Gymnetis caseyi Substrate

lovebugfarm said:
Im more concerned about the beetles needing a photo period for breeding. Im sure they are noctural like most things and they will constantly be in an alert/active state if always in darkness possibly shortening thier life span.

Can you explain the need for larval frass for breeding? Is this common for many beetles?

I have to many leaves so i should be set
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Also will these setups work for c. gloriosa?
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Flower beetles like daylight, and I believe they don't do well being kept in the dark. So I don't think you should keep them in a closed closet, more like on top of a bookshelf or something that gets a lot of light but not direct sunlight.
Chrysina gloriosa and the other jewel beetles need a substrate of rotten wood and barely anything else, otherwise the larva will die. The wood can't be too rotten either, a dark yellow to brown level of decay is good for them, not the dark brown mush that many other wood eaters like. Wood is the sole larval food for them, and anything else you mix in would just be to hold the substrate together, Orin says a mix of 90% rotten wood and 10% compost works well as a larval substrate.

 
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Does anyone how long it takes G. caseyi to emerge from pupation? I've had some that have been in pupation for a little over two months now, and I didn't think it took this long.

 
Another tip for encouraging Cetonids to oviposit - soak larval frass in hot water for about 10 min, stirring a few times. Add some of this mixture (water and frass) both to the very bottom and very top of your substrate; I even put some on top of the food that they adults are eating. This is done in addition to the normal mixing of dry frass throughout the substrate.

I do this when I have extra time during a breeding container setup, or whenever I REALLY want to collect eggs from something.

 
Beetle-Experience said:
Another tip for encouraging Cetonids to oviposit - soak larval frass in hot water for about 10 min, stirring a few times. Add some of this mixture (water and frass) both to the very bottom and very top of your substrate; I even put some on top of the food that they adults are eating. This is done in addition to the normal mixing of dry frass throughout the substrate.

I do this when I have extra time during a breeding container setup, or whenever I REALLY want to collect eggs from something.
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What even made you think to try that? Trying something like soaking the larval frass in hot water to induce oviposition would never even have crossed my mind lol!
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Is it more effective than just mixing larval frass into the substrate? Seems like a useful trick for getting hard to breed Cetonids to lay eggs, thanks for sharing!
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For an adult all i have is coconut fiber. I bought from bugsincyberspace. And i didn't realize until after i paid on the soil stuff they offered.

 
The adults feed mainly upon fruits and other sugary things. Only the grubs will eat rotted leaves and wood, so cocofiber is fine unless you want eggs.

 
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