EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

This Rhinoceros Beetle is a Lady

Rhinoceros Beetle (Augosoma [prev. Dynastes] centaurus), Family Scarabaeidae
Democratic Republic of the Congo

Explanation:  Also called the Centaurus beetle, this is the female counterpart of the more often-heralded male of the rhinoceros beetle of the Congo River Basin in central tropical Africa.  It is the male of the species -- which we visited in a previous EPOW episode -- that sports the amazing and frightening hardware.  

Previously, this beetle was put into the similar-appearing genus Dynastes that includes rhinoceros beetles of tropical America.  But now it has its own designation of genus Augosoma.  

Notice the nastly-looking spikes on the legs and hooks on the feet ... but this is not a dangerous creature to handle.  As I photographed several of these beetles, a few would alight on my back and legs, but not bite ... and they took some doing to unhook them from my shirt and pants.  Likely, these are adaptations for adhering to the bark of trees and vegetation.  

Surprisingly, the female rhinoceros beetle is also the subject of some amazing "insect art" (thanks to Tom Bruce for finding this).