In fact, their sub-family includes some of the world’s largest invertebrates, such as the enormous Atlas beetle (Chalcosoma atlas) of South-east Asia, which may reach 145mm in length.

No African species quite attains this size. Nonetheless, many are large, robust insects, and endowed with prodigious strength. Scientists have calculated that a rhinoceros beetle can carry a load 850 times its own weight, making it arguably the strongest animal in the world. The males’ horns are, like those of rhinos, used for territorial combat; females are hornless. Adults eat mostly sap and rotting fruit, while their fat white larvae eat rotting wood or compost. Both play an important ecological role in recycling plant material.