![]() As an adult it feeds on fruit and sap.Īdults weigh between 18 and 28 g. In its younger stages this insect digests decaying wood. Unfortunately, because many parts of tropical lowlands have been deforested, or at least overcut, the rhinoceros beetle is rare and struggling to survive. ![]() This is why Megasoma elephas populations can only live in forest mature enough to have a sufficient number of large, fallen trees. Since trees in the Tropics decay very quickly and the grubs develop slowly, the grubs will become exposed or run out of food unless they are in a large fallen tree. In the grub, or larval stage, the beetle munches on decaying wood on the inside of a fallen tree. The entire lifespan of the rhinoceros beetle is 3 to 4 years, but approximately 2 of those years are spent as a grub. These large, impressive beetles come from humble means. Males fight over females and feeding sites, but they are not very aggressive otherwise. They grapple with their horns, and the winner is whoever first lifts his opponent off his feet and knocks him over. Two males will approach each other to compete, often in a tree. The hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) takes second in size compared to the rhinoceros, and the hercules has a second long horn curving down towards the lower one. This rhinoceros can fly short distances, although its heavy body makes it rather ungraceful in flight. The light to dark brown rhinoceros beetle can look almost velvety because it has fine, short hairs over the exoskeleton. Females are smaller and do not have such a dramatically adorned head. He has additional, shorter horns that project out from his head, but the long one is used for fighting. The male is unmistakable with his massive size and long, intimidating horn that curves up. The rhino is one of the strongest insects in the world with relation to its body size, and is the largest beetle within countries like Costa Rica. The rhinoceros beetle can be found from southern Mexico down to northern Colombia and northern Venezuela. In younger stages, it lives inside large fallen trees. Juan González de Mendoza mentions it in his book, China, in which he comments that the public were impressed by its thick hide and horn, and that there was speculation as to it being the unicorn of legend.Lowland rainforest is suitable for this beetle, but mature forest is required for the beetle to survive. At El Escorial, Abada was put on display to the public and presented to the Japanese ambassadors in November 1584. The transfer did not take place without incident: one of the keepers decided to refresh the animal by dousing it with buckets of water, but the sudden soaking startled her and, in panic, she knocked down all her attendants. On 16 October 1583 Philip transferred Abada once again, this time to the menagerie of El Escorial. On the death of Henry in 1580, Philip II of Spain claimed the throne, uniting the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, and inherited the rhinoceros which he transferred to the menagerie of Casa de Campo, close to Madrid. Sebastian was succeeded by Henry I the following year. As a safety measure the horn was removed. In 1577, the rhinoceros arrived at the port of Lisbon intended for the menagerie of Sebastian I of Portugal, probably as a gift from the viceroys of India. ![]() It was the first rhinoceros seen in Europe since the specimen that was sent as a present from the King of Portugal, Manuel I, to Pope Leo X in 1515, which died in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy in early 1516, immortalised as Dürer's Rhinoceros.Ībada was probably meant as a general term for the rhinoceros, as it derives from the Malay word for the animal and may have been in use in Spain and Portugal from around 1530, but since this was the only example of the species in Europe it served as a proper name as well. Freebase 3.0 / 1 vote Rate this definition:Ībada was the name given to a female Indian rhinoceros kept by the Portuguese kings Sebastian I and Henry I from 1577 to 1580 and by Philip II of Spain from about 1580 to 1588. ![]()
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