Greatwun Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Hello guys, Ive collected some beetles in an area near by and I'm pretty sure they are from the genus Strategus but I'm not sure which species. The first beetle is what I call the "black form". It has a much more rounder body and almost a pitch black color. It has one tiny horn in the front and no posterior horns or bumps. The last two pics are of what I call the "red form". It has a much more oval body and its color is rosewood red. Although this specimen does not have posterior horns, I have found other "red forms" with small posterior horns which maybe be minor males. Both are found in the same half mile stretch of area with the "black form" being much more common, about 5:1. All the beetles I encountered range from 26mm-32mm with 90% ranging from 30-31mm. I belive they both are different species since their elytra are very different from each other. I looked up and found that both S. splendens and S. antaeus are known to be present in central FL. I belive that the "black form" is splendens and the "red form" is anateus. What do you guys think? Sorry for the quality of the photos, my iphone isnt good at taking close up pics. I took the best pics I could without blurring out too much detail. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucanus Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Black one is likely to be S. antaeus female and red one is S. splendens male. I remember looking at this pic from Jordan, have you got the message from him yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatwun Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Yes I spoke to him and he told me the same. I always thought that the anateus were redder and splendens were darker however Ive been unable to find a lot of splendens pics to use for comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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