Are Wild D. Tityus laying eggs in March??

Philophilus

Philophilus

Egg
I’m somewhat new to keeping beetles, so this was a surprise to me. I collected two L2 larvae out of a tree hole in Indiana June 20. About 4 weeks after they molted to L3. If I do the math I’ve learned from rearing guides, and the grubs were L1 for a month and an egg for a month before that, that means the latest the eggs were laid was April right? If the timeline was longer it could have been March. This doesn’t line up with what I understand about these beetles’ wild life cycle, where they mate and lay eggs during the active months of summer. Here are the only possibilities I can think of: A. Adults are mating in March. B. Some eggs go dormant over the winter. C. Some females bury under ground after an active summer and wait to lay eggs until spring. D. The egg and L1 stage are dramatically extended due to cold conditions.
 
Last edited:
I think it kind of depends, although I found some Strategus Aloeus larvae (L2) earlier in July that are all molting to L3. It seems that the most likely case here is that the beetles emerged later in the previous year and overwintered as adults, then emerged earlier than other adults this year, mated, and laid eggs. They are generally found during the active months of summer, but they lay eggs before they ever leave their breeding grounds for the first time. It certainly seems possible that they could have laid eggs during April, especially if this was a warmer year.
 
That checks out - we did have some warmer spring weather this year, though spotty. That’s amazing to me that they would be getting to business so early in the year
 
Rearing guides are usually based on room temperature, things speed up at high temps and stop completely at low.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top