Chrysina woodii larvae chewing on lid of container

A

aspenentomology

Pupa
I currently have some Chrysina woodii larvae housed individually in 16 oz. deli cups full of rotten wood and a little bit of the flake soil substrate they came in. I've observed most of the larvae chewing on the container at one point or another. Is this normal behavior, or does it mean that there's some problem with their setup?

 
Yes, that's very much typical behaviour - mature Chrysina larvae nearly always wander around at the top of the container and chew at the lid for a while, usually in the weeks leading up to pupal cell construction.  Why they do it, I have no idea.  They'll settle to the bottom and make their cells, eventually.  Mine (woodi, beyeri and gloriosa) have done this in every generation I've ever raised.  In fact, I have a group of mature L3 woodi that are doing it right now.

 
Goliathus said:
Yes, that's very much typical behaviour - mature Chrysina larvae nearly always wander around at the top of the container and chew at the lid for a while, usually in the weeks leading up to pupal cell construction.
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That makes sense, but I'm pretty sure mine are L2 right now. Even if they are L3, they're still way too small to be mature.

 
Pretty cool you have the woodii species. I think out of all the Chrysina those are my favorite. I plan to take a trip soon to West Texas specifically in attempts after these guys. One thing I am not sure on is I know in nature adult woodii prefer black walnut tree leaves, but I guess they will do fine on oak leaves as adults?

 
Pretty cool you have the woodii species. I think out of all the Chrysina those are my favorite. I plan to take a trip soon to West Texas specifically in attempts after these guys. One thing I am not sure on is I know in nature adult woodii prefer black walnut tree leaves, but I guess they will do fine on oak leaves as adults?

C. woodi won't eat oak - only walnut (Juglans spp.), pecan and hickory (Carya spp.).  However, this species will also accept apple slices.

 
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