gatorguy Posted September 27, 2014 Report Share Posted September 27, 2014 Hello, Im Zac from oklahoma, and ive got a few questions. I was wanting to buy a few large beetles for my (currently small) insect collection, when i remembered that a few people bred stags and rhino beetles. how long do most stag and rhino beetles take to go from egg to adult? I have heard that it is an awful long time, and the adults dont live long either. I have heard though, that some, such as Dorcus stags, live 1-3 years? I would love to get a male or two of maybe two or three species of stag/rhino beetles, but I dont really want to get into breeding and all that mess. I have enough hobbies as is. Also, nonnative beetles arent legal to import, right? So do you guys breed any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Myers Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 ...how long do most stag and rhino beetles take to go from egg to adult? I have heard that it is an awful long time, and the adults dont live long either. I have heard though, that some, such as Dorcus stags, live 1-3 years?... Um... Probably the reason no one is answering that question is because it's all highly variable. If you have an exact species, then they will no doubt be able to answer the question. ...Also, nonnative beetles arent legal to import, right? So do you guys breed any?... Yes, and Yes. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade of Eclipse Posted September 28, 2014 Report Share Posted September 28, 2014 It is illegal to import without a permit and getting a permit would be extremely difficult, if not impossible for the average individual. It's not necessary to import if you're fortunate enough to find any that are already being kept in the US. That said, it's still a legal grey area with keeping due to the tendency for the USDA to lump insects together. Most beetles in the family Scarabaeidae--this includes the subfamily Dynastinae, the rhinoceros beetles--are lumped into the group of insects containing herbivorous pests because many Scarabaeids are herbivorous and not detrivorous, because of insufficient data on their life histories, and because it's difficult to identify species with grubs and it's easier to consider them all the same to be on the safe side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddymire Posted September 29, 2014 Report Share Posted September 29, 2014 ^ what they said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexW Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 If you "don't want to get into breeding", you're missing out on half the fun. Many insects appear as adults only one generation a year, spending much of their life as larvae or nymphs. However, you can try catching or buying blue death-feigning or darkling beetles - they are very long-lived (blue death feigners live up to a decade, and many darklings last about one or two years) and are hardy. Death-feigning beetles especially are hard to breed anyways, and the few people who got larvae didn't have them survive to adults yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexW Posted September 30, 2014 Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 And although some types of exotics aren't imported anymore, they appear to have been available in the US as captive-bred. For example, Muddymire mentions Cyclommatus metallifer and Allomyrina dichotoma in his introduction, which aren't native. Residents of other countries like Europe or Japan CAN import exotics, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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