GOLIATH BEETLE: Next to most insects, this over-sized beetle is bigger than a blue whale. The Goliath beetle, named after the Biblical giant, weighs as much as 3.5 ounces. For comparison, if you placed a goliath beetle on one side of a scale, you'd have to add over 33,000 ants to the other to even it out. It is so large, in fact, that it sounds like a tiny helicopter when it flies. The Goliath beetle, of which there are six species, lives in the rainforests of Africa. There, it lays its eggs in rotting wood, dead trees or decaying plant material. After hatching, the larva eats the dead vegetation, breaking it down and returning precious nutrients to the soil. In a matter of months, it will grow to its adult length (up to six inches) and weight. It then builds a hardened cocoon and enters the pupal stage, where it metamorphosizes into an adult over a period of several months. The adult spends its entire, relatively short life eating sugary food — such as fruits and tree sap — and searching for mates. The male has a y-shaped, horn-like formation on its head that it uses to battle other males for females and feeding sites.