10/10 would still try to give it a kiss on its back before releasing

We recently released a podcast episode on the Bugs Need Heroes podcast (on Spotify, iTunes, etc.) about longhorn beetles, the family the Titan beetle belongs to. They are an amazing beetle family

Description:

Adult longhorns often have very long antennae, typically at least two-thirds the length of their body, and in many species the antennae are actually longer than the body. Their body shape is elongated and somewhat flattened. They have a very wide range of sizes, as some adults are only a few mm in length like the smallest longhorn beetle Cyrtinus pygmaeus at 3mm up to the largest, Titanus giganteus, at 17 cm in length (Macrae, 2013). Longhorn beetle coloration and patterns vary widely, from bright greens and blues to cryptic browns and black. Adults can squeak or chirp through stridulation, by rubbing the back of their head against their thorax. This is used to frighten away predators.

The longhorn larvae (sometimes called "round-headed borers") are typically creamy-white and found within wood, both living and dead. While typically the larvae are not huge, 1–5 cm (0.4–2 in) in length., the largest larvae (again our friend the Titan beetle) are 20–25 cm (8–10 in) in length.

Life Cycle:

After mating, longhorn beetle females lay individual eggs within wood (living or dead). They might deposit the egg underneath bark, within a pit in the wood, near the roots, or any other crevasse. Sometimes the female beetle will bore into the tree herself. When the eggs hatch (in a few days or weeks depending on species and environment), the larvae remain where they are, consuming wood (Missouri Department of Conservation, 2024). Most of the beetle’s life will be in the larval or grub stage, which can last a few months or up to 3 years depending on species (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2025). During this part of their life they are performing an important service within their ecosystem by breaking down wood and returning those nutrients to the soil.

The extensive tunnels they bore through the wood are sometimes referred to as “galleries” for their artistic value and others are called “girdlers” as they tunnel just under the bark of limbs, severing (girdling) the limb's vascular system (Missouri Department of Conservation, 2024).

When the larva has eaten enough to pupate, it will create a chamber within the wood and form a pupae. This stage can last from a few weeks to a few months. When they emerge as adults, the adults chew their way out of the wood leaving oval or round exit holes. Adults can live for a few weeks up to a few months. In their adult form, they feed on twigs, bark, leaf veins, and leaf petioles.

The overall lifespan of a longhorn beetle can range from a few months to decades, but most live 1–3 years (Missouri Department of Conservation, 2024).

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I remember in high school being shown a film about them which featured the pencil snap.

How do I know you don’t have extremely small hands?

Beautiful!

Their eggs must be like chicken eggs.

Bug in Brazil are gigantic, Australia is childplay compared to Brazil, people don't talk about Brazil because almost nobody dare to truly explore Brazil's interior.

Don't stop to take a leak in the Amazon, got it.

I’m actually so scared of these big beetles. There’s few things scarier to me I’m so serious I don’t know what it is but something about the wings being crispy and crunchy and they’re so loud and they’re body is hard and stiff 😭seriously would hand over the keys to my house if robbed with one of these

We still have no idea what the larvae eat…

Edit: Different longhorn beetle species feed own different wood. We have no idea which tree is fed on by this species.

With jaws capable of snapping a pencil, you wouldn’t catch me holding one.

Good grief I wish this and AIDKE could have trigger warnings for all the beautiful creepy crawlies Like they're cool as hell but I have a tiny heart attack every time one comes across my screen

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