Unusual insects

Dark Raptor · Jan 5, 2005

Do you have any unusual insects in your collections?
This is part of my collection (mostly beetles)

Cetonia aurata (Scarabaeidae)
Protaetia cuprea (Scarabaeidae)
Rhagium mordax (Cerambycidae)
Anthrenus picturatus makolskii (Dermestidae) - only in Warsaw!
Diaperis boleti (Tenebrionidae)

Dark Raptor · Jan 5, 2005

More insects

And more:
Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa
Myrmyleon formicarius
Nicrophorus vespillo

galeogirl · Jan 5, 2005

Awesome pics!

I'm just rebuilding my collection of inverts and I love insects. I'm a big fan of assassin bugs, mantids, and roaches. I keep hoping that a giant waterbug will find its way into my collection sooner or later, too.

Where did you get your beetles? I'm always looking for sources for interesting insects, but it seems that there are a lot of complications about shipping many of them across state lines.

Dark Raptor · Jan 5, 2005

From central Poland. They are very common here, but I love them. Especially family Tenebrionidae and Silphidae

edesign · Jan 5, 2005

great pictures! i always have liked irridescent colors...there's a beetle here that is irridescent like the ones you photographed. And last week a coworker brought me a spider that he said was on his neck and asked me what kind it was. It was a small jumping spider, black with some white markings but what really struck me was the fact that the chelicarae were irridescent! Never noticed that on any i've seen before...or i wasn't looking correctly lol

is the first insect in the second set of pictures a kind of ant lion?

Alex S. · Jan 5, 2005

Excellent pictures!

Alex S.

Wade · Jan 6, 2005

This might be gross for some people

I love the Silphidae too. Here's some pics of Necrophila americana that I'm breeding:

Sorry if these are too disgusting!

roach dude · Jan 6, 2005

wow great pics!!!!!

awsome!!

WYSIWYG · Jan 6, 2005

Hi Wade,

Why so many dead pinkies there? Do they eat THAT much?

Looks like a roach and a roly-poly to me. What are they? Just roaches at different
life stages?

Wysi

Wade · Jan 6, 2005

Dawn-

Actually, they're beetles, not roaches. The roly-poly things are the larvae. Carrion beetles feed on dead animal matter. Although they will eat things like dog food in captivity, they seem to need some sort of animal flesh to reproduce. The adults burrow beneath the carcass and lay eggs, which hatch within a couple of days and begin feeding on the meat. Since I also keep snakes, frozen/thawed rodents are usually available, although lately I've been using beefheart. There's dozens of beetles and larvae in the cage at any given time, so the pinkie mice don't last long. Usually, they'll be reduced to a tiny skull and spinal colomn in a matter of days.

Wade

Dark Raptor · Jan 6, 2005

edesign said:
is the first insect in the second set of pictures a kind of ant lion?

Yes. This is common in Poland Myrmyleon formicarius. They are wonderful predators.

Dark Raptor · Jan 6, 2005

Wade these beeteles are great

I love one american silphid - Nicrophorus americanus, but this one is very rare and under protection.

WYSIWYG · Jan 6, 2005

Thanks Wade.

I guess I thought it looked like a roach because the head of it somewhat
resembles the head on my death head roaches.

Do you have a pix of it in its entirety? Kinda hard to see what it really
looks like from that angle, especially to someone like me who knows nothing
about them!

Wysi

Wade said:
Dawn-

Actually, they're beetles, not roaches. The roly-poly things are the larvae. Carrion beetles feed on dead animal matter. Although they will eat things like dog food in captivity, they seem to need some sort of animal flesh to reproduce. The adults burrow beneath the carcass and lay eggs, which hatch within a couple of days and begin feeding on the meat. Since I also keep snakes, frozen/thawed rodents are usually available, although lately I've been using beefheart. There's dozens of beetles and larvae in the cage at any given time, so the pinkie mice don't last long. Usually, they'll be reduced to a tiny skull and spinal colomn in a matter of days.

Wade

Dark Raptor · Jan 6, 2005

Here is another european silphid beetle - Oiceoptoma (Silpha) thoracica. I've got them now only int that form

This one is very similar to Wade's Necrophila americana.

Wade · Jan 6, 2005

Dark Raptor said:
Wade these beeteles are great

I love one american silphid - Nicrophorus americanus, but this one is very rare and under protection.

Yes, they are extremely rare, but big beasts, 2"! Other members of the genus are mor common. Not easy to rear either, the genus as a whole do poorly at temps above 70 f.

Dawn-

Here's a couple more pics of the adults:

Wade

galeogirl · Jan 6, 2005

Wade,

How do you deal with the smell from the Necrophila beetles' food?

Dark Raptor · Jan 6, 2005

Wade said:
Not easy to rear either, the genus as a whole do poorly at temps above 70 f.

I've reared some european species of that genus:
Nicrophorus humator
Nicrophorus vespillo
Nicrophorus vespilloides

I've build some small metal cages outside my cottage house. I put there carrion and pairs of Nicrophorus beetels. This method have two advantages: -you rear insects in "natural conditions"
-there is no "bad smell" in your haouse

I love silphid beetles becouse of their morphology, ecology, their sexual behaviour (especially male/female fights, funny sounds) and parental care (rare in order Coleoptera).

galeogirl- They agregation pheromones also smells very bad. This is a reason, why I don't keep them in my flat

Wade · Jan 6, 2005

galeogirl said:
Wade,

How do you deal with the smell from the Necrophila beetles' food?

The key is to use small pieces of meat/rodents. The cage does smell bad if you put your nose over it and take a big wiff, but it's not very noticable otherwise. I wait for the previous meat to be used up before I introduce more.

Wade

galeogirl · Jan 6, 2005

Sensible. I don't think I'd want to keep them in a small two-room apartment, though.

Wade · Jan 7, 2005

Dark Raptor said:
I've reared some european species of that genus:
Nicrophorus humator
Nicrophorus vespillo
Nicrophorus vespilloides

I've build some small metal cages outside my cottage house. I put there carrion and pairs of Nicrophorus beetels. This method have two advantages: -you rear insects in "natural conditions"
-there is no "bad smell" in your haouse
I love silphid beetles becouse of their morphology, ecology, their sexual behaviour (especially male/female fights, funny sounds) and parental care (rare in order Coleoptera).

That's a great idea, I may try something like that if I ever try to rear them, as I come accross them every now and then. The parental care aspect would be heartwarming if it didn't involve rolling up a rotten mouse and burrying it!

I can certainly understand why someone in an apartment wouldn't want them! In my basement, it's only one more smell among many.

Wade

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