Encyclopaedia
Giant African Fruit Beetle (Mecynorrhina torquata)
Mecynorhina torquata
The Mecynorrhina torquata (Giant African Fruit Beetle). It is a titanic and heavy gem of terrariums: a majestic and very wide emerald-green or matte velvet beetle (up to 3.1 inches in size), decorated with geometric and very precise white bands on the wings (elytra). It belongs to the Cetoniinae subfamily (flower/fruit beetles), known for their spectacular and extremely buzzing flight (they fly without opening the hard elytra, unsheathing only the lateral membranous wings in an astonishing way). The male possesses a powerful and bizarre 'Y' shaped forked horn on the head, used to brutally drive rivals away from tree wounds from which sap flows. Breeding, although fascinating, requires huge quantities of hyper-specialized constantly decomposing substrate (Flake Soil / Rotten wood and Oak leaves) to feed the fat, cannibalistic and restless larvae during their eternal 12-14 months underground.
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Terrestrial
60 - 80 %
22 - 25 °C
18 - 22 °C
None
Species description
Care, breeding and tankmates
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Origin
Terrestrial invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 8.5 cm
- Lifestyle/Microhabitat
- No verified data available
- Activity cycle
- No verified data available
- Sociality
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Venom level
- No verified data available
- Handling tolerance
- No verified data available
- Brumation
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
Related species
Recommendations grouped by close relatives, companion choices, and similar care.
