naftaliin

http://f3.tiera.ru/1/genesis/570-574/573000/134c64209039c67335cfea63de9b80a2 Might be an illegal copy of course..

Yes that makes sense as the mouth is really the beginning of the digestive system. And that would be a better method actually than dissection. Much easier to check for a mouth and mouthparts than cut the insect open and look for a digestive system. If I get my hands on a O. nasicornis imago, I´m going to see what it`s mouth and insides look like. It definitely has a fat bulging abdomen (lot`s of reserves there).

Ok I was able to contact somebody who has bred O. nasicornis grypus and he claims that this insect does not feed as an adult. He also got eggs from females without feeding them. This should mean that this Dynastes is a capital breeder. Interesting is that it also lives quite long (up to 6 months after becoming active). So even the imago longevity is not a sure indicator whether an insect is a capital breeder or an income breeder. In theory the best way to determine if an insect is a capital breeder should be dissection. Natural selection should have caused capital breeders to not have a digestive system as adults (not viable to invest in organs that are not going to be used). So capital breeders should have no digestive system at all or have a devolved, rudimentary one that is not working. From a breeding point of view O. nasicornis should be easy to keep as you only have to provide food for the larval stage.

Thanks! Got already approved. So no worries. I must have misread the username then.. Looks like the username is "Bahamut" actually.

Thanks! Found even a pdf online.

He has the username "Bahamuth" maybe? (My account there has not been approved yet)

Hope this is an appropriate section for this question.. Anyway I found a blog http://bahamutbeetlesbreeding.skynetblogs.be/ kept by a biologist from Belgium. I am interested in hes experience with Oryctes nasicornis but I don´t seem to find any contact information there. Does not seem possible to leave comments there aswell. I figure, it might be good idea to ask around in the community if anybody knows him. Or possibly he might use even this forum?

Unfortunately I don´t have much knowledge about that group yet. I have read that they can be seen on flowers.

Interesting reading if anyone has access: Sheng-Wei Huang, Hong-Yu Zhang, Sean Marshall and Trevor A. Jackson. The scarab gut: A potential bioreactor for bio-fuel production. Insect Science (2010) 17, 175–183.

I don´t think it applies to all longhorns. For example the large poplar longhorn Saperda charcharias feeds of leaves and bark after emerging from pupa. But the famous Titanus giganteus has been reported not to feed as an imago indeed and have a short lifespan too. So not sure how common both strategies are.. Actual observations would be interesting. Has anyone noticed their insects mating and laying eggs without feeding them?

I found these terms in: Walczyńska, A. 2008. Female reproductive strategy in the longhorned beetle Corymbia rubra (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae). Norw. J. Entomol. 55, 25–30. Walczyńska herself cites: Stearns, S.C. 1992. The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford. for the concept of using stored energy vs. acquired energy during reproductive period for reproduction.

In terms of reproduction strategy many insects can be divided into capital breeders and income breeders. The first group uses energy and resources stored during the larval stage for reproduction in the adult stage and the insects of second group have less reserves and need to feed in the adult stage in order to lay eggs. I´m curious about Oryctes nasicornis. I heard that this species does not feed as an adult but also there are claims that it can be seen on flowers and people that breed them feed adults too. Since mine larvae died, I can´t test it myself. Can anyone elaborate on this? What is the experience among breeders? And what about other species?