A visitor found this shiny black beetle on 23rd March 2014. That morning there was an abundance of driftwood, leaves, seeds and other plant material on the beach. It could have been washed ashore along with all that.
This beetle has many names, the most common names are Jerusalem Beetle and Horned Passalus (Odontotaenius disjunctus). It's habitat ranges from eastern and central North America, through Central America and South America. They can grow to almost 4 cm long and the one pictured is about that size. The larvae only have 4 legs and they look like small white caterpillars with yellow heads. Their food consists of rotting wood/fungi. These beetles live in small colonies inside tunnels in decaying wood. The larvae are fed pre-chewed rotting wood by adults of both sexes. They have a lifespan of more than a year (Bugguide.net, 2014; Entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures, 2014).
