Neptune beetle Coloring Pages

A Shiny Black Body! Neptune beetle!

The Neptune beetle is a super cool beetle that lives in the mountains of South America. Its name comes from Neptunus, the god of the sea in Roman mythology.

Where Does It Live?

The Neptune beetle lives in a very high mountain range in South America called the Andes Mountains. It loves cool, foggy forests, and it gets very active when night comes.

How Big Is It?

It is super big! A male can grow up to about 16 centimeters long from its body to the tip of its horn! That makes it one of the biggest beetles in the whole world. It is about twice as long as a Japanese beetle.

The Neptune beetle's Personality

The Neptune beetle is usually gentle and does not fight very much. It has a weak grip on trees, so it often gets thrown off when it gets into a fight. Sometimes it even loses to beetles that are smaller than it! But they say that a few Neptune beetles can be fierce and as strong as a Hercules beetle.

Proud of Its 4 Horns!

The coolest thing about the Neptune beetle is its 4 horns! It has a big, long horn sticking out from its head, and 3 horns sticking out from its chest. These grand horns are important weapons that males use when they fight each other. Also, it has fluffy orange or yellow hair growing on its top horn, which looks very stylish!

Shiny Black Armor!

Its whole body is super hard and shines brightly, just like black enamel! This black armor protects its body in the forest. Female beetles do not have grand horns like the males, and their bodies are a dull black color.

What Does It Eat?

Wild Neptune beetles love tree sap that drips from tree bark, and they also like rotten fruit. When they are larvae, they eat lots of decaying wood and leaf mold. They grow big slowly over two and a half to three years! The larvae also like to eat soil that has rotted for a long time. When you keep one at home, feed it insect jelly just like other beetles.

How to Choose Your Colors

The coolest thing about the Neptune beetle is its shiny black body! The key is to make it look super shiny.

• Body color: Use black as your main color. But if you color it all plain black, it will look flat. The trick is to think about where the light hits!
• Shine (gloss): Leaves some blank spots, or color a tiny bit with white, light gray, or light blue on the back and the top of the head where the light hits. That will make it look super shiny!
• Body hair: Color the fluffy hair with orange, yellow, or ocher. Making this part stand out makes it look just like a real one!
• Horns: Color them shiny black just like the body. If you make the tips of the horns a little bit whitish, they will look extra sharp!
• Belly and legs: Color them with black or dark brown. If you make the leg joints a little lighter, they will look 3D!
• Eyes: They are small, but be sure to color them neatly with black or dark brown.

Let's Make It Look Shiny!

Showing the light is very important to make the black body look shiny.

• If you use colored pencils: First, color the whole thing black. Next, use a white or gray colored pencil to draw light lines on the round parts like the back. That makes it shine!
• If you use crayons: After you color with black, rub it a little with your finger to smooth it out. Then, draw light with a white crayon to give it a cool sparkle!

How to Make It Look 3D: Think About "Shadows" and "Light"!

Even with a black body, thinking about light and shadows makes it look way cooler.

• Places in shadow: Color a little harder with black in places where light hard to reach, like under the belly, the top of the legs, and between the horns and the body. That adds weight and makes it look awesome!
• Places in the light: The highest point of the back and the top of the head are the brightest places hit by light. Be brave and leave them white, or color them white!

Let's Draw a Background!

What kind of place does the Neptune beetle live in?

• In the forest: Draw big leaves and tree trunks using green and brown. It is also cool to color the background dark blue or purple like a forest at night. It makes the black body stand out!
• A tree with sap: It is fun to draw the Neptune beetle eating! Try drawing sap flowing down a tree trunk with brown or dark brown.

Tips to Enjoy Coloring!

You do not have to use just real colors. It is super fun to color with your very own colors, like thinking, "It would be so cool if a Neptune beetle like this existed!" Golden horns or a rainbow body might be really cool too!