State of the Hobby(TM)

[AlexW]

 but there's a petshop nearby which occasionally has some of the bigger, more popular beetle adults in stock, so assumably there's at least one person nearby who is!

You live in Europe, where non-dead exotic beetles are often legal to import and much more popular than they are in the US

 

[Ben10101]

I'm just wondering though, I remember reading somewhere that the whole Lucanidae family is legal in the state of California. Is that true?

 

[Oak]

According to this pdf it is http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/pdf/111.pdf

 

[Beetle-Experience]

The California / Lucanid thing is false - I checked into it last year

 

[Beetle-Experience]

This was the response from USDA/APHIS/PPQ regarding the California Stag Beetle issue:

April 20, 2016:

"I have seen the California documents and they are misleading."

"The California permitting information only applies to movement within California of material already in California.  The USDA has jurisdiction over "plant pests" crossing state lines.  The USDA does not regulate movement of plant pests established in a state and moved within the same state unless there is a Federal Quarantine."

 

[darktheumbreon]

Is there any hobbyist that is known, in the states, that is breeding beetles to record sizes? Like D. tityus, D. grantii, or L. elephas for example of upwards of 80cm? It seems like the dedication found in Asia is not very common here for beetles as they are very very niche.