Large numbers of Dynastes tityus

That guy makes awesome videos... remember a while ago he purposely got bit by a brown recluse for science.  

 
It looks like Cedar mulch that you buy from a garden center. But Cedar mulch is a insect repellent. Dynastes tityus larvae has been found in conifers before. 

 
I have never ever seen those in the wild because I have never left the pacific coast Like oregon or hawaii because those are the only states I have been in besides cali Grew up and staying in cali lol.

 
I think like a lot of species if you are in the right place at the right time, you can see an incredible amount at one time. I live in California so I only have collected D grantii in Arizona. Some years it's amazing, some years ok, some years horrible. There are times that I have seen over a hundred at one light. I have a friend who collects D tityus in the east and each year he finds a few at gas station lights, etc but never a lot. One year someone called him and said there was a bunch of D tityus on a tree in their backyard. So he went there and I think he found over 30 on that one tree. I guess they had just emerged. The more years you go out collecting, the more often you hit it a big. I'm an old time collector (been going out for over 40 years) and have many friends that are the same. So we often sit around and talk about the times where hundreds of some amazing species emerged. For some species, it's a once in a lifetime experience and you never see it like that again. Other species, like D grantii, can be every 5 years or so.

 
My comment didn't come out right. What kind of place has a ton of unusual wood mulch like this picture? Dynastes tityus congregate on tree trunks sometimes but they are active. This looks like a bunch of sleeping beetles on a bed of oversized tree grindings. 

 
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