A snake catcher in Australia who was called out for what someone thought was a snake found out that they were facing a very different type of foe.
"Well this is a new one for me... So this morning call came through Jeremy's Reptile Relocations Townsville but as the young fellas laid up in bed with an injury I jumped on the tools to help out," James Bindoff, who runs the Townsville Snake Catcher service and Facebook page, said in a post.
"Caller described a distinct [sic] large hissing noise coming from a large outdoor dog caging area suspected they thought a large python."
However, despite the loud hissing noise, the suspected reptile turned out to be a massive beetle instead.
"Apon [sic] arrival no reptile was found just this female common rhinocerous beetle," Bindoff said.
The common rhinoceros beetle, or Xylotrupes ulysses australicus, is a species of rhinoceros beetle found in Australia, so-named for the horn-like protuberance on their heads.
These beetles measure up to 6 inches long and are found across Queensland in Australia. These beetles make a loud hissing noise when disturbed, which they generate by rubbing part of their abdomen against the ends of their forewings, according to Land for Wildlife.
Males have a much larger horn than females, and will often gather on trees, knocking other males out of the way when they sense a female's pheromones. Many species of rhinoceros beetle are incredibly strong for their body weight, and are capable of lifting objects of between 30 and 100 times their own mass, according to the National Wildlife Federation. This strength is used to fight other males for access to mating with females, during which they also use their large horns to battle other males.
After mating, female common rhinoceros beetles will lay around 50 eggs in rotting wood and other organic matter, which will take around three weeks to hatch into large larvae, which feed on the detritus for around two years before transforming into their adult form. Their adult lives only last two to four months.
The female beetle encountered by Townsville Snake Catcher was freed back into the wild after the mistaken identity-driven encounter.
"Was Relocated to a neighboring tree to continue its life cycle, they only breed for 2-4 months during their adult stages and die shortly after laying 50 ish eggs in rotting wood," the post reads.
These beetles aren't the only rhinoceros beetle in Australia: there are nearly 200 species of the beetle across the country, including the three-horned rhinoceros beetle, Haploscapanes australicus, and the African Black Beetle, Heteronychus arator.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about ancient swords? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
