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FL Strategus ID?


Greatwun

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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.

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