Surely many of us know the story of the wooden boy Pinocchio with a long nose, right? In the natural world, there is also a creature with a lovely long nose just like that, they are quite small and have a very cute name: “lantern beetle”. In addition to this name “rice offering”, lantern beetles are also called Pinocchino, elephant beetles or “air-to-air missiles”. The name Pinocchio is because this beetle possesses an incomprehensibly long “nose”, half the length of its body. Why are they “equipped” with such long noses?
This beetle usually has a beautiful green color
In fact, their long “nose” is because their mouth “lengthens” to make it easier to suck tree sap. The lantern beetle is a tropical insect that lives with plants. ^^ Many people think that this brilliant beetle has the ability to glow from its “long nose”, but that is not true. It is the colorful wings with the ability to reflect light that make lantern beetles shine in the night. .
A beautiful oil painting of a lantern beetle
They have a really strange “nose”, don’t they?
Their “nose” also has many beautiful colors like their wings!
There is a rather strange “legend” about this beetle, which is that if the person stung by the lantern bug does not… “have sex” within 24 hours, they will… die! This strange story has been passed down orally since the 19th century. It is said that lantern beetles can kill people, animals or plants with just one bite. And the only way for the burned person to survive is to… “have sex” within the next 24 hours. However, scientists today have proven that lantern beetles are extremely gentle, and they never sting anyone. But there are still many people who believe in that strange “legend”.
Lantern beetles are very gentle and will never sting anyone
