New mate for lonely giant beetle

The giant elephant beetle has made its home at the zoo

A mate has been found for a lonely giant beetle which was found in a shipment of fruit from the Caribbean.

The male elephant beetle, the size of a hamster, was found in bananas which arrived in London from Costa Rica.

It was taken to Linton Zoo near Cambridge where keepers began an international search to find a mate.

It has now been paired up with a female that was in captivity in Germany. "They are both getting on extremely well," a zoo spokeswoman said.

The elephant beetle, Megasoma elephas, is normally at home in rainforests and is one of the world's largest beetle species.

The males have a set of horns which they use to fight other males.

Kim Simmons, from the zoo, said earlier: "It's a very lucky and tough insect having survived the journey to Britain and the pesticides designed to prevent unwanted creatures entering the country."

LOS ANGELES - An Eagle Rock schoolteacher doesn't want any bugs squashed in her classroom, so she's appointed a student insect monitor to take wiggling, creepy critters outside.

Melodie Conrad's be-kind-to-bugs effort is getting praise from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which is giving her its Compassionate Teacher Award.

The Eagle Rock Elementary School & Magnet Center teacher says there's simply too much violence in society, adding, "I just wanted to be careful that they're exposed to just the opposite in this room."

It's not a matter of creating bug activists. Conrad says she is aiming to instill a sense of respect for life.