My bugs keep dying!

C

Cicada87

L1
As you guys know, I've been having bad luck with bugs and try to satisfy them the best I can, but they die. Well, my next pet bug I found was some kind of black beetle(not sure of the species, they are very common). He looks like this:

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He was about the size of a finger nail. Here's his story:

About 2 weeks ago I found him paddling around in the water dish for the dogs outside. He wasn't injured. So I took him in and thought this will be my last chance, cause it's getting cold and all the bugs will be hibernating. Well, I put him on my desk were he snuggled in a bra lying around on there. lol Well, later I couldn't find him, so I assumed he ran off. Well, last weekend I was cleaning off my desk, and I picked up another bra of mine laying on there and he fell out! I thought he was dead, cause he was all closed up, but when I came back from the bathroom, he was crawling around! I grabbed my NEW bug cage, and since he apparently likes bras, I put one in there with a wash cloth at the bottom of the cage and gave him some cricket hydrate jell and a water filled hermit crab sponge. He was crawling around and under the hydrating gel, but it didn't look like he was munching on it. He then snuggled under the bra and haven't seen any activity from him since. I wasn't sure if he was hibernating or what, so I didn't disturb him. Well, about 10 minutes ago, I was planning on taking a picture of him and putting it on here to ask some questions about him in general(like species and what it likes to eat). And he was dead. Really, he's dead. His legs are curled and stiff and he's not moving at all.

I don't understand. Why did I have such good luck with bugs as a child but now they're dying on me? Why did the bug live for a week in a bra on my desk, but not even a week(or who knows how many days) in a bug cage?

Thanks for any answers and sorry for so much text!

 
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first..i dont even get why u decided to put him on the bra...

second.. this looks like one of the dung beetles..

 
I would agree with it looking like a dung beetle.

Maybe try finding some beetles that will eat dry foods or fruit, something easier to deal with. Some beetles are just harder to keep than others.

And also, when setting up a new container for something, try to mimic their environment. If you find a beetle in the desert then sand should be in the substrate most likely. Most inverts do well in coconutcoir/fiber as long as they don't need some sort of organic material for food in their soil.

Unless it is a moth that feeds on cotton I don't think a bra would count as substrate
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@Oak, I didn't put the bug in the bra, I put him on my desk and he crawled into it. Then I couldn't find him later, so I thought he ran off. Then, while cleaning off my desk last weekend, I found him in another one of my bras.

@jreidsma - the bra wasn't the substrate. lol I just put it in there for him like a "bed" so maybe he'd feel comfortable. I don't know what kind of bug he was, I always find them flying around on the porch at night, and I don't find them anywhere else. So I wasn't sure about his substrate. That was going to be a question of mine too - before he died. But a dung beetle?! I don't even want to imagine what type of habitat I'd have to set up! Not to mention the "food" I'd have to give him!

I was thinking, how long do adult grasshoppers live? There is this HUGE grasshopper hanging around our deck. I wonder if I should catch him before a bird or a lizard does, cause he's very easy to see!

 
It is not a dung beetle. It does not look like a dung beetle.

It's probably Euetheola or something closely related. They don't live very long.

 
I've never seen a dung beetle in person
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I just noticed the head shape and it reminded me of the dung beetles that have more of a shovel tip nose.

 
Pretty beetles
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Its funny how dung beetles can be prettier than some other beetles, most people assume dung would be nasty
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Orin said:
It is not a dung beetle. It does not look like a dung beetle.

It's probably Euetheola or something closely related. They don't live very long.
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I just looked up Eutheola and saw other pictures and he look just like those!

 
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Lucanus said:
Here are some infors : http://bugguide.net/node/view/5301

Appearantly, they can live long in right environment cause I've seen some that looked like they have lived for a year and the info on bugguide says they can overwinter.
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When you say they look like they have lived for a year what does that mean? Did you keep one alive for a year? Overwinter at what stage, any citation? Beetles that overwinter like Lucanus elaphus die within weeks of capture because they don't fly till their life is nearly over.

 
Orin said:
When you say they look like they have lived for a year what does that mean? Did you keep one alive for a year? Overwinter at what stage, any citation? Beetles that overwinter like Lucanus elaphus die within weeks of capture because they don't fly till their life is nearly over.
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In the spring and summer, I find E. humilis with the eroded spikes on the legs and aren't shiny as the ones that look like newly emerged beetles. I believe these are the ones that lived for a year.

Unfortunately, there aren't any specific documents about this so I am going to rear some of the ones that look fresh to see how long they can live.

 
Orin said:
When you say they look like they have lived for a year what does that mean? Did you keep one alive for a year? Overwinter at what stage, any citation? Beetles that overwinter like Lucanus elaphus die within weeks of capture because they don't fly till their life is nearly over.
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Not always true...

Dorcus can overwinter and live long.

 
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