Oryctes minor Waterhouse

Small Rodrigues Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes minor)

The Small Rodrigues Rhinoceros Beetle was described in 1876, it is only known from the type specimen, a female (or from two specimens, according to other sources).

The species reached a length of 2,5 cm; “The elytra are covered with rather large horseshoe punctures, among which may be traced the usual two pairs of punctured lines; the surface between the large punctures has small punctures scattered here and there.” [1]

The species is now considered extinct.

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References:

[1] Charles O Waterhouse: New species of coleoptera from the island of Rodriguez, collected by the naturalists accompanying the Transit-of-Venus Expedition. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Zoology, Botany, and Geology 4(18): 105-121. 1876

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Photo from: ‘Sergio M. Latorre; Matthias Herrmann; M. J. Paulsen; Christian Rödelsperger; Andreea Dréau; Waltraud Röseler; Ralf J. Sommer; Hernán A. Burbano: Museum phylogenomics of extinct Oryctes beetles from the Mascarene Islands. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 2020’

(under creative commons license (4.0))
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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edited: 29.04.2022