Chrysina gloriosa pupation question

arizonablue

arizonablue

Fresh Imago
Does anyone know how long it takes for C. gloriosa to pupate after making a pupal chamber? I've got three larvae that have all dug out chambers (one that hasn't yet) at the bottom of their containers, but it's been about a week and the larvae are just kind of chilling out in there. Not sure how long to expect them to stay like that. Thanks!

 
charx53 said:
how can you see that they dug out a pupal chamber?
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I have them in clear tupperware containers. They've dug out little holes in the substrate at the bottom up against the side of the container, so I can see the larvae in there. They aren't eating, but presumably since they made the chambers they're going to pupate ... eventually ...

 
It's typical for Chrysina larvae to sit in small "caves" that they've hollowed out in the substrate, usually near the bottom. You'll be able to distinguish these from actual pupation cells by the fact that in the case of a cell, there will be an obvious, dark ring of compressed substrate along the edges of the "windows" into the cells (Chrysina larvae don't make fully enclosed cells - they always build them against a solid surface, such as the walls of their containers). After building their cells, Chrysina larvae have a quite long period (usually lasting months) in which they sit largely dormant, prior to the actual pre-pupal stage. Following that, the pupal stage itself doesn't last very long.

 
Goliathus said:
It's typical for Chrysina larvae to sit in small "caves" that they've hollowed out in the substrate, usually near the bottom. You'll be able to distinguish these from actual pupation cells by the fact that in the case of a cell, there will be an obvious, dark ring of compressed substrate along the edges of the "windows" into the cells (Chrysina larvae don't make fully enclosed cells - they always build them against a solid surface, such as the walls of their containers). After building their cells, Chrysina larvae have a quite long period (usually lasting months) in which they sit largely dormant, prior to the actual pre-pupal stage. Following that, the pupal stage itself doesn't last very long.
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Thank you, this is really helpful info! I've seen the little caves they dig out, and these appear to be actual pupal cells. (I see the dark ring on two of them, the other two are a little messier with more loose dirt in the way and so I'm not entirely sure about those.) Glad to know they're going to sit around for a while, so I won't worry too much.
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One of them looks like it might pupate soon, it's shrunken up a bit and looks more yellowish than the others. Fingers crossed!

 
Wishing you the best with them - C. gloriosa is a favorite of mine, and certainly, it's one of the most beautiful beetles found in the US. By the way, when they become pupae, it might not be very obvious since Chrysina pupae retain the split, expanded larval skin around them as a loose husk which darkens after a short while. In most beetle larvae, the shed larval skin is wadded up and pushed to the back of the cell, but in Chrysina the molting process is different.

 
Goliathus said:
Wishing you the best with them - C. gloriosa is a favorite of mine, and certainly, it's one of the most beautiful beetles found in the US. By the way, when they become pupae, it might not be very obvious since Chrysina pupae retain the split, expanded larval skin around them as a loose husk which darkens after a short while. In most beetle larvae, the shed larval skin is wadded up and pushed to the back of the cell, but in Chrysina the molting process is different.
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That's good to know, thank you! Still just larvae when I checked this morning. The one that looks closest to pupating turned over. I'm so impatient, LOL.

 
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