Some beetles have horns. These types of beetles are found in North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Central and South America.
Found in all sizes and colors, these types of beetles can look scary to humans. Most of them don’t attack humans and their horns aren’t dangerous to humans.
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Why do Some Beetles Have Horns?
Only male beetles have horns. They use them in direct male-to-male confrontation, mating rights, and territoriality.
Beetles with horns can use their horns to injure their opponents or to flip them over.
Some beetles with horns raised in captivity are so aggressive they cannot be bred in the same container as they can kill each other constantly fighting with their horns.
14 Beetles with Horns
Here are some of the most common types of beetles with horns around the world
1. Rainbow Scarab
Scientific name: Phanaeus vindex
Number of horns: 1
Rainbow Scarabs are a metallic-looking type of bug found in the Southeastern US states and West to Texas.
This species has a metallic appearance as if changes colors from golden yellow to metallic green in direct sunlight.
A single long horn is specific to this species. It is bent backward, pointing towards its body.
A small species growing up to a length of 1 inch, Rainbow Scarabs also have small antennae to the sides of the horn. They can be retracted, unlike the horn.
2. Eastern Hercules Beetle
Scientific name: Dynastes tityus
Number of horns: 2
This type of beetle gets its name from its Eastern US distribution. It lives in a wide area between New York and Florida and it is known for having one upper horn and one lower horn.
This allows its horns to act like pincers in confrontations. The beetle uses its horns against its rivals from the same species.
While beetles of this genus are aggressive towards each other, their horns aren’t harmful to humans or large animals.
Eastern Hercules Beetles are often eaten by larger animals in their area such as raccoons.
3. Eastern Rhinoceros Beetle
Scientific name: Xyloryctes jamaicensis
Number of horns: 1
Eastern Rhinoceros Beetles come with 1 short horn and a black shiny appearance.
A brown hairy ventral appearance is specific to the species.
This type of beetle is also named after the area it lives in across North America. It inhabits territories from Arizona in the South up to the Canadian border in the North.
It’s only the males of the species that have a horn as they use it against other males to assert their territorial status.
This species is part of a wider group of beetles known as rhinoceros beetles where many species come with a horned appearance.
4. Smooth Ox Beetle
Scientific name: Strategus antaeus
Number of horns: 3
Smooth Ox Beetles are known for having 3 long horns.
There is ground on a couple of levels, with 2 shorter horns above and one flipping longer horn below.
The horns of this species aren’t dangerous to humans.
Common in salt marshes, The Smooth Ox Beetle can use all of its horns when it comes to flipping rival males.
This species has a dark brown color and a black color. Its body has a shiny nuance while its horns are either dark brown or black.
Smooth Ox Beetles darken with age until they become completely black.
5. Grant’s Hercules Beetle
Scientific name: Dynastes grantii
Number of horns: 2
Grant’s Hercules Beetle has some of the longest horns on beetles in North America.
Its large size of over 2 inches allows the species to have one long upper horn and one long lower horn.
Its horns are mostly black while its body is yellow or brown, with or without contrasting spots.
Only found in the Southern US states, this type of beetle takes years to go through all of its life stages from egg to larvae and then to adulthood.
The beetle feeds on various ash trees as well as on general plant tissue.
6. European Rhinoceros Beetle
Scientific name: Oryctes nasicornis
Number of horns: 1
Common across Europe and Africa, The European Rhinoceros Beetle is among the species of beetles with a long horn seen on males and not on females.
The species can also fly over short distances, which makes for some of the most aggressive male-to-male horn beetle fights over mating rights.
A brown color is specific to this species. Light brown or dark brown nuances can be spotted on the shiny body of the beetle.
The horn itself is mostly black, sometimes dark brown.
7. Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle
Scientific name: Trypoxylus dichotomus
Number of horns: 2
A Japanese native, The Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle also lives in other areas of East and Southeast Asia.
This species has one short horn and one very long lower horn. Together with its horns, it can reach a length of up to 4 inches.
The Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle’s horns split at the ends. This helps them grab their opponents better compared to beetles with regular pointy horns.
Despite their long and split horns, these types of beetles can fly. Unlike other flying beetles, The Japanese Rhinoceros Beetles can fly over long distances.
8. Elephant Beetle
Scientific name: Megasoma elephas
Number of horns: 2
Elephant Beetles are some of the largest types of beetles with horns in the world. Found in Central and Southern America, this is a species that may grow to 5 inches.
These types of beetles have one very long horn connected to the prothorax and one very short horn connected to its head, often barely visible.
Its long lower horn is pointed upwards and used in male-to-male confrontations as females Elephant Beetles don’t have horns.
This species takes years to develop into an adult. Females lay eggs in rotten wood and the bugs start eating fruit and tree sap once emerged as adults.
9. Brown Rhinoceros Beetle
Scientific name: Xylotrupes Gideon
Number of horns: 2
A type of Asian rhinoceros beetle, this species is found across India, Thailand, and other nearby countries of Southeast Asia.
The species grows to a size of over 2 inches and it stands out with 2 long horns in the case of males.
Its horns have split tips and are used in confrontations.
Its color is brown, red-brown, or black.
A serious pest, The Brown Rhinoceros Beetle needs to be managed on crops. It impacts coconut and banana trees and fruits, among other types of fruit-bearing trees.
10. Atlas Beetle
Scientific name: Chalcosoma atlas
Number of horns: 3
Atlas Beetles are among the most popular types of beetles with horns based on their appearance. These beetles are large, commonly reaching a length of over 4 inches.
3 long horns are specific to the species. These are long curved horns used to flip and grab opponents efficiently.
Atlas beetles are natives of Southeast Asia, but they have been introduced around the world.
They are generally seen as an aggressive species from a young age. Even the Atlas Beetle larvae can bite.
11. Moellenkampi Beetle
Scientific name: Chalcosoma moellenkampi
Number of horns: 2
One of the rarest types of horned beetles in the world is represented by The Moellenkampy Beetle.
Beetles of this species only live in Borneo, one of Asia’s largest islands.
This is a species with 2 horns, one on each side of the head. Its horns point inwards and only grow on males.
Known for its very good flying capacity, the male Moellenkampi Beetle is one of the most aggressive beetles in the world.
Males are so aggressive towards each other that their horns may cause them considerable injuries.
This species is often seen on wounded trees. They feed on tree sap here.
12. Chiron Beetle
Scientific name: Chalcosoma chiron
Number of horns: 3
Chiron Beetles represent one of the species with a large number of horns. This species has 4 total horns.
One of these horns is barely visible, being short. 3 other horns of the species are long and curved.
A large type of horned beetle, The Chiron Beetle grows to a size of over 5 inches.
Native to Southeast Asia, this long-horned beetle has a short lifespan. It only lives for a few months.
13. Caliper Beetle
Scientific name: Golofa porter
Number of horns: 2
Yellow, brown, and tan colors are specific to the horned Caliper Beetle.
This species comes in uniform coloring and it features 2 long and curved black horns.
Growing to a size of around 5 inches, The Caliper Beetle is one of the largest beetles with horns in the world.
This species is often believed to have 4 long horns due to its elongated pair of front legs.
14. Hyllus Beetle
Scientific name: Dynastes Hyllus
Number of horns: 2
The spotted Hyllus Beetle has 2 horns. Each of these horns is short, measuring a maximum of 0.5 inches.
The species has a yellow or green color with brown spots and a dark brown head. Its horns are also dark brown to black.
Hyllus Beetles are native to Central and South America.
This species is only seen feeding on avocado tree sap.