Hemiphileurus illatus

G

Garin

Chalcosoma
Hello all,

Some of my Hemiphileurus illatus just emerged to adults.

To those of you that have bred H illatus, how long does it take before they start eating and are able to mate? What did you find was the best food for the adults? I have read that some breeders have used things like hot dog meat, egg yolks, etc but Orin has mentioned that it is not good for them and it's best to feed them earth worms I think.

I also noticed that it appears out of the first batch of 8, that 7 are males and 1 is a female. Is that typical? Seems sort of strange.

Thanks for any input.

illatus2.jpg


illatus1.jpg


 
I would suggest using earthworms, maybe even live/dying grubs to keep them fed, it is what they eat in the wild. Maybe snails would work too? Also, if you ever get around to selling these, HMU!

 
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BeetlesforLife and Bugboy, thanks for the suggestions.

I am sure you guys are interested in the females and unfortunately, I only have one female so far so I need that one to breed them. I do have 10 more in pupal cells so hopefully I will get more females. I also do get wild caught males and females in August when I go collecting in Arizona. However, those are smaller than these captive bred adults. I was pleasantly surprised at how much bigger these are than the parents.

 
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In all honesty, I really didn't much care for these. I literally caught a few and threw them in a container with subtrate that I used for most of my stuff, 1/2 flake soil, 1/2 oak leaf mold and they did their thing. I fed the adults beetle jelly because I just didn't have the time to get them live food. I didn't do much for the larvae. Left them in the same substrate and I think added some new substrate one time. Sometimes I guess you just get lucky. I had 18 larvae and none of them died. They are probably a very good species for a beginner to raise.

 
Maybe I was just lucky, I don't know. It was my first time with them. Orin does say in his book that H illatus is much easier than P truncatus. I would like to hear from others that have bred this species and see their experience with them.

I remember a few years ago I collected some female D granti in Arizona and put them in some potting soil we had laying around. They laid some eggs and they became larvae and I had never bred beetles so I gave them away. I went through the soil and checked for any other eggs and larvae and then put the soil back in the soil bag in the shed in the backyard. 2 years later my wife uses the potting soil to plant some flowers. She tells me that she found 3 huge worms in the potting soil bag. I check and it's 3 big D granti larvae! I guess I missed a few eggs. Sometimes things just work out. I ended up giving them away because I didn't know how to raise them.

 
Garin said:
Maybe I was just lucky, I don't know. It was my first time with them. Orin does say in his book that H illatus is much easier than P truncatus. I would like to hear from others that have bred this species and see their experience with them.

I remember a few years ago I collected some female D granti in Arizona and put them in some potting soil we had laying around. They laid some eggs and they became larvae and I had never bred beetles so I gave them away. I went through the soil and checked for any other eggs and larvae and then put the soil back in the soil bag in the shed in the backyard. 2 years later my wife uses the potting soil to plant some flowers. She tells me that she found 3 huge worms in the potting soil bag. I check and it's 3 big D granti larvae! I guess I missed a few eggs. Sometimes things just work out. I ended up giving them away because I didn't know how to raise them.
Click to expand...
So did you end up with any extra pairs? 

Phileurus eating Princisia.JPG

 
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