Alright I love the shit out of bugs, you know me. But honestly that thing looks like a fucking Guillermo del Toro prop

I wanna hold it.

The Eraserhead baby has a challenger

ayy in case anybody isnt familiar with the hercules beetle life cycle, this is the middle stage, right before they pupate into the more recognizable Big Bug !

but their larval form is also really interesting - hercules beetles are some of the largest in the world ( not THE largest, but up there ) and their grubs are a good reflection of that at up to around 6 inches long

compare that to the adult size of the female beetle, who doesnt get that big ol horn - a very big baby

Oh wow the comments people keep adding to this are horrible. Why the fuck can’t people just appreciate the natural world instead of this asshole “NNNOOOOOPE KILL IT” culture. No fucking wonder we’re in the middle of an extinction event.

The larva literally spends its entire existence buried in dirt eating bits of rotten wood bothering nobody and half the commenters still apparently want to burn it or stomp it. Neither fear nor ignorance should be valid excuses for viewing any living thing this way.