Bug FAQJapanese Rhinoceros Beetle
Trypoxylus dichotomus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Scarabaeidae
Also called: East Asian Rhinoceros Beetle, Japanese Horned Beetle, Mushi Beetle
Males are 40 to 80 mm long and females 35 to 60 mm; the male’s horn can be up to a third of its body length. They live in broad-leaved tropical or subtropical forests and also in mountainous areas across much of Asia. Adults drink tree sap while the larvae feed on soil humus, and the beetles emerge as adults in summer.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
They are dark brown and red, but can look black when not in direct light.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Males usually measure 40 to 80 mm and females 35 to 60 mm in length. Male elytra are 19 to 33 mm long and the horn ranges from 7 to 32 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They prefer broad-leaved forests in tropical or subtropical climates. They are also commonly found in mountainous regions.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adult beetles feed on exposed tree sap. Larvae live in soil humus and eat that material.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females scatter eggs in humus from July to September. It takes about one year from egg to adult.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults emerge from the ground between June and August.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
When do Japanese rhinoceros beetles appear?
Adults come out of the soil in the summer months, from June through August.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are they found?
They live in broad-leaved tropical or subtropical forests and mountainous areas across much of Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Scarabaeidae)
Japanese BeetlePopillia japonicaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Green June BeetleCotinis nitidaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Phyllophaga crinitaPhyllophaga crinitaDamages trees, gardens or crops
European Rose ChaferCetonia aurata
Mediterranean Spotted ChaferOxythyrea funestaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Oriental BeetleExomala orientalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_rhinoceros_beetle
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.