and very docile.

… Ken & Mystina Zummach, 25 August, 2008 - 8:44pm

Eastern Hercules in VA

I just found an eastern hercules beetle in Farifax, it was a beautiful female specimen about 2.5 inches long. I think that's about as big as the females get. I noticed on one of my walks outside work it was struggling and upside down in the parking lot. I flipped it over and gave it a more respectful home, quite nice. Co-workers were a mix of horrified and amazed.

… Benja11, 8 July, 2009 - 12:18pm

Found in New Market, TN 7/31/2008

I saw him there in the drive way at 5am on his back but figured he would get himself turned over.

Sadly he was dead when I got home at 4pm.

Can anyone add more about this beetle? He sure is cool looking.

… crumbut, 31 July, 2008 - 5:48pm

Found in Buford Ga.

Found an adult Eastern Hercules Beetle Approximately 3.5 inch in my backyard in Buford Ga. on 7/22/2008 The poor guy was dead.

… andy1954, 22 July, 2008 - 7:10pm

Found in Delaware

Found male beetle approx. 2.5 inches long on the outside wall of a drugstore in Glasgow, Delaware. Took entomology courses at the University of Delaware, but never saw one of these before. BIG beetle!

… Iggybeans, 21 July, 2008 - 5:07pm

Eastern Hercules Beetle

Does any know how large a male can grow? I think we found one in Columbia, SC and it was so big I thought it was a small turtle at first. It was well over 4 inches long.

… Eroche16, 7 July, 2008 - 7:58pm

Eastern Hercules Beetle

We just found a male Eastern Hercules Beetle at our post office and brought him home to identify him. We thought he was some kind of exotic pet that had escaped! He is quite handsome and we thought we should report that we found him in Asheville, North Carolina, located in Buncombe County. Right now he is enjoying a banana, and tomorrow we will check with the WNC Nature Center to see if they would like to have him on display there.

… Keeland, 24 June, 2008 - 4:39pm