Beetle I.D. and care info

[reptist]

I found these guys near Buckeye Arizona under peices of refuse scattered in the desert, They are a nice blue color and have verry defined bumps on their backs, about 1" long , and pretty active, I am basicly wondering what they might eat as well as a latin name if anyone is familiar w/ them, LMK if you have any info at all, Thanks and PEACE, B.

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[Harrod]

They appear to be Cryptoglossa verrucosus "Blue Death Feigning Beetle". If so they are herbivores.

 

[willyomt]

Beetle I.D.

It's a Death Feigning Beetle, Cryptoglossa verrucosa, which is sometimes called an Ironclad Beetle. They eat woody fungi, and probably decayed wood.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/38580/bgimage

 

[lucanidae]

At the insect zoo we kept them on dry sand with dry corkbark to hide under. They were given romaine lettuce every other day, sometimes random other vegetables. They've done great for years but never reproduced.

 

[bluefrogtat2]

nice

great find,and real nice photos B
andy

 

[emmille]

yeah very nice. very unusual type of beetles.

 

[ArachnoBasement]

Yeah, yeah, I'm bumping a thread from May, big deal! :} Anyway, does anyone know the life cycle of these beetles? If someone does, you will LITERALLY be the first person on the internet to know. I have a pretty good size colony of these and I can not get them to reproduce. Does any one know what kind of substrate they lay their larvae in? Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Galapoheros]

I don't know but I can make a guess. Going by some logic, I think the grubs might eat on dying plant matter like decaying wood, cactus and other desert plants. Just guessing but it just makes sense to me. Out in the desert, the roots of plants and decaying plants is going to be where the moisture is and will probably be a little cooler there for the grubs. Cool looking beetle, they look pretty rugged.

 

[Scolopendra55]

I've kept lots of them over the years and all of mine have lived several years on a diet of lettuce, carrots and slightly moistened dog biscuits.

 

[Richard McJimsey]

I saw a few of these up close today, they really are stunning!