Ayudrs Posted December 10, 2023 Report Share Posted December 10, 2023 This is my beetle baby, his name is Elmer and he is a L3 Lucanus elaphus purchased from USBeetles and received at the end of September. Since around the start of December I noticed he constructed what looked to be a pupa chamber to me. This was a surprise since I was assuming they go up for sale once they become L3, and I've heard L3 lasts at least 6 months. But now in December he's doing this. He's been here for over a week in what I can assume is emptying his gut for preparation. But if anyone is more familiar with Beetle prepupation please let me know! I hope he is okay 😥 I hope my photo upload, I can't tell if it has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayudrs Posted December 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2023 I found the issue with the photo not uploading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynastes Posted December 11, 2023 Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 Probably not prepupa yet, looks like it could still remake cell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynastes Posted December 11, 2023 Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 Don't break it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayudrs Posted December 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 On 12/10/2023 at 4:05 PM, Dynastes said: Don't break it though. I won't, but if you don't think he is in prepupation, how come he has stopped eating? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmb1bee Posted December 11, 2023 Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 I think he means that the term "prepupation" is when they stop moving altogether to prepare for their final molt. Yours is still in the process of creating its pupal chamber and hasn't gone dormant yet, so it could still rebuild it if necessary. Prepupae won't be able to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmb1bee Posted December 11, 2023 Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 So yes, yours is preparing to become a pupa, it just hasn't quite become a prepupa yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayudrs Posted December 11, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 On 12/11/2023 at 9:52 AM, bmb1bee said: So yes, yours is preparing to become a pupa, it just hasn't quite become a prepupa yet. Ah I see, thank you very much for the response. I guess I considered it prepupation because well... he's "preparing" to pupat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynastes Posted December 11, 2023 Report Share Posted December 11, 2023 On 12/11/2023 at 6:10 PM, Ayudrs said: Ah I see, thank you very much for the response. I guess I considered it prepupation because well... he's "preparing" to pupat. He's been preparing to pupate since the day he hatched, but prepupa is normally the immobile stage when they can't use their legs anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayudrs Posted December 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2023 On 12/11/2023 at 3:16 PM, Dynastes said: He's been preparing to pupate since the day he hatched, but prepupa is normally the immobile stage when they can't use their legs anymore. Ah, I guess that's true to, I see thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypli Posted December 13, 2023 Report Share Posted December 13, 2023 Your elaphus is getting ready to pupate. I also got a few elaphus from USbeetles in September, now they all have a more yellowish color and looks like they will pupate soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayudrs Posted December 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2023 On 12/13/2023 at 8:30 AM, ypli said: Your elaphus is getting ready to pupate. I also got a few elaphus from USbeetles in September, now they all have a more yellowish color and looks like they will pupate soon Oh thank you, good to hear from someone that bought them around the same time. And did you buy all of them lol? I remember there being 8 in stock for a whole week when I was planning on buying one. I bought one male, and a few days later they were out of stock lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypli Posted December 15, 2023 Report Share Posted December 15, 2023 On 12/14/2023 at 2:39 AM, Ayudrs said: Oh thank you, good to hear from someone that bought them around the same time. And did you buy all of them lol? I remember there being 8 in stock for a whole week when I was planning on buying one. I bought one male, and a few days later they were out of stock lol. When I checked they only had 4 left so I got all 4 of them. Have you ever weighed your grub? I heard they can usually reach 10g in late L3 but mine are not even near that weight lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayudrs Posted December 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2023 On 12/15/2023 at 9:50 AM, ypli said: When I checked they only had 4 left so I got all 4 of them. Have you ever weighed your grub? I heard they can usually reach 10g in late L3 but mine are not even near that weight lol Well I'm just glad I was able to get one at L3. But no, I think I'm too early into Beetle raising to be to worried about weight and rearing the largest beetles I can. But I doubt my Elmer was close to 10g. I have high hopes for another Elaphus I got from David's Beetles. They were a teeny tiny L1 at the start of October, but now I think they are almost as big as Elmer was before he started his pupa chamber 0.0, maybe I can try weighing them if I ever buy a gram scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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