Calosoma scrutator colony

[Nathan Zhang]

thinking about a self sustaining colony of calosoma scrutator
Anyone bred them before?
How to care for them?

 

[Nathan Zhang]

bump

 

[The wolf]

I don't know anything about this species but they look really cool from what I know from keeping ground beetles you need to separate the larvea to prevent cannibalism I have also found that the larvea of carabids are extremely delicate at their early stages
Good luck

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

I've read that you can get the adults to lay by putting caterpillar frass in their enclosure.

Normally these are hard to find, but in areas experiencing large gypsy moth/tent caterpiilar outbreaks they suddenly become extremely abundant and you can find many larvae crawling up tree trunks in a matter of minutes. They grow extremely fast. Unfortunately when I tried to raise them most died in the pupal stage.

 

[Nathan Zhang]

ahh, there is an outburst of calosomas every year near where I live in the summer, already starting to get some, I was wondering if I could keep a colony of them.
keep our natives!

 

[Nathan Zhang]

@Salmonsaladsandwich did any survive past pupal stage?

 

[coniontises]

Carabids, including Calosoma, are infamous for being usually difficult to breed successfully.

Care is straightforward for adults, though they need good ventilation: https://sp-uns.blogspot.com/2017/11/an-introduction-to-garden-carabids.html

In that article, there is a link to two carab breeding links.

 

[Nathan Zhang]

ohh, i see thank you. Has nobody bred Calosoma before because on myPetPlace it is said breeding is easy

 

[Nathan Zhang]

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...hunter-beetles-in-the-terrarium/#.Wqk6-5Pwb-Y
In the comments someone has bred them and the author said that breeding was easy

 

[Liquifin]

Believe it or not, these species live around my area. I have only seen one of them in my house before. But it was killed accidentally by my brothers things. As it collapsed and fell on it as we were trying to catch it and take it outside.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Two survived the pupal stage. There were actually two species, C. scrutator and C. sycophanta. I couldn't tell the larvae apart and one of each survived.

 

[Nathan Zhang]

ahh, thats good, do you know what made them survive?
maybe you can check the link I posted earlier and we can get these more readily in the hobby because apparently they breed easily if you do everything write

 

[coniontises]

http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatr...hunter-beetles-in-the-terrarium/#.Wqk6-5Pwb-Y
In the comments someone has bred them and the author said that breeding was easy

Skeptical. Sometimes captive carabs will produce larvae, but these often die. I think that the guy probably got a few new adults from captive-produced larvae, but many larvae died.



I have the Ultimate Guide to Breeding Beetles, and although the book is a bit dated that report of breeding Calosoma is useful.

Basically, the author had some orange isopods in a big tank, got his adults to make larvae, and pupated a few successfully. But he produced less adults than he started with.

 

[Nathan Zhang]

Check the comments some guy bred many new adults but still less than he started with

 

[Smokehound714]

carabids sometimes have crazy courtship and oviposition behaviors that simply cannot be replicated even in lab conditions. I know for a fact that a few will climb trees and carefully wedge their eggs in crevices on tree bark with their mandibles.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Skeptical. Sometimes captive carabs will produce larvae, but these often die. I think that the guy probably got a few new adults from captive-produced larvae, but many larvae died.



I have the Ultimate Guide to Breeding Beetles, and although the book is a bit dated that report of breeding Calosoma is useful.

Basically, the author had some orange isopods in a big tank, got his adults to make larvae, and pupated a few successfully. But he produced less adults than he started with.

Why are you skeptical that someone could have success? If breeding and rearing to adulthood is possible why is it so unlikely that a higher survival rate could be achieved?

 

[coniontises]

Check the comments some guy bred many new adults but still less than he started with

He only got four captive-bred new adults.

Why are you skeptical that someone could have success? If breeding and rearing to adulthood is possible why is it so unlikely that a higher survival rate could be achieved?

Well, the Ult. Guide’s author (Elytra & Antenna on the forums) is a respected expert, and many failed or semi-failed carabid attempts apparently exist in technical research papers. Even if a good survival rate was achieved by the Pet Place blogger and his commenter, the probabilities are higher that they produced one or maybe two consecutive generations than a perpetual colony. Calosoma adults are very long-lived anyways, though.





@Hisserdude

 

[Hisserdude]

It seems like if you really want to be successful in breeding Calosoma LONG TERM, over several generations, you are going to need access to lots and lots of caterpillars. Access to caterpillars and their frass seem to be essential to inducing adults to oviposit, and larvae feed poorly, if at all on other captive prey items in comparison to the vigor they show for caterpillars.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

It seems like if you really want to be successful in breeding Calosoma LONG TERM, over several generations, you are going to need access to lots and lots of caterpillars. Access to caterpillars and their frass seem to be essential to inducing adults to oviposit, and larvae feed poorly, if at all on other captive prey items in comparison to the vigor they show for caterpillars.

Could waxworms or silkworms work since they are moth caterpillars?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Could waxworms or silkworms work since they are moth caterpillars?

They likely would, but waxworms are a bit tricky to rear and silkworms are prone to disease. Some of the wild caterpillar species that Calosoma feed on (tent caterpillars, fall webworms, armyworms etc.) may very well be easier to rear in large numbers if you have access to enough foodplant.