This widespread rhino beetle is considered as a real plague by farmers due to the damage maggots (larvae) cause to crops by eating roots and tubercles. In captivity, however, the larvae feed on rotten compost and wood and will not feed on any but the most rotted wood. Female imagoes (pupae) are easy to distinguish from males since only the latter have horns.
Este escarabajo ampliamente distribuído en Uruguay es considerado como una plaga dado el daño que causan las larvas a los plantíos alimentandose de raíces y tubérculos. En cautividad, sin embargo, las larvas solamente suelen alimentarse de madera y materia orgánica en putrefacción. Las pupas hembras son fácilmente distinguibles de los machos dado que solamente los primeros presentan cuernos.
(Montevideo)
