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Bess Beetles


Oak

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

That's nuts at the insectary they were feeding them fruit. They eat the bacteria that grows on their frass, from just wood.

To breed them it's difficult only because you should use a huge rotten log and not disturb them. I was going to set up a breeding tank but it will be too large, besides I catch them all the time. I got over 60 of the beasts now. Did you know that they make the most sounds of any arthropod? Maybe they put fruit so the visitors would see them eating close up. Mine have been in a bin of wood pieces, I think they are the easiest beetles to keep ever.

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They are actually kept behind the scenes, no visitor displays for them. Yeah, it's kinda weird that they give them fruit, I have never seen them eat it at all. They do have rotting wood in their tank also. I would love to breed mine, but I have a feeling it won't happen.

 

Beetle-Experience, thanks for your spiders!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think if you got a huge log with a 3 foot circumference, with proper moisture, kept in a huge container or tank with the proper humidity, checked with a hydrometer inside. And left alone in an area undisturbed. You could even put the tank in a large sand box, that's what people do to minimize the lasers from moving while making hologram pictures without spending thousands on a vibration dampening laser table.

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Well... I just discovered about a week ago that my two Bessies had successfully bred when I saw two L1's crawling around. I've had my adults for over two years and I keep them undisturbed, so that might be the trick.

 

Cheers

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Exciting! What kind of setup do you have?

Well... I'm kind of embarrassed to say, exactly...

 

My Bessie Farm (think of a large ant farm, and you'll get the idea) is currently being reconfigured and modified to fix a few design flaws. So, I have my two Bessies hanging out in a 30 FL OZ mayonnaise jar (!!!) while I'm working on the Bessie Farm!

 

They've been in the mayonnaise jar for a few months, now. The jar is filled a little over 3/4 of the way up with Bess Beetle frass and, on top of that, they have about a one inch layer of mulched oak leaves and shredded rotting wood to munch on. The lid only has 4 small pin holes in it for a little air while keeping the moisture level up.

 

I think the keys as to why they mated and now have a family is: 1) There are only two of them. Hence, they are not disturbed by other Bessies constantly roaming around and invading their space; 2) The jar is in my bedroom sitting on a bookcase shelf, far away from heavy traffic (like our 6-year-old daughter and our family dog); 3) My bedroom is very dimly lit. It has no direct sunlight and I rarely turn on the overhead lights. Instead, I mostly use a small desk lamp to read by.

 

So, those three factors, along with LOTS of frass, seem to have set up the perfect conditions for mating, egg-laying, and larval development.

 

That's all I can figure out.

 

So, again, I would like to be able to say that I have this awesome, sweeeeet "honeymoon" suite setup for my two Bessies, but the truth is, it's just a mayonnaise jar...

 

I sure wish this would have happened when I had them housed in the Bessie Farm, but if the mayonnaise jar did the trick, I'm NOT going to be the one complaining! I'll take it any way it comes! LOL

 

Cheers

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I think the jar is the way to go for breeding. It seems to give them a good, solid core of frass and wood. The Bessie Farm is great for communities and viewing the tunnels, however I never managed to get any larvae or eggs out of it because, I think, the Bessies need to feel like they are in a large tree stump. That's my best guess.

 

A couple of hours ago, I managed to get a snapshot of one of the larvae as it made its way up to the top to remind me to water and feed it (I purposely didn't water them lately so that I could get them to surface).

 

Here's the photo for anyone who's interested:

 

post-5198-0-99894600-1397097147_thumb.jpg

 

Cheers

 

P.S. - To separate out the pairs, use digital calipers to measure the width of the pronotum. The females almost always have a larger pronotal width than the males.

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