Any experience with palo verde beetle grubs?

arizonablue

arizonablue

Fresh Imago
Does anyone have any experience or information on raising Derobrachus germinatus / palo verde beetle larvae? I have two and have been unable to find much information on caring for the grubs. I've found anecdotal reports that they can be raised on apple slices, but mine don't seem to show much interest in apple. (Or carrot, for that matter.) I will be offering potato and squash as well, as everything I have been able to find indicates that they eat tree roots for the starches contained in them.

Currently they are in substrate of mostly compost and oak chunks. I haven't seen the second larva recently but one of them is cruising around the bottom of the cup and seems in good health.

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Did you read any scientific papers on rearing Derobrachus and ecologically-similar relatives? Might help.

Orin’s Ultimate Guide: such longhorn species take forever to grow, will die if transferred too much as grubs, need live mega roots, and live a short time as adults.

 
In case anyone is interested in an update -- the second, smaller larva was dead a day or two after I posted when I checked the container. It may have been stressed out after being removed from its tree (they came from someone who found them after a tree uprooted and didn't know what to do with them).

The big one seems to still be going strong, and it has been eating the apple and potato. I haven't checked on how much it has eaten because I don't want to bother it too much, but it has been yanking the potato all over the place and it's looking rather chewed. The apple also looks like it's been nibbled on. I'm not exactly optimistic, but so far so good!

 
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arizonablue said:
In case anyone is interested in an update -- the second, smaller larva was dead a day or two after I posted when I checked the container. It may have been stressed out after being removed from its tree (they came from someone who found them after a tree uprooted and didn't know what to do with them).

The big one seems to still be going strong, and it has been eating the apple and potato. I haven't checked on how much it has eaten because I don't want to bother it too much, but it has been yanking the potato all over the place and it's looking rather chewed. The apple also looks like it's been nibbled on. I'm not exactly optimistic, but so far so good!
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well continue keeping us updated! I’m surprised a larva has made it this far without live roots. if they survive, that could make a great standard methodology!
 
Bugboy3092 said:
well continue keeping us updated! I’m surprised a larva has made it this far without live roots. if they survive, that could make a great standard methodology!
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I'm surprised too! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wanted to try to give it a shot since their tree fell over, poor things. If this larva makes it all the way to a beetle, that will be amazing. It's a big one, so it may just be developed enough that it can make it the rest of the way without its ideal food, I don't know. Cross your fingers for me!

 
Another update: the grub has stopped eating (I removed the potatoes as they were starting to sprout, but they were definitely nibbled on, mostly the skin area) and appears to have made itself a pupal cell against the side of the container. It has been in there for about a week and a half, just chilling. It may still die in there, but I'm feeling cautiously hopeful!

 
PowerHobo said:
I'd love to see a pic of the pupal cell if you can get one! Is it a partial cell like Chrysina spp make?
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I tried taking a pic but the plastic container makes it mostly a photo of camera glare and reflections, haha. I'll try to get a decent one! And yeah, it seems to be a partial cell dug out right up against the wall. Which is really helpful for me so I can keep an eye on the little dude and toss it if he dies in there, yikes. It doesn't seem to have a really definitive pupal "wall" like some, although it might just be hard to tell because of the container. There were a few potato roots heading in there which is why I fished them out, and the roots came out easy without collapsing the cell, so it must be pretty sturdy even if it doesn't look it.

 
Sad to report that the palo verde grub did not make it and died in the pupal cell today.
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I have 0 knowledge of this species but heres few things that I would try.

1. mimic their natural habitat (with live plants)

2. hard compress the sub (so the larvae don't waste energy on trying to build tunnels or pupa cell)

3. larger space

I cant emphasize enough how important it is for some species of beetles to have their tunnels. some species will just die if they cant make one. A lot of longhorn beetles seems to make tunnels in rotten logs and live trees... maybe palo verde beetle too? I remember commenting on Odontolabis larvae on this forum before, don't think many people believed me lol.

 
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