Bess Beetle Subtrate - larvae wandering

scottbot84

scottbot84

L3
Hi All,

I have a few wild collected Bess Beetle larvae currently in 8oz cups and they don't appear to like their substrate.

Most are currently at the surface, and have been for a day or two.

Substrate is oak flake soil (Traeger pellet) and about 20-30% the substrate I found them in (decomposed wood near base of dead tree of similar composition).

Is there a more appropriate substrate I should place them in? Do I need to add soil/compost/etc. to get them to accept it?

 
They are communal, so that will help, and I think they rely on the adult’s poop. Feeding them wood is works well for me personally 

 
For what its worth, I had one larvae as a stowaway on my white rotten wood. I put it inside of a deli cup and it seemed to have gotten larger, but it does seem to stay on the surface quite often.

 
JunkaiWangisme said:
They are communal, so that will help, and I think they rely on the adult’s poop. Feeding them wood is works well for me personally 
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Yes they do require the adults poop, My colony of 5 adults have breed and now have like 6 larvae. They are very good at raising their childern, I must say. You can buy some adults at http://www.swiftinverts.com/ for $5 each or https://www.carolina.com/living-organisms/insects/beetles/10573.ct?Nr=product.siteId%3A100001 and https://www.nilesbio.com/SUBcategory.php?subCategoryKey=303 for various prices. Good luck with raising them!

 
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I didn't realize these were social beetles. I didn't find any live adults when I collected them, although I did find a number of dead ones.

Not sure if it makes sense to add unrelated adults, if it doesn't seem like they are doing well I might consider returning them to where I found them.

For now I've put them in a container together to see if that helps.

 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the larvae usually live in the tunnels the adults have bored into rotten wood? They probably don't make the tunnels themselves, and don't burrow much either, so they'll probably continue to stay at the top of the substrate... I'd put them in a dark place if I were you, to make the container feel as much like some sort of "chamber" that they'd be in in the wild as possible. 

 
Yes I agree with Hisserdude, at least until you get adults. It does not matter if they aren't relatives. Since they cannot kill each other.

 
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BensBeasts1 said:
Yes they do require the adults poop, My colony of 5 adults have breed and now have like 6 larvae. They are very good at raising their childern, I must say. You can buy some adults at http://www.swiftinverts.com/ for $5 each or https://www.carolina.com/living-organisms/insects/beetles/10573.ct?Nr=product.siteId%3A100001 and https://www.nilesbio.com/SUBcategory.php?subCategoryKey=303 for various prices. Good luck with raising them!
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Not actually sure if that is a strict requirement, mine has been growing alone pretty fine so far, it has gotten substantially larger. We will see if it is able to become an adult like that.

 
Yes it is possible to raise the larvae like that, but it is the hardest way to raise them. Because they require the adults to make the tunnels and feed them. They won't grow as fast as with the adults. (Possibly 1 more year) As long as you have the larvae together they will grow to be adults. 

 
Adult bess beetles (Odontotaenius disjunctus) can feed on pretty mush any wood materials like oak, maple, hickory, kinds... They feed on and on again to produce and help their own development as well as larval development. Any wild collected specimens I had were doing very well with moisten substrate I fed them. They will feed on, and feed on their feces again, and then again. Those feces are good food sources for larvae, so keep it if you want to reproduce them. If substrate is nutritious enough, larvae do not require to feed on feces produced by adults.

 
Thanks for all the tips!! I have the larvae together in a container in a dark place with quality substrate, so hoping for the best. They are staying on top of the substrate but seem to be healthy otherwise.

It still seems odd that I did not find  live adults when I collected these beetles, but I did find a number of dead ones.

 
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