as the title says my goliathus goliatus stopped eating about Wednesday roughly, around the night after i had noticed mites in it's container so i had moved it back to it's old container after putting new substrate in and cleaning out any mites. that was yesterday but it still hasn't eaten since then. it might be trying to start pupating but i haven't seen the "roaming phase" i've heard about. Also if it is time to pupate what do i do for the pupation medium? I have 3 pounds of clay, do mix it with the substrate, do i just put the grub in the clay only, do i roll it into balls and put it at the bottom? thanks in advance
my goliathus goliatus has stopped eating
- Thread starter Mykei
- Start date
You want to have the clay as fine as you can get it, I mixed sand with my clay, as for moisture content- my medium was packable.
I wouldn't mix it with the substrate, the grub ingests the clay material and then spits it back out. My grub dug down 8 inches and pupated
at the bottom ,I left it there for 4 weeks or so before removing the overburden, which you'll probably want to save. Then just leave the pupal
cell alone and let it dry naturally. Another breeder here mentioned material called "inceptisol" and "andisol" as possible pupation mediums.
What ever you use, it needs to be non-toxic and ingestible.
I also started with 3 pounds of Georgia red clay, I used a tall cylinder so I could get some depth from the relatively small amount that 3 pounds of clay
turns out to be. I haven't run across a suggestion for depth, as of yet.
I wouldn't mix it with the substrate, the grub ingests the clay material and then spits it back out. My grub dug down 8 inches and pupated
at the bottom ,I left it there for 4 weeks or so before removing the overburden, which you'll probably want to save. Then just leave the pupal
cell alone and let it dry naturally. Another breeder here mentioned material called "inceptisol" and "andisol" as possible pupation mediums.
What ever you use, it needs to be non-toxic and ingestible.
I also started with 3 pounds of Georgia red clay, I used a tall cylinder so I could get some depth from the relatively small amount that 3 pounds of clay
turns out to be. I haven't run across a suggestion for depth, as of yet.
Goliathus
Pachnoda
Please see pages 12-22 of the following publication -
http://scarabsnewsletter.com/scarabs_78.pdf
Place several large lumps of moistened clay soil at the bottom of the pupation container. The rest of the substrate (the part above the clay) doesn't need to be anything special - coco fiber would be ok for that (but it should be compacted reasonably firmly, but not excessively, before placing the larva in it). The larva will find the supply of clay at the bottom, and take what it needs from that to make its cocoon. It will only need a small amount of the clay for this purpose, but provide a good portion anyway, just to make sure that it finds it promptly. Apart from Goliathus, there are actually quite a few other genera of scarab beetles that use clayey / silty soil for cocoon construction, such as Chrysina, Cotinis and Euphoria. Goliathus' close relatives such as Argyrophegges, Fornasinius and Hegemus also need clay to make cocoons. Hypselogenia quite possibly does, as well.
http://scarabsnewsletter.com/scarabs_78.pdf
Place several large lumps of moistened clay soil at the bottom of the pupation container. The rest of the substrate (the part above the clay) doesn't need to be anything special - coco fiber would be ok for that (but it should be compacted reasonably firmly, but not excessively, before placing the larva in it). The larva will find the supply of clay at the bottom, and take what it needs from that to make its cocoon. It will only need a small amount of the clay for this purpose, but provide a good portion anyway, just to make sure that it finds it promptly. Apart from Goliathus, there are actually quite a few other genera of scarab beetles that use clayey / silty soil for cocoon construction, such as Chrysina, Cotinis and Euphoria. Goliathus' close relatives such as Argyrophegges, Fornasinius and Hegemus also need clay to make cocoons. Hypselogenia quite possibly does, as well.
That is a good article, I've read some other good ones as well. My next try with the species will be using the substrate over the clay, more of the animal's
natural habitat. The wandering phase on top is not logical. When my grub first went topside, it was still only 37 g, and I tried different things-
a larger container, a deeper container, and each time it was placed in a new container, it would go straight down, didn't find what it wanted,
and came back up.
natural habitat. The wandering phase on top is not logical. When my grub first went topside, it was still only 37 g, and I tried different things-
a larger container, a deeper container, and each time it was placed in a new container, it would go straight down, didn't find what it wanted,
and came back up.
Goliathus
Pachnoda
Based on all that I've read from the experiences of other hobbyists, allow at least 8 to 10 days for the larva to settle. Expect some roaming around in the initial days. The amount of time a larva takes to settle and begin cell construction will vary somewhat, with males typically taking longer than females. Avoid disturbing the container until long after the cell has been made.
