JKim

This must be a part of Be-Kuwa article... Before I even read this article in Be-Kuwa, I actually constructed a hypothetical study in enlarging insects by either transplanting corpora allata or somehow injecting juvenile hormone to extent larval stage, and asked comments from my insect physiology professor, and he said: that's not gonna work. 😅😅 He commented me that properly transplanting such organ is nearly impossible, and even with success to have it produce additional juvenile hormone, larvae may not successfully molt (pupate) to pupal stage properly. Have you ever experienced a p

Yea.. unless you are using agricultural ferment starter (which is usually anaerobic), your substrate should be made aerobic. So if you don't mix it often enough while it is in process of fermentation, your substrate won't ferment properly (to feed your scarab larvae).

Getting a permit is something you have to do at least couple months ahead of importation. If you get caught, that's it. You get caught.

I never really kept my substrate too long unused... But if it is no longer usable, it will either or both: smell bad, discolored, pest infection occurred, etc. The smell really is the one thing you can easily notice... If it smells wrong, and comparably different from when it was fresh... then yea, you can easily tell it.

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I also heard, as Beetle-Experience has said, that "soil" or "plant matters" cannot be imported per USDA APHIS, and any wood material of oak CANNOT be imported.. So, technically, whether you get caught or not, you shouldn't import it. There are more than couple of sellers available in the U.S. that sells beetle substrate that can be used right away, so I would recommend you to buy from them... Beetle Source, Bugs in Cyberspace, Insect Brothers, US Beetles, ...

Great images! I occasionally collected this species and couple other Prionine species, and reared to emergence. They are.... nice and were interesting.

What are you comparing?