Horned elephant

The Horned Elephant (known as the Elephant Beetle prior to ) is a rare bug in the introduced in. It is a large, dark-yellow beetle found on palm trees during the summer at night, between the months of July and August (all year in Tortimer Island in ) and the times 5 PM to 8 AM, and it sells for 8,000 Bells.

Donating to the museum
As with all insects in the, the Horned Elephant can be donated to the Museum followed by a small talk by Blathers, the curator.

In
"I wonder what elephant beetles were called before there were elephants? No, wait, I don't wonder! I don't even care! Hoo hoo! Well, moving on..."

In
"True to its namesake, the elephant beetle is among the heaviest of all the dynastid beetles. As you might imagine, with parents that big, the babies are also accordingly huge. About the size of your fist! Such foulness! Just think of those monstrous larvae! The horror of it all!"

The Elephant Beetle can be found on the middle tier of the insect section, located on a palm tree next to the Tarantula and Scorpion, in the same section housing the rafflesia.

In
After donation, an information board in the insect exhibit will display a description of the Horned Elephant.

"Horned elephants are some of the heaviest dynastid beetles in the world. The thin yellow hair that covers their bodies makes them rather attractive to mates and collectors. Their horns resemble an elephant raising its trunk, which is how they got their name. They're already big in their larval stage, but by their pupal stage, they are the size of a person's hand."

In
When donating to the museum, Blathers will say the following:

"The horned elephant beetle certainly lives up to its namesake. Not only does the horn on its head resemble the trunk of an elephant...It is also one of the heaviest beetles in the world! Size aside, allow me to reveal the real reason I find horned elephant beetles so repugnant... Their back are covered in a fine coat of hair! Hirsute beetles! Hoot! The horror! "

Further information
The elephant beetle is a type of Scarab beetle that can grow between 7 to 12 centimetres (2.75 to 4.75 inches) in length; males are sometimes bigger and can grow around 2 to 3 times bigger than the females. Living in the rain-forests of South America, as well as Central America and southern Mexico, these beetles are mainly active at night and mainly feed on sap, bark, and ripened fallen fruit. Elephant beetle larvae develop in large decaying logs and take up to 3 years to develop into adult beetles. The lifespan of these beetles is around 1 to 3 months. However, elephant beetle populations have been depleting by the destruction of the rain-forests, which has reduced their grounds for mating.