The eastern Hercules beetle is an imposing but harmless big bug.
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Females do not have horns.
A few years ago, David Coyle finally spotted one of the large, greenish-hued beetles he’d been hoping to see his whole life on a tree in his yard near Athens, Georgia.
“I knew exactly what it was and it was like, ‘Holy cow, there’s one,’” says Coyle, associate professor and state extension specialist at Clemson (South Carolina) University. “It was really exciting. As a trained entomologist — someone who’s had an insect collection since they were a kid — it was a real treat to actually see one of these things alive, and in my yard no less. It was pretty awesome.”
Coyle quickly surmised that the eastern Hercules beetle, an oversized insect with black spots, was probably lured by storm-felled hardwood trees, one of its favorite foods. Belonging to a group called rhinoceros beetles because of the males’ impressive-looking horns, it can grow nearly three inches long and hails from the same family as June and Japanese beetles. As is often the case in the animal kingdom, the female is slightly larger.
“It’s the biggest beetle we have here in North America in terms of the weight and the size of it,” Coyle says. “The common names can vary depending on what part of the country you’re from or your dialect or how your mom and dad talked to you [about them].”
Found throughout the Southeast, in the Appalachian region the eastern Hercules isn’t commonly seen by humans.
Dr. David R. Coyle
Males have the big horns.
“But I think there are probably more out there than we know,” Coyle points out. “The larvae will feed in these rotting hardwood logs, and typically you see those in places where it’s kind of more natural, where you don’t have a lot of people living. It’s just [because] they occur in such rural wooded areas that you probably don’t see them a whole lot.”
Despite their mass, they are quite docile, Coyle says. “Those horns are not going to pinch you or anything like that. If you so choose, they can be picked up and gently held and they don’t do anything but sort of crawl around on your hand.”
Although some people rear the beetles as pets, it’s not a good idea to take them home, Coyle notes.
“The adult beetles might keep in captivity for a while, but eventually they’re going to die because they don’t have their natural habitat. With their life cycle and what they need, a person can’t provide the right habitat for them to really survive and maintain themselves and reproduce. Take a look at it, get some pictures and then just let it go on its natural way.”
Eastern Hercules beetles are not only harmless; they’re beneficial to the environment. “There’s a large group of insects out there that I just call nature’s recyclers,” Coyle says. “All they’re doing is taking that dead organic matter, whether it’s a leaf or a tree, and they are consuming it and processing it. … They’re just helping that ecologic process. It’s just part of their role in nature.”
To those interested in finding a Hercules beetle — or other elusive critter — Coyle recommends, “Go outside and look around. There’s a lot of stuff there that I think a lot of people just glance over. Pay attention to the small stuff. Keep your eyes open and you’re probably going to see a lot more things out there once you stop and look than you ever thought were there in the first place.”
The story above first appeared in our July / August 2025 issue. For more like it subscribe today or log in with your active BRC+ Membership. Thank you for your support!