Would anyone be interested in Dyscinetus morator?

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Is anyone interested in them? I've been finding unusually large specimens this year, some reaching almost an inch. They will be wild caught, largest tend to have hitch-hike mites, but I'll try to clean​

them off the best I can. Rice Beetles make interesting pets. They're a little picky and don't like scarab jelly much, but they do love banana, apple, strawberry, and spring grass. Be careful when it comes to fruit though! These guys like to burrow in their meals. Make sure to double check before tossing fruit out! They need regular humidity and love moisture  and like to sleep under wet substrate or in/under food or anything wet. 

Adults have a life expectancy of 6 months or possibly longer. Although I have no clue how old they are, I had one for 6 months.  They are mainly nocturnal, so these cute little guys make neat pets if you're a night owl like me. They are a little skittish, but will eventually grow immune to you. I won't be selling them, but for trade only.  Do I need a permit to do that though? How much do permits cost?

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Thanks! Also I know that express shipping is the recommended shipping method but it's awfully pricey. I purchased my Harlequin Flower Beetle via Priority Mail from BIC and she came in just fine. The more money I save the more I can ship out. I barely make any money. Me and my niece will be going on a bug hunt at a near by park soon, well known habitat for Bess Beetles, beautiful American Carrion Beetles, the shiny and rare Carolina Tiger Beetles, large hissing Warrior Beetlees, the elusive Eastern Herculese Beetle, and other pretty beetles that I don't even know what they are. If I'm successful I will offer my caught insects for trade.

 
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I love scarabs. I'm currently on the hunt for an Eastern Hercules Beetle, Ox Beetle, Hermit Flower Beetle, Rainbow Dung Beetle, Grapevine Beetle. Non native species I would like are, Ten-lined June Bug, Sun Beetle(Pachnoda marginata) and Striped Flower Beetle(Eudicella gralli), but if you have any type of scarab not mentioned(I'm not sure about stags, I get a little worried it might hurt my  smaller beetles) show pictures of them! 

 
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I caught 2 nice sized  Dyscinetus morator. Nothing massive last night though. A male and female, both just a little over 1/2 inch. Both are mating too! 

Edit: I released them. Those things were shrimps when compared to the one I own. I'll look again tonight. Going bug hunting at the park sometime next week, depends on the weather.

 
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UGH! 😡 Worst bug hunt ever! I always find bess beetles there! I only found 2 large DEAD ones. Not even worth keeping, as their heads were missing! I was and still  pissed off! But I will return there one day and look inside the logs, not just under. 😤

However, I did catch an American Carrion Beetle and some kind of millipede. When my camera charges(which takes forever), I'll take pictures. I also have 2 nice sized female rice beetles, a mating pair of scarites ground beetle(not sure what species they are, they are small)

 
American Carrion Beetles arent endangered, but they can be hard to spot as they spend their time on rotten flesh. I found this one on a small piece of poop, and I accidently touched it. Ugh.

Here's the Scarite Ground Beetles:

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The Carrion Beetle:

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And the unknown millipede. He's probably close to 2 inches or less. He doesn't stop moving so I can't measure him:

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Sorry I confused the two, now I remember. Don't the Scarite Ground Beetles play dead or am I thinking of another beetle that looks similar? Also very nice millipede. :)  

 
I don't think they play dead, they actually look intimidating when frightened. They tuck their legs, and lift their head up with opened mandibles. I wish I knew what type of millipede I caught. We actually have 2, (my niece found one) but not much can be found on millipedes in Virginia besides Apheloria virginiensis and they don't make good pets(they won't eat or anything and just die). I wonder if what I have is a young Narceus americanus .

 
Me and my niece had a break today though, tonight we found a lot of large Rice Beetles. Now I have 5 of them, but only one male - and he is making grubs with the females. How long is a beetle's/scarab's gravid period before laying eggs?

 
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Thank you! Speaking of Scarite beetles, my niece just found a huge one! An inch long. It could be a Warrior Beetle. However, this beetle is having a problem. He constantly falls over on his back and can't get up. My niece said she found him that way. Probably an older specimen or sick. He's in a seperate container. I'll keep my eye on him.

EDIT: I released him, as I kept seeing him fall on his back. I hope the best for him. He crawled away fine under my deck.

 
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Here is a batch of eggs laid by Dyscinetus morator. I've probably collected thousands of these a decade, and this year is my first time ever attempted to rear them. It was interesting to see how they lay quite a lot of eggs in one spot, instead of here and there sparsely one by one. This is one of the largest batch I've seen while digging through a 16 oz container with fully filled substrate with about half inch space at the top. My specimens loved jellies, so I'm assuming each different jellies are differently preferred by beetles.. (of course, they are differently manufactured!)

My substrate was somewhat too wet and wasn't in a good condition, and that might be the reason.... that only some eggs actually hatched, and has reached L2 larvae. I haven't touched them since about a month ago, so I don't know if any of them reached L3 yet.

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@JKim, what substrate are you rearing your larvae in? And are they living communally? (I’m beginning a Dyscinetus project, and would like any advice if I can produce larvae. Thanks!

 
davehuth said:
@JKim, what substrate are you rearing your larvae in? And are they living communally? (I’m beginning a Dyscinetus project, and would like any advice if I can produce larvae. Thanks!
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Just regular oak substrate. very well fermented. Nothing special really..lol. I had some A/C problem here and had my place going well over 100˚F during the day for about two weeks, and most larvae died. (as well as many other adults and larvae of other species). But those Dyscinetus morator survived has reached L2 and L3. I think I heard they feed on grass root to develop, but... I guess that is only the case in outside, not with man-made substrate with more nutrition compared to just dirt out there...

 
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