[2] It grows to be about 20–30 mm long and has a hard, rounded abdomen covered with tubercles.

They are largely arboreal, sheltering under the bark of trees, beneath the crooks of branches, and within bushes during the day.

[2] When in danger, chemicals will secrete from the defensive glands in the posterior of the beetle, which have a musky smell and stains the skin purple.

In captivity they have been noted to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, bark, fungus and cat food.

Management guidelines for the welfare of zoo animals: The Frégate Island giant tenebrionid beetle Polposipus herculeanus