# What does the "ironclad" beetle eat?



## P.jasonius (May 8, 2007)

_Zopherus nodulosus haldemani_, what can I feed this thing to keep it alive?  It is assumed to eat lichens growing on trees, so outside of collecting this what can I substitute as a food source?  
I'll get a pick up as soon as I get more batteries for the camera, but I'm positive of the ID.  Interesting little fellow, very shy.  Plays dead at the slightest movement; I've only actually seen him move once.  
Any coleoptera lovers out there know what to do with this guy?  I'd be glad to ship him out to you if you'd love him(/her) more than me.
[edit]here's a link to another sit for reference:  http://www.texasento.net/Ironclad.html


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## JLDomestics (May 9, 2007)

"Adult beetles are thought to feed on lichens growing on trunks of these trees." from http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg170.html


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## beetleman (May 9, 2007)

JLDomestics said:


> "Adult beetles are thought to feed on lichens growing on trunks of these trees." from http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/bimg170.html


yes, that excactly what they feed on,very nice find!


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## P.jasonius (May 10, 2007)

P.jasonius;881530  It is assumed to eat lichens growing on trees said:
			
		

> outside of collecting this what can I substitute as a food source?[/U]


just to reiterate, in case someone didn't read the post


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## dtknow (May 10, 2007)

Ground up mushrooms maybe? I bet they depend on a certain species a lichen however and would not take any substitute food.


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## JLDomestics (May 11, 2007)

They are probably only found around such areas as their food source for a reason. Like already said try ground up mushrooms or even whole mushrooms. If that doesn't work theres a good chance nothing else but lichen will.


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## Galapoheros (May 11, 2007)

This is REAL far-fetched but maybe you could try ground up dehydrated mushrooms from a health food grocery store in combination with an algae based fish food.  Maybe add just a little moisture.  I don't know, good luck.  I'd like to hear if you find something that works.


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## JLDomestics (May 12, 2007)

Try some psilocybin mushrooms and see what happens. I wonder if insects can get food poisoning?


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## dtknow (May 12, 2007)

Galapoheros said:


> This is REAL far-fetched but maybe you could try ground up dehydrated mushrooms from a health food grocery store in combination with an algae based fish food.  Maybe add just a little moisture.  I don't know, good luck.  I'd like to hear if you find something that works.


Good idea on the algae based fish food! After all, lichen are fungi/algae symbionts.

you could even use spirulina in place of the fish food.


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## beetleman (May 12, 2007)

yeah, you can try those tablets(algae/spirlina),a good experiment.


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## P.jasonius (Jun 24, 2007)

Ok, so it's been a while now.  I can't believe the survivability of these beetles.  
I finally had success in finding a food source for my ironclad.  I simply found some trees with lichens growing on the bark and stripped the bark off.  I mist the bark down to keep the lichens fresh and he eats it right off.  No other luck than that.


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## Galapoheros (Jun 24, 2007)

Sounds good!  So they don't need a lot to eat?  I just saw another one a few days ago.  They can't fly, right?  Seems like I read that somewhere:? .


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