Description:

The Congo shovel beetle (Palanasus simeiostinplatis) is a large species of flower chafer native to the Congo Savannah in Africa. It is one of the heaviest extant beetles in the Novicene. Males tend to be around 55 to 120 millimeters, and females are 60 to 80 millimeters long. Males tend to be longer because they use their horns for intraspecies competition. The beetle is brownish-orange, with two light brown stripes on the sides of the thorax and elytra and a brown spot on the thorax. It has a gray color on their horns, the top of their heads, and legs. The horn has two upturned sides, allowing them to dig into the soil of the savanna. The feet are also designated to climb trees.

Distribution and Habitat:

These beetles live in open woodlands and savannas with plenty of trees to complete their life cycle. However, some subspecies inhabit tropical rainforests.

Life Cycle:

The Congo shovel beetle's life cycle mainly relies on the acacia trees of the savanna. A female beetle will dig a hole underneath an acacia tree and lay up to 100 eggs, which usually start at the beginning of the wet season. The eggs will hatch 28 days after the female lays them. They will hatch into grubs, which eat plant matter, fungi, and other detritus. It goes through three instar stages in its larval stage. The first instar stage is about 50 days, the second stage is about 55 days, and the last stage can be up to 500 days. This larval stage lasts up to two years before entering the pupal stage. When they enter the pupal stage, they bury about a meter and wait for the next wet season to emerge. Once the rains arrive, they will surface in massive numbers in their fully formed adult stage. After this, they can live up to 3 to 6 years.