Care for a African beetle question

423

Arachnoknight
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Jun 2, 2004
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I got this African beetle in a shipment the other day, but I have no clue as to what species it is or how to house it properly? What do they eat, do they need a high humidity or just spraying once in a while? Grateful for any answers.... :confused:
 

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Wade

Arachnoking
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Well, I haven't a clue as to species, but it appears to me to be a dynastine scarab of some sort (maybe Orin will see this and chime in). Most of these beetles feed on sap, nectar or fruit in the wild. Regardless of origin, many are fond of banana, so that's probably worth a shot. Other sweet fruits may also be taken. I feed our native Dynastes tityus maple syrup, but I'm not sure if that's readily available for you. From what I gather, pancakes are an American/Canadian thing!

It may appreciate moist-ish soil as a substrate. Since it appears to be a male (assuming that this species is sexually dimorphic), substrate depth and compactability are not important (since egg laying is not an issue).

Hopefully, someone will have some advice relating to that specific species!

Wade
 

423

Arachnoknight
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Ok. Thanks a lot Wade. I'll try both banana and maplesyrup when I get home today, and hopefully he'll be happy about that..... :)
 

Elytra and Antenna

Arachnoking
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It's a male Oryctes sp. but it's not that easy to tell which species (some Oryctes females alao have horns but not like that).
It will eat various fruits and syrups but avoid banana for long periods as it causes a shorter lifespan for dynastinae. Try watermelon or watered down syrup in a dish.
 

423

Arachnoknight
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Thanks for the tip. I seems to like banana but I'll try some different fruits and see what happens
 

Mat

Arachnosquire
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May 3, 2005
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MantidAssassins said:
They eat banana fine, it just kills them prematurely (not right away).
Got any more info on this, or is it just your experience of feeding banana. I had some Xylotrupes last year and one female lived for nearly 6 months on a diet of banana only.

Regards

Matt
 

Randolph XX()

Arachnoprince
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Aug 10, 2004
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make ur own jelly
and if u want him to live longer, make jelly with ENERGY drinks
 

Dark Raptor

Arachnoprince
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I've kept O. nasicornis. Here are 3 females.



In natural conditions they need 2 - 3 years to develope. In 30 degrees C life cycle take 10 months (in 20 degrees C - 2 years).
As substrate (7 - 10 cm deep) you can use garden soil. O. nasicornis females were producing more eggs when they were kept first in lower temperatures (10 - 15 degrees C). Also they produced more eggs when they were fed dung as larvae. One female produce 50 eggs.
The best substrate for larvae is few centimeters of garden soil and on that layer 10 - 15 cm of rotten wood and leafs of willow, birch. You can also add fresh cow dung. All substrate can be sprinkled with water every 8 to 15 days.

I took some information from prof. Burakowski "Laboratory methods for rearing soil beetles (Coleoptera)" 1993.
 
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