Cannibalistic larvae

G

GeneralZero

Fresh Imago
So I've been wondering for quite some time now..what species tend to have cannibalistic tendencies? I've heard Lucanus may at times when they become larger L3's but does it solely happen with Stag larvae or does it happen with Dynastes as well?

Really intrigued to finding out why and how? Also personal experiences with this? Personally I've never had this issue before..

 
im keeping bunch of rugose larvae together and some oregon stag beetle larvae... so far i had only few larvae eating each other...... im also keeping bunch of granti L1 together so ill see how many got eaten or what...

 
Hm..interesting input..I've never had this happen to me not sure if it's because the substrate area is large or what but typically they don't go near each other some tend to stick together and I tend to see that with sexed dynastes.

 
I had a cannibalistic problem while I was keeping some Chalcosoma atlas larvae back in South Korea. The L3 larva I had ate the L2 larva. Similar thing happened to my Strategus aloeus as my L2 larva munched in my L1 larva right in front of my eyes (they were against the wall of the container so I could see it). Also, there are reports of S. antaeus larvae feeding on their siblings at L1 stage.

 
Wicked! I've never had this issue before are the atlas aggressive at all??? I believe there was one case in which someone kept two megasoma elephas together as L3 but put them in a poor space and did not give them enough room to develop thus one killed the other..it's surprising because I read that actaeon and elephas typically enjoy the company of other larvae.

 
Larvae in genus Chalcosoma are really aggressive. I've even heard of this report saying that the larvae hunted down the crickets that were placed in the container.

 
I have either/both Stragegus aloeus and cessus that hatched in the last two weeks or so(breeding tank was of mixed species with multiple pairs of each). Do you think it wise to separate all larvae at this stage and if not, how soon is advisable

 
Keeping larvae together is one of those things that is rarely beneficial, but when it is some of the benefits are difficult to prove. Even the species that are not cannibalistic for some people prove that way for others (for example the big Megasoma). Larvae often cause each other to not get enough food for maximum growth. They can be much easier to rear in a group.

 
For some reason,when i put my Allomyrina dichotoma larva together, they seem to like it better.

 
Same here Oak and my megasoma elephus always cuddle
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