A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Chalcosoma moellenkampi
A Rhinoceros Beetle. This one is not armed with horns because it is a female. Length at least 35mm.
Usually found on the grounds on this hill in Pinausok, Kundasang, Sabah, Malaysia.
Wikipedia says that Rhinoceros beetles are completely harmless to humans because they cannot bite or sting. "Cannot bite or sting" - True, "Completely harmless to humans" - False. I carried it and place it on top of my palm, that is when the annoyed beetle attacked me, it used it's sharp hooks at the tip of it's legs to grab my skin and squeezed it hardly several times while producing an angry buzzing sound. Those sharp tips pierced into my skin and gave me great pain, however I had to stand the pain and try to release it's legs first before pulling it out. This is the first time I was attacked painfully by a beetle, all the previous rhino beetles that I handled never gave me any wounds. >>>Map accuracy : 50m diameter.
Spotted on Dec 11, 2009
Submitted on Jun 23, 2012
1 Comment
When it attacked my arm, several tiny parasites from it came running out to explore my hand and then returning back into the host after realizing my hand is not a suitable host for them.