Tractor Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Since I moved a couple months ago, these things have showed up every couple days. Pretty cool that we found one alive during the day. I got to play with it a bit and my daughters where fascinated but only while I was the one holding it. This ones a little smaller than the ones I've been seeing. I believe they are Eastern Hercules beetles. The first one we saw was nearly as big as my 3yr olds shoe and she screamed really good as she was the first to spot it. http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f185/EWhytsell/IMG_7050_zps93939c4b.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Brian Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 I didn't believe you about the shoe-size thing until I googled them http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Hercules_beetle_(Dynastes_hercules).jpg/1280px-Hercules_beetle_(Dynastes_hercules).jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted August 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Yeah that one looks more like the ones I've been seeing. The yellow with black spots, but I've not seen any males yet. Females = no huge horn. The one I got today is the first male I've seen here. I've seen black ones and the yellow spotted ones, not sure if they are the same species, I'm not a biology sciences guy at all normally, but these guys got me interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted August 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Some quick reading found that they change color based on water content of their exoskeleton, even humidity can effect them. Neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRD2BDF Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Ain't going to lie, I'll freak out when one of these crawls on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Haha, yeah they're not always around, but I have never seen one the size of a shoe. What part of South Carolina did you move to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted August 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 I live near Tega Cay, right off the I-77 and Gold Hill Rd exit just south of Charlotte. Toddler's shoe btw just so we aren't thinking 10" or anything lol. 3 inches is still the biggest bug I've seen outside of Starship troopers. Wish these would have been more abundant in Ohio when I was a kid, my GI Joe battles would have been epic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 I live near Tega Cay, right off the I-77 and Gold Hill Rd exit just south of Charlotte. Oh neat, I was expecting you to say somewhere further south. :thumbup: I live out just north of 160 out by 521, pretty much Ballantyne/Fort Mill/Indian Land. The only thing I have never liked about Gold Hill is the traffic that backs up during peak hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gillbot Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 I used to live off of Woodlawn in Charlotte, don't recall seeing any big ones when I was down there either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewtoys Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 I live near Tega Cay, right off the I-77 and Gold Hill Rd exit just south of Charlotte. Toddler's shoe btw just so we aren't thinking 10" or anything lol. 3 inches is still the biggest bug I've seen outside of Starship troopers. Wish these would have been more abundant in Ohio when I was a kid, my GI Joe battles would have been epic. Tega cay is starting to bloom. You will find a lot of weird bugs and critters down here..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Cool beetles. You can "fight" the males. Get your kids into finding the "toughest" one. Fight them on a small board or branch. Winner will throw the loser off with a hook toss. No damage, just a wrastling match. In some countries, they even bet money on various goliath beetles, etc. Many people even keep the larger beetle species as pets even so far as having leashes for them and shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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