JunkaiWangisme Posted April 22, 2022 Report Share Posted April 22, 2022 These larvae literally, I mean literally, sat in pupal cells for 2 years before emerging. 2 YEARS, just in the pupal cell! I hate elaphus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliathus Posted April 22, 2022 Report Share Posted April 22, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 12:34 PM, JunkaiWangisme said: These larvae literally, I mean literally, sat in pupal cells for 2 years before emerging. 2 YEARS, just in the pupal cell!... L. elaphus is an impressive beetle, but I haven't worked with it for some years now, since in my experience, their emergence times are very unpredictable, and also, I had considerable issues with pupation, in most generations. The larvae are quite easy to rear, but I get the impression that they might need some kind of environmental trigger(s) (such as changes in temperature or moisture), to get them to progress to the adult stage in any kind of predictable time frame. On one occasion around 8 years ago, I was able to produce some very large adults, as well as get very good reproduction, but undoubtedly, there are other hobbyists who have been much more consistently successful with elaphus than I have been. I've had similar issues with Chrysina spp. (except for C. gloriosa, which proved to be considerably more predictable in regard to successful pupation and emergence time). In contrast to elaphus, I found L. mazama to be far easier to breed - no problems at all with them, at any stage. This species does not have the huge, elaborate mandibles of elaphus, but is still a great beetle, in its own way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratmosphere Posted April 22, 2022 Report Share Posted April 22, 2022 Awesome job. Looks like your effort paid off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JunkaiWangisme Posted April 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 2:24 PM, Ratmosphere said: Awesome job. Looks like your effort paid off! not really, this male around 55. Elaphus is extremely easy to get larger sizes then this. Though if he didn't sit so long in pupal cells the results might've been different. In the wild 60+ males aren't too hard to come by (in Whitmire, SC at least, I don't seem to find males elaphus flying outside of light trapping in that area for some reason) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JunkaiWangisme Posted April 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2022 On 4/22/2022 at 2:15 PM, Goliathus said: L. elaphus is an impressive beetle, but I haven't worked with it for some years now, since in my experience, their emergence times are very unpredictable, and also, I had considerable issues with pupation, in most generations. The larvae are quite easy to rear, but I get the impression that they might need some kind of environmental trigger(s) (such as changes in temperature or moisture), to get them to progress to the adult stage in any kind of predictable time frame. On one occasion around 8 years ago, I was able to produce some very large adults, as well as get very good reproduction, but undoubtedly, there are other hobbyists who have been much more consistently successful with elaphus than I have been. I've had similar issues with Chrysina spp. (except for C. gloriosa, which proved to be considerably more predictable in regard to successful pupation and emergence time). In contrast to elaphus, I found L. mazama to be far easier to breed - no problems at all with them, at any stage. This species does not have the huge, elaborate mandibles of elaphus, but is still a great beetle, in its own way. From what I hear from Alan Jeon, elaphus pupates readily when kept at an consistent 80 (the larvae kept at high temps- 78-80s in a lab pupated within 9 months in my personal experience too), but I was simply too lazy to heat them above my normal room temperature. I was expecting them to eventually pupate, surprised it took this long. I love all the US lucanids! The small species is where it's at! Do you still have mazama going by chance? P.S. I'm very impressed by some beetles you've raised and the size you managed! Love your posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliathus Posted April 24, 2022 Report Share Posted April 24, 2022 On 4/23/2022 at 8:12 AM, JunkaiWangisme said: From what I hear from Alan Jeon, elaphus pupates readily when kept at an consistent 80 (the larvae kept at high temps- 78-80s in a lab pupated within 9 months in my personal experience too), but I was simply too lazy to heat them above my normal room temperature. I was expecting them to eventually pupate, surprised it took this long. I love all the US lucanids! The small species is where it's at! Do you still have mazama going by chance? P.S. I'm very impressed by some beetles you've raised and the size you managed! Love your posts! Thanks! Working with live insects can be laborious (and frustrating) at times, but when everything goes right, the experience is totally worthwhile, especially if the goal took a long time to reach! I don't have mazama anymore (it's probably been over 10 years), but this species is rather widespread and easily collected at various mountain localities. My stock came from the Santa Rita Mtns. in southeast AZ. I bred them for several generations, before moving on to other species. I'd consider mazama to be a great starter lucanid species, as they are so easy to keep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JunkaiWangisme Posted April 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2022 On 4/24/2022 at 1:44 PM, Goliathus said: Thanks! Working with live insects can be laborious (and frustrating) at times, but when everything goes right, the experience is totally worthwhile, especially if the goal took a long time to reach! I don't have mazama anymore (it's probably been over 10 years), but this species is rather widespread and easily collected at various mountain localities. My stock came from the Santa Rita Mtns. in southeast AZ. I bred them for several generations, before moving on to other species. I'd consider mazama to be a great starter lucanid species, as they are so easy to keep. Neat! I have 4 larvae of mazama but I don't know if I have a pair rn. Hopefully I either get a pair emerge or I manage to source more in the summer. I love all our various small lucanids! Hopefully one day I'll have them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliathus Posted April 24, 2022 Report Share Posted April 24, 2022 On 4/24/2022 at 1:29 PM, JunkaiWangisme said: Neat! I have 4 larvae of mazama but I don't know if I have a pair rn. Hopefully I either get a pair emerge or I manage to source more in the summer. I love all our various small lucanids! Hopefully one day I'll have them all. If you haven't already, Lucanus placidus would be a species worth breeding, if you can obtain some - https://bugguide.net/node/view/2011471/bgimage It seems to be one of the less frequently kept of the US lucanids. I think that forum member JKim has some experience with rearing this species, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JunkaiWangisme Posted April 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 On 4/24/2022 at 3:15 PM, Goliathus said: If you haven't already, Lucanus placidus would be a species worth breeding, if you can obtain some - https://bugguide.net/node/view/2011471/bgimage It seems to be one of the less frequently kept of the US lucanids. I think that forum member JKim has some experience with rearing this species, though. I have some larvae as well, but I don't know if it'll be a good enough number. I'll be light trapping for them this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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