Dynastes granti September 2023

chandalowe said:
Hi! I was just wondering if anyone has actually been to Payson yet this year? I'm planning on heading out in the next week or so and hope to collect a few D. grantii. I was just wondering - what with the weird weather and heat waves and everything we've had this year - has that affected the beetles? Were they out earlier (or later) than usual this year? Is it a good or a bad year for them? Thank you!
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I would highly recommend you post that question in the facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SWInsects

 A lot of people in the group live in Arizona and some live in Payson.

 
Thanks! I've requested to join the Facebook group so I can participate there.

That's a lovely collection of beetles! I'm going to try to get to Payson this weekend or early next week to try my luck. 

 
Moon phase is perfect starting today and temps in the 90's this weekend with no rain. So the conditions are just about perfect this weekend. Your timing should be perfect. Good luck!

 
I know someone who is going this weekend so I'll let you know how he does. However, going next weekend can be a big difference. In one week it could be a lot less or could be the same, so hard to predict until you get there.

As far as times, I find the best time is the first 3 hours of darkness. So collect as soon as it gets dark. You can sometimes find beetles all night but I find that as it gets past 10 or 11, it starts to get a lot less.

 
ESP said:
I will be in AZ this coming weekend but is this period still good in finding D Granti in Payson?
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I was just there this past weekend (the 9th and 10th) and had good luck. I started shortly after it got dark - but still found a few as late as 1:00 am (when I finally called it a night). They were definitely more plentiful earlier. 

20230910_203258 D grantii male 2.jpg

20230910_203736 D grantii male 1.jpg

20230910_205107 D grantii female 1.jpg

20230910_224429 D grantii female 2.jpg

 
Awesome! Glad it worked out well for you! Did you mainly catch them at the lights of the gas stations, stores, etc or did you set up your own lights?

 
Garin said:
Awesome! Glad it worked out well for you! Did you mainly catch them at the lights of the gas stations, stores, etc or did you set up your own lights?
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I caught them around existing lights. I don't have any big, portable lights that would be suitable for setting up light traps. 

 
Good to hear you can still get them at the lights. I think it's all about timing.

 
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Garin said:
Good to hear you can still get them at the lights. I think it's all about timing.
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I went to Payson with my sons on the 14th of September and checked around the HomeDepot but could not find any Granti’s as it looked like the new LED lights simply was not attracting any sources of bugs.  However, we shift our way to a close by park with a lake and attempted to try using the the Halogen light system with sheets to see if any type of bugs would come but it only attracted moths so we decided to hit gasoline stations not using LED lights and headed up towards Pine.  Bingo, tones of Granti’s seen around and collected 10 of each male/female.  Sad thing was several female were found squashed by a car that came to fill up their car.  Condition was a storm hit Payson on the 12th that possibly produced lots of sap on the trees they live off of and we hit the jackpot coming in two days later.

 
ESP said:
I went to Payson with my sons on the 14th of September and checked around the HomeDepot but could not find any Granti’s as it looked like the new LED lights simply was not attracting any sources of bugs.  However, we shift our way to a close by park with a lake and attempted to try using the the Halogen light system with sheets to see if any type of bugs would come but it only attracted moths so we decided to hit gasoline stations not using LED lights and headed up towards Pine.  Bingo, tones of Granti’s seen around and collected 10 of each male/female.  Sad thing was several female were found squashed by a car that came to fill up their car.  Condition was a storm hit Payson on the 12th that possibly produced lots of sap on the trees they live off of and we hit the jackpot coming in two days later.
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IMG_2023-09-19-155924.jpeg

 
Even found a couple of this guys running around the grounds.  Lots of Elks were seen so made sense on why these were hanging around the area.

 
Awesome! Glad it worked out for you! I have heard it was a great year for grantii. I just heard from a friend that went on the holiday weekend and he got over 100 in Payson at his Mercury Vapor setup. He has a pretty elaborate setup. He was saying it was much better than last year. 

I think there is always a few old style MV lights if you drive around enough. There is someone on the facebook group who lives in Pine and she mentions that she finds some at the local stores. I have not gone to those areas.

 
Garin said:
Awesome! Glad it worked out for you! I have heard it was a great year for grantii. I just heard from a friend that went on the holiday weekend and he got over 100 in Payson at his Mercury Vapor setup. He has a pretty elaborate setup. He was saying it was much better than last year. 

I think there is always a few old style MV lights if you drive around enough. There is someone on the facebook group who lives in Pine and she mentions that she finds some at the local stores. I have not gone to those areas.
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I believe we ran into that person in accident as we asked a lady on the street as we drove if she knew about the Granti.  She told us she has some and finds them around on the local stores in Pine.  The gasoline stand in Pine is where we spotted crushed female Granti’s but as you say the none LED lights contained Granti’s here and there.  Thanks for all the tips!

 
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