Ox Beetle

While Fletcher and I were on our walk this morning, we spotted this Ox beetle aka elephant beetle, Strategus aloeus, (a species of rhinoceros beetle) ambling along in the middle of the street. It appears to be a female as 'major' males have three large horns on their thoraces and resemble the Triceratops. 'Minor' males have much smaller horns while females have one small horn which is used primarily for digging and not fighting. This is the largest beetle species found in the U.S. and are fairly common from Florida to Arizona. Again, I had only my iPhone with me so I had to make do. After taking a few shots, I picked her up and placed her in a much safer place.