Need Help Breeding Pleasing Fungus Beetles

[Bill Myers]

I have eight Pleasing Fungus Beetles, specifically the species Megalodacne fasciata. I've had them for about two months, now, and I haven't seen any eggs or larvae in the substrate.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how to breed them?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shade of Eclipse]

You most likely need to provide them with large, bracket fungi pieces. The larvae are known to be found feeding on and in bracket fungi in the genus Ganoderma.

 

[Bill Myers]

Well, they definitely enjoy eating portobello mushrooms! LOL

Right now, the only wild fungi I am coming across in the woods near us, from what I can tell, is bitter polypore (tyromyces stipticus).

I found the beetles in a tree which had a fungus that I think is Brown Leafy Jelly (Tremella foliacea). I brought some of it with me when I found the beetles, but it doesn't seem to have spored and reproduced.

Therefore, I'm now using the portobellos as a stopgap food source for the beetles.

Any ideas on where I can buy some Ganoderma fungi?