Lucanus elaphus

Goliathus

Goliathus

Pachnoda
I have some Lucanus elaphus emerging right now. Until this latest generation, they have always emerged in spring. However, this time, they're becoming active in fall. Has anyone here ever had any problems with trying to breed elaphus at times of year when in the wild, adults wouldn't normally be active?

I've been breeding Dynastes tityus and various other native beetles out of sync with the seasons for generations, but I'm not sure how well this will work with L. elaphus. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Attached - a photo of one of my larger males, at 65 mm.

L_elaphus_male.jpg

 
I believe that they can overwinter if kept cooler or can be bred without overwintering if you keep them slightly warmer. I see no problem having them out of seasonal sync as long as they're given "natural" climate patterns.

 
Did your latest generation experience warmer temperatures than last year or did they pupate earlier in the year than the last generation? If they experienced a cooling period and then started warming up again, it may cause them to behave as though they experienced a short, mild winter.

 
Many thanks for the responses.

Did your latest generation experience warmer temperatures than last year or did they pupate earlier in the year than the last generation?...

They were kept at the same temperature as the previous generation, but yes, they pupated months earlier than previously. I'm wondering if this may have been due to accelerated larval development from using flour-fermented sawdust this time. The previous generation was kept on naturally-decayed wood flakes made from locally gathered wood. Growth results with that substrate were good, but the resultant adults were not quite so large on average as has been the case with the fermented sawdust.

...If they experienced a cooling period and then started warming up again, it may cause them to behave as though they experienced a short, mild winter.

There was no cooling period involved - the average temp at which I keep them year-round is approx. 75 F.

 
You can easily delay their emergence with a cooling period if you find their emergence during winter problematic, but the only problem that may crop up after a few generations is that females and males emerging at very different times if they aren't synchronized with the seasons. Keeping them cooler will send them the stimulus needed for continued diapause even if they were to have pupated earlier than normal and warming them up will signal them all to emerge at around the same time.

I had a male that remained dormant for 10 months because he had pupated early in the summer and did not emerge from his pupal chamber by autumn. The natural drops in temperatures in my unheated room over the transition from summer to winter was enough to let him know that it would not be a good time to prepare for emergence.

 
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