Recent content by Bugboy3092

Small update, it's been about a week now since the larvae hatched, and so far so good! I'm not sure if they have grown at all, it looks like they might have. The more important parts are that they are still alive, and it does appear that they have an intestinal tract, so they must be eating...

I can't believe I'm writing this right now, guys we have larvae! I'll be trying a couple of different foods for these, but it is highly suspected they eat rotten wood, and potentially decaying leaves as a supplement. Eggs took approximately one week to hatch.

As in you found one of these ironclad beetles?

I think you might be right. It does seem like the depth of cracks might be the most important factor in egg laying. I haven’t actually seen any of the eggs they’re allegedly laying on their bark, but there was a clutch of a couple dozen eggs within a crevice on a completely solid piece of wood...

They've now laid eggs both in the oak bark and in the crevices of this piece of hardwood, which I suspect is an oak of some sort. However, all of the adults were collected from live honey locust trees with significant lichen growth and dead parts (mostly in the form of large dead branches).

Managed to get photos uploaded of the beetles ovipositing, and of course the eggs themselves! I ended up separating the eggs from the adults, and have quite a lot of them! Also shown is an image of the enclosure, that piece of bark has white fungus growing on the underside. One of the beetles is...

I haven't kept this species but I would say you should be fine to stretch it out with white-rot flakes. You should definitely order more though, you'll need it!

Major update: they are in fact laying eggs. Unfortunately I don’t seem to be able to attach the photos here since it’s too large but if anyone would like to have it confirmed please feel free to reach out. I have photos of the female oviposition as well as a photo of the eggs themselves, it...

Possibly major update here; I still haven't observed the beetles eat yet, which is mildly concerning. However, I did walk in on what appeared to be one of the females ovipositing on a piece of bark! I put a large piece of bark with what I believe is white rot growing on the underside in their...

Apologies in advance for an extremely wordy post, but since so little is know about the biology of these I feel it is all relevant, especially if I am not successful so future keepers can know what has been tried. Please add more if you have experience with these or know someone who does. Well...

Yes I did! While I didn't get Oblongonata I was able to get some Portentosa "'giant hobby stock" from Dianna on Raochforums. At this point I've turned my attention to the Zopherus Nodulosus I found yesterday

Thank you! I found these guys mostly on honeylocust trees with dead parts, rotting but still very firm. I'm wondering if these guys need hard rotting wood that's free standing rather than buried in substrate. Based on how many different kinds of hardwoods they're found on I am assuming that the...

Hey all, I went collecting today and got 5 Texas Ironclad beetles! Considering the size distribution of them I think it’s safe to assume I have at least a male and a female. I know they eat lichen and lay eggs in between crevices in bark, but besides that I pretty much have no idea how to breed...

Have you tried replacing the substrate? a lot of times that's the best way of dealing with it. There will always be some mites, but if you're seeing them covering surfaces then you're facing a population explosion.

The wood chunk is unnecessary but I'm sure the larvae will eat on it. You could leave it entirely exposed on the surface for them to grab onto if they fall on their backs. I would disturb the substrate probably no more than once every other week, unless you want to check it after a week to make...