Males about 50–95 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Eupatorus gracilicornis
A living five-pronged fortress: four thoracic horns and one enormous head horn on a beetle approaching ten centimetres.
About this species
Five-horned Rhinoceros Beetle
Eupatorus gracilicornisArrow, 1908
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Eupatorus gracilicornis is one of Asia’s most spectacular rhinoceros beetles. Adult males carry four horns on the thorax plus a long cephalic horn, while the large larvae develop slowly inside rotten wood.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Scarabaeidae · Eupatorus
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
mainland Southeast Asia from northeastern India and southern China to Thailand, Laos and VietnamBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
mainland Southeast Asia from northeastern India and southern China to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam
Tropical and subtropical forest with abundant decaying wood.
Adults are mainly nocturnal and the principal flight period is often around September.
Larvae consume rotten wood; adults take sap, nectar and ripe fruit.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
A mature male carries five horns — four rising from the thorax and a fifth, much longer horn projecting from the head.
Large males may approach 95 millimetres, yet still unfold membranous hind wings from beneath the golden wing cases and fly.
The larval stage can last around two and a half years in rotten wood, while the spectacular adult phase is comparatively brief.