I raise lots of superworm beetles, I believe I have around 20 now. The very first superworm beetle I got was in February, His name was genghis, and he was a larva during this time, along with another larva, Wolfie (I'll talk about him later in this mesage). Genghis turned into a beetle on April 1st, 2026 /srs when I got back from vacation in Jacksonville, Florida. Wolfie was a bit of a late bloomer, having only turned into a beetle in May. Genghis, surprisingly, is still alive! Not just that, he has no signs of aging at all (maybe except for his slightly matte wing covers), Wolfie is alive too, but he isn't what we're talking about here. Genghis is currently 5 months and 5 days old, while Wolfie is 3 months and 26 days old. I say that it is very, very possible that Genghy could live to be one year, or at least see January of 2027. The live photo below is Genghis on his 5 month anniversary earlier this month. I love him so much, even though he nearly killed 2 of his wives, but that's for another story.
Genghis the Superworm beetle
- Thread starter superwormbeetlewarrior161
- Start date
i-love-mealworms
Egg
He's lovely! Can we hear the other story? (Also why does he have multiple wives?)
Genghis had multiple (two) wives, but not at once. His first wife was named Hercules. 8 days after I first paired Hercules with Genghis, I noticed that she was limping around with her two back legs completely paralyzed from the trochanter down & had something that looked like a short white thread hanging out from the tip of her abdomen. I put her back in with Genghis with supervision to see if he would pick on her, and he did. So, I instantly got Hercules in her new, isolated container lined with paper towels, a hide, and some food. I thought this would only be temporary... until it wasn't. Hercules declined VERY rapidly and sadly died within 24 hours of isolation. She was the very first beetle in my collection to die, rest in peace. Exactly 10 days later, I gave Genghis a new wife (this was when I was unaware that Genghis was aggressive), named Paul. After Paul McCartney. She was one of the beetles who was named as a larva and ended up being a female with a masculine name. Just 5 days later, I noticed Paul under an egg carton with a missing tibia on her right back leg, loss of claws on her right middle leg, and restricted mobility on her left front leg from the tarsi down, and that same little white thread that Hercules had. This time, I INSTANTLY got her in an isolated container like Hercules's without testing if Genghy would harm her any further.. because, at this point, I knew that Genghis did this to Paul and Hercules. Apparently he doesn't do well with treating females. Anyways, Paul was trembling and walking slowly, and I was scared she was gonna die and join Hercules in beetle heaven. 20 days after I isolated her, she was fully recovered with no trembling. She could finally eat normally. 5 days after I noticed this, I saw Paul, on her back and flailing her legs around slowly. She had been accidentally intoxicated with entirely unseen mold. It wasn't on the food, it was in between one of the paper towels. I desperately tried to save her, but I couldn't. That's when I decided to euthanize her to give her a more peaceful end. She lived a great and happy 25 days overall after being injured. I guess, after all, Paul really did join Hercules in heetle heaven. Anyways, that's why Genghis is a bachelor now. Photos below are Paul (left) and Hercules (right).
