Beginner with chrysina beyeri

B

Beetlebee

Pupa
Hello! I should be getting some chrysina beyeri larvae soon! I have ordered some flake soil from bugsincyberspace for them to eat, but was wondering about other care for them, like what temperatures they need and how long they'll be in their pupa stage before eclosing. I can't find much info on the Internet, thanks!

 
They're fairly straight forward. I keep them at room temperatures (65-73F) in 4oz containers, they don't take up much room. They're in 100% wood substrate and just refill with fresh wood when levels become low. Occasionally I'll dig them out to check on progress but normally I can see them at the bottom or tunneling the sides. Absolutely nothing specific or special needed with this species.

 
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Okay awesome! I just made this cause I didn't want to ask you too much lol but thanks for the help! I'll keep in touch about temperatures here

 
...I keep them at room temperatures (65-73F) in 4oz containers, they don't take up much room. They're in 100% wood substrate and just refill with fresh wood when levels become low. Occasionally I'll dig them out to check on progress but normally I can see them at the bottom or tunneling the sides. Absolutely nothing specific or special needed with this species.

How about pupation? I had no problems at all in getting C. beyeri to reproduce, but then had difficulty getting the larvae to make pupal cells, or pupate successfully. Some died without ever making cells, some made cells but then died as either pre-pupae or pupae, and the small percentage that did manage to become adults had deformities of various sorts, especially in the elytra, and tended to be rather short-lived. In contrast, my experience with C. gloriosa has been quite different - no issues with rearing those multi-generationally.

 
This is my first go at this species. So far they're starting to put on fat in L3. So far from my observations, they prefer a rather moist substrate. They feed within a specific area at a time and then move on to another location when they feel like it. The moisture holds these tunnels together but so far, I can't tell if it's beneficial or not.

Did you keep yours together? At least for me, mine are very aggressive.

 
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If you don't mind, I'd love to hear more captive data you've collected on this particular species such as substrate used, moisture, temps etc.

 
If you don't mind, I'd love to hear more captive data you've collected on this particular species such as substrate used, moisture, temps etc.

I used a 100% wood substrate (naturally decayed), consisting of a rather finely-textured blend of primarily oak, cottonwood and sycamore. C. beyeri's natural habitat (which I've visited a few times) has a lot of oak, and to a lesser extent, cottonwood and sycamore, among other tree species. It may well be that the specific type of wood used is of little significance, so long as it is a hardwood, and is of adequate decay. I've seen Chrysina larvae in the wild, and they were in pretty well-rotted wood (oak mostly, and possibly willow or cottonwood). Substrate moisture level was the same as that typically used for rearing most other beetles, such as Dynastinae.

Rearing temperature was on average between 68-75 F.

Larval growth was very fast, with late L3 being reached in a couple of months, after which the larvae spent some months feeding comparatively little (which is also typical of C. gloriosa). But unlike the gloriosa, which eventually do make cells and pupate successfully, this didn't happen with beyeri, and I've never been able to work out why. Unlike with gloriosa, perhaps some environmental trigger (temperature change, maybe?) is needed to prompt this part of the life cycle in beyeri? Or, perhaps beyeri requires a different type of substrate in order to build proper pupal cells? Maybe they prefer to pupate in solid wood rather than loose substrate, or perhaps they burrow into the surrounding soil to make their cells? It's just a theory at this point, but I'm of the opinion that beyeri larvae may be more particular about substrate than gloriosa when it's time to construct cells.

I'd be very interested to hear of any information about rearing C. woodi, as is seems that this species has been worked with very little, no doubt because of it's rather limited US range in the mountains of far west TX and southeastern NM.

 
Goliathus,

Were you ever able to work out the issues with C beyeri and pupation? I'm thinking about raising some this summer and I recently talked to another experienced breeder and he also had issues with C beyeri that he could never quite figure out. Thank you for any update.

 
Unfortunately, no. I'm not sure if the issue is related to the seasonal temperature changes that the species goes through in the wild, or, if they need a different kind of substrate (possibly soil, or more solid wood) to encourage pupal cell construction. I'm pretty sure it's at least one (if not both) of those two factors. Even for those larvae that do eventually make cells, many die as pre-pupae, possibly because they expended too much energy hesitating to build cells, because the substrate wasn't what they wanted for that purpose. Certainly, it would be well worthwhile investigating - it's a really beautiful beetle that I'd like to see better established in the hobby.

 
Thank you for the update. Hopefully you or someone will figure it out.

How about C lecontei? Do you have any experience with that species?

Thanks!

 
Wow! That is amazing. I've always wanted to collect in Texas for M vogti. What time of year does C woodi fly?

 
August - September seems to be the peak flight season for woodi. They can be flying as early as June, or as late as October, though. Unlike the other US Chrysina species, woodi appears to be mostly diurnal, and the best place to find them is on the host tree, Little walnut (Juglans microcarpa), although I've heard that they will sometimes come to lights at night.

 
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