Beautiful and beginner-friendly beetle: Dicronorhina derbyana

[ItalianTermiteMan]

Just sharing with you some years-old pics of a critter i don't personally keep as now (tough i might again in the future) but i hearthly recommend to anyone wanting to get a very beautiful yet easy to keep (and breed) beetle: Dicronorhina derbyana.
This beautiful flower beetle from sub-saharian Africa is large (up to around 50 mm for large males), impressively colored (with multiple subspecies and forms) and has a reasonably quick (and unfussy) larval stage which take around 7-8 months.
Now for the pics:



A male, with a T-shaped horn, longer front legs and a smooth pronotum, and a female.


A more close-up pic of the male. They almost glow under strong light!


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Seeking "companionship" on my hand.



A trio.



A female peeking out of her pupal cocoon. Cute!

 

[CutThroat Kid]

Thank you for posting this. I've been taking in many of my local Tenebrionidae as I find beetles fascinating. I've been wanting to try my hand with a more exotic beetle species one of these days and will be keeping my eye out for these given your mention of their easy care and short larval period!

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Absolutely gorgeous....but unfortunately they're as illegal as they are beautiful in the US

 

[SpookySpooder]

I hope you washed your hand after that photo shoot

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Amazing !!! Such huge cool beetles.