big ass beetle wants to get it on!

A GIANT beetle with an inch-long horn is looking for love after sneaking into Britain - in a shipment of bananas.

The elephant beetle - more at home in the rainforests of Costa Rica - is now fully grown at nearly five inches long.

And time is ticking because elephant beetles - an endangered species - live for just four months.

Zoo staff cannot tell his precise age but believe him to be full grown because he has a 4cm-long horn and weighs 35g.

Linton Zoo director Kim Simmons said: "Billy needs to mate.

"He is showing all the signs and keeps displaying. He bobs up and down on his branch and taps on the ground.

"He has been making the most of his new home and emits tiny mating calls. It's like he's saying 'here I am, come get me'."

But the hunt for a female elephant beetle has so far drawn a blank.

The elephant beetle population has recently been depleted by the destruction of the rainforests, which has reduced their grounds for mating.

source: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/DisplayArticle.asp?id=319776