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Oryctes nasicornis


Oryctes nasicornis
Photo Information
Copyright: Laurent GLANDON (lglandon) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 200 W: 30 N: 189] (1314)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-07-30
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon 20D, Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro
Exposure: f/4.5, 1/160 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2005-08-10 3:41
Viewed: 1451
Points: 24
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Oryctes nasicornis

"Rhinoceros beetles are the world's strongest animals!" This statement may raise some eyebrows, as we all know that elephants can carry hundreds or thousands of pounds on their backs. Even camels can carry as much as 300 pounds with ease. If we simply had rhinoceros beetles carry what camels have on their backs, rhinoceros beetles would surely be squashed! Well, when we talk about how strong an animal is, we are not comparing the actual weight that it can lift. Instead, we are comparing how much an animal can carry relative to its own weight. Elephants can carry up to 25% of their own weight on their backs, camels about 20%, leaf-cutting ants about 30 times their own weight, and rhinoceros beetles about 850 times! There's no doubt that rhinoceros beetles are the world's strongest animals!

Rhinoceros beetles wear black armor and have long, large horns sticking out of their heads. In fact, their horns, resembling rhinoceros', are how they get their name. Rhinoceros beetles use their horns for many different things - digging holes in the ground as hideouts, foraging through the heavily littered floor of rain forests, and fighting off other rhinoceros beetles. Even though rhinoceros beetles look fierce with their horns, they are actually harmless insects. Measuring no more than 2 1/2 inches long and weighing less than 1 ounce, rhinoceros beetles mainly feed on rotten fruits and sap.

Like all insects, rhinoceros beetles must go through a stage called metamorphosis to reach adulthood. Metamorphosis is like a total makeover in appearances, lifestyles, and body forms. Rhinoceros beetles lay their eggs in decaying trees, stumps, or other vegetation. Once hatched, their young, called larvae, feed on rotten wood or compost in the areas where they live. As the larvae reach their full length, they enter metamorphosis. They make cells in soil and put themselves inside for a couple of months. We call these cells pupae. Slowly, the larvae transform into rhinoceros beetles - new limbs and muscles replace the old ones, wings are formed, and horns are grown. Then, rhinoceros beetles break out of their pupae and use their horns to dig their way to the surface. Adult rhinoceros beetles can live for about 4 months.

PP : Crop / Sharp / Rezise & Frame
sway, red45, LordPotty, wallhalla15, electra, marhowie, Comandante, carper, Luc, mlines has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • sway Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 316 W: 88 N: 308] (1212)
  • [2005-08-10 3:52]

HI Laurent,
Nice macro shot.
I like the texture of the dirt and the reflections off the bettles hard shell.
Nice composition and use of light.
:)

  • Great 
  • NINIX Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 164 W: 48 N: 328] (2774)
  • [2005-08-10 4:21]

Hi Laurant,

Very impressive shot. What an animal.
After 2 weeks camping in France I now get some doubts for the next time ;)

Hendrik

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2841 W: 75 N: 8088] (27399)
  • [2005-08-10 5:03]

You are lucky Laurent. This beetle is very rare in Poland. You captured it very well - I like brown colours of BG and shinny surfaces of insect. Good POV and composition also.

A great macro of a fascinating beetle Laurent.
When I was a kid I lived on Niue Island (near Tonga) and ships that visited the island had to go way out to sea at night .time to moorThis was because Rhinoceros beetles only fly at night,and Niue has no Rhinoceros beetles.The main export of Niue was copra (dried coconut) and Rhinoceros beetles desroy coconut trees.
You've done a great job of capturing this.
Well done.

Hey Laurent, you are lucky - I´ve never saw this bug. Great macro, colorfull with very good sharpness and very good details. Very good job. WEll done

Hi Laurent,
exellent beetle wonderful shot. I like this shot. Wonderful sharp and colours, well done.

BR

Martina

Hello Laurent!
Very nice macro.Sharpness,clear details,DOF,POV and composition are excellent.
Thanks for sharing.

  • Great 
  • japie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1814 W: 100 N: 1904] (5187)
  • [2005-08-10 11:28]

Great shot Laurent! The composition is very good and the sharpness excellent.

Very well done and thanks for posting

  • Great 
  • Midi Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 156 W: 27 N: 184] (2417)
  • [2005-08-12 2:02]

Belle prise de vue de ce rhino. Le Backgroud est bon aussi, bonne netteté. Bravo.

wauw impressive shot,
very good taken this differcult shot,
the pov is very nice, I like the atmosphere in the colours, the dof is fantastic, very good job, I like it,good job
gr. Jaap

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2052 W: 315 N: 4301] (14721)
  • [2005-08-13 7:04]

Hi Laurent, I have no time to write a decent comment. I give to you the well deserved smily.

Weekend thought:
The most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical.
It is the sower of all true science.
He to whom this emotion is a stranger,
who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.
To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists,
manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty
which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms,
this knowledge, this feeling, is at the centre of true religiousness.
- Albert Einstein -

Thank you for sharing pictures and notes and for the enjoyment which they give to me.

  • Great 
  • TAZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2385 W: 50 N: 3170] (10926)
  • [2005-08-20 4:20]

Wow ! Il est impressionnant ce Rhino miniature ;-) je n'en ai jamais vu. j'aime ce cliché intéressant. Peut-être un peu plus de profondeur de champ sur l'arrière de l'insecte...
Merci pour le partage Laurent.

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