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Mila'sExotic Plants & CuriositiesA living collection by Luminary OdditiesLuminary Oddities · Natural history & art
Dynastes hercules
Coleoptera / Scarabaeidae
Dynastes hercules is the giant Hercules beetle of Guadeloupe and Dominica. Males bear opposed head and thoracic horns above a dark body and olive wing covers; females are hornless and predominantly black.
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Males have a black head and thorax, with olive-toned wing covers interrupted by a black midline and scattered dark spots. A forward-projecting thoracic horn opposes the horn rising from the head. Females lack both horns and have coarsely punctured wing covers that are usually black. [2]
Dynastes hercules occurs in forested regions of Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, and Dominica. The closely related Dynastes reidi occupies Martinique and Saint Lucia. [1]
Guadeloupe larval records include decaying trunks of Licania ternatensis, Amanoa caribaea and Inga ingoides. The larvae develop inside deteriorating timber. [2]
The name dates to Linnaeus’s 1758 description. Historical Dominican names include Dynastes lagaii and Dynastes vulcan; the regional checklist treats them within the nominal Hercules beetle. [3]
Keep the enclosure closed and display it in indirect light, away from heat and damp conditions. Handle the frame by its edges and clean only its exterior according to the maker’s instructions.
Jen-Pan Huang; Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Miscellaneous Publications 206 (2017) · Accessed 2026-10-11
Oliver Keller and Ronald D. Cave; University of Florida IFAS Extension · Accessed 2026-10-11
Peck and colleagues; Insecta Mundi (2014) · Accessed 2026-10-11
Sources checked 2026-10-11. Illustrations · Luminary Oddities.
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