Thank you for your post, great pictures! That is amazing that you have been raising D tityus for 16 years from one pair of adults! Great work!
Thanks!
I have talked to more beetle breeders lately that are raising their Scarabs on 100% flake soil (sub made from fermented wood pellets). In the past, they have used a combination of flake soil and oak leaves but have found it not necessary to add oak leaves any more. Have you found this to be true as well?
Yes - I have been using only wood-based substrates for quite a few years now (either pure fermented sawdust, or blended 50/50 with naturally decayed wood flakes).
Do you add any protein supplements to get such big size or do you just use the fermented sawdust?
Just fermented sawdust. I've never found the larvae of Dynastinae to take much of an interest in food supplements - all they seem to want is the substrate itself. I know that some hobbyists have been successful in getting the larvae of Dynastes, etc. to eat supplements, but it seems rather hit or miss, and more often than not, the larvae ignore the food, it spoils, and leads to fouling of the substrate and/or grain mite infestation. The trend these days seems to be to focus more on just using really good quality substrate, rather than food supplementation of larvae kept in lower quality substrates that may possibly be lacking in nutrition. An advantage of fermented substrate is that it's made from raw sawdust - that is, sawdust that hasn't been sitting around on the forest floor for years, and therefore had much of its nutrient value leached out by the elements. You can't use raw sawdust for rearing larvae of course, but once fermented and adequately aged, it becomes a completely different kind of material, thanks to bacterial (primary) and fungal (secondary) action.
How long does your D tityus stay in diapause before you are able to mate them?
That's hard to say, since I usually can't see into the cocoons and know exactly what developmental stage they're at. Undoubtedly though, following eclosion, they remain in their cocoons for perhaps 4-6 months. When they do emerge, they seem to be ready to mate immediately, although, I always wait at least a week before introducing a female to a male. I keep tityus continuously at an average temperature of between 70-77 F at all life stages. Having kept them under a controlled temperature for years, their breeding cycles have now become totally out of sync with the wild population, and it's not unusual for mine to emerge and breed right in the middle of winter. The seasons have now become meaningless to them, apparently.
Sorry for so many questions but I raising the same beetle for 16 years is quite an accomplishment.
Thanks again. I have had D. tityus longer than any other species, although D. granti was the first rhino beetle I ever cultured, back around 1993, if I recall correctly. Presently, I am working with both species.
