Grant’s Hercules Beetle

Beetle takes on Hot Wheels car!
We were vacationing in Ruidoso, NM when I came across this lovely fellow being poked and abused by local children in the parking lot of the grocery store. I shooed away the little hoodlums and snatched him up in a grocery bag and brought him home to show to my son. Needless to say, the ENTIRE family was seriously impressed by the sheer size of this bug! We observed him for a couple of days and released him into the woods. I am thinking he is either a rhino beetle or a Hercules beetle, maybe unicorn? We named him “Rodan” as he seemed big enough to take on Godzilla! What a cool bug! Thanks
Trina

Hi Trina,
This is a Grant’s Hercules Beetle, Dynastes granti. We find your photo with the HotWheels car terribly amusing.

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