unusual beetles topic.

[Hisserdude]

this is a topic to share care info and pics of unusual beetles, like ground beetles, sap beetles, flat bark beetles, fireflies, etc. basically the beetles no one commonly rears.

 

here is my contribution as of now.

 

dusky sap beetle ( carpophilus lugubris.)

 

any container with a tight fitting top is usable, as the adults love to escape and fly around the house .

air holes should be tiny, cause adults are only 4 millimeters long and squeeze through small holes. substrate can be coco fiber, sand and coco fiber, anything really.

they eat rotten fruit, but you can give them fresh fruit and let it rot. replace moldy fruit. after a month or so you will get larva, do not confuse them for small maggots, they are flat and have round heads.

adults and larva can be kept together as one big colony. if fed frequently, larva are ready to pupate within a month. larva make little pupal cells against the container, so you can watch the whole process. pupa take a week or two to turn to adults. adults stay in the pupal cell for a week or two then emerge and mate, then lay eggs, and the cycle repeats.

for pics http://bugguide.net/node/view/176962.

 

thats it for now, and please feel free to post your own stuff.