Large Tropical Rove Beetle vs Hercules Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Large Tropical Rove Beetle Hercules Ant
Scientific Name Hesperus rufipennis Camponotus herculeanus
Order Coleoptera Hymenoptera
Family Staphylinidae Formicidae
Size 18-25 mm 6-14 mm
Habitat Forests Forests
Diet Predators Sap Feeders
Regions West Africa, Central Africa Northern Europe, Northern Asia, Northern North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Large Tropical Rove Beetle

A large, impressive tropical rove beetle with red elytra and a black head and pronotum. It is one of the larger staphylinids in the African tropical forest fauna.

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Did You Know?

This beetle can deliver a painful bite with its powerful mandibles if handled carelessly, one of the few rove beetles capable of breaking human skin.

Hercules Ant

A large black carpenter ant of boreal and montane forests across the Northern Hemisphere. Major workers have massive heads with powerful mandibles for excavating wood.

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Did You Know?

They can survive temperatures below minus 20 degrees Celsius by producing glycerol as a biological antifreeze.