Darkling beetle & death.

[Anonymity82]

I'm new to darkling beetles. I have a couple that appear to be the adults of mealworms, one little fuzzy round beetle (I have no idea what it is, was a freebie from Peter), 4 blue and 2 black death feigning beetles.

I've had them for a few months and the smaller of the two mealworm looking darkling beetles is doing the old classic "dying bug on the pavement during a sunny day" routine. On its back and legs going crazy. Been doing this all day now. I flip it over on to its feet and it just clumsily pops itself back over onto its back. So I put it in a dark area in the enclosure and pretty much will just let it die. Everyone else is acting fine.

The reason I'm writing this is because I'm very new to beetles and am hoping I am doing everything right. I have no idea how long this beetle is supposed to live nor how old it was when I got it, so I'm not feeling too responsible.

I'm keeping them all at room temperatures and that's 68-72 for a few months but very soon it will be going up to 78 for the next 6-8 months. I have them on a little less than an inch of eco earth (dried out) and give them fruits, veggies, fish food, etc... I usually let it sit there for a couple of days but all they seem to eat is the fish food. I'll dump a bit of water twice a week or so as well because I noticed a black death loved the water. Now, the blacks are burying themselves and the blues spend most of their time huddled up together.

I'd really appreciate anyone with experience keeping these beetles to share your housing care and feeding etc... Thanks!

 

[Spepper]

Well I keep my mealworms in wheat bran and give them apple or potato slices for moisture and they reproduce like crazy. Of course the room they're in is a little warmer than the rest of the house, but I'm not sure what temperature. Are you keeping all the beetles together?

 

[Smokehound714]

Do you have images of your tenebs? I can ID them, if you do. And i can tell you what they need.

Some require fungi in their diet. I have a feeling the mealworm-looking ones are Zopherus

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Superworm darkling beetles survive for 4-8 months depending on their living condition and size. The first and only superworm beetle i had before lasted for about 5 months and can survive 2 weeks without eating anything (possibly longer) but with misting every 3 days

 

[JeromeTabuzo]

This in the setup of my darkling beetles and also its ordinary for beetles to look like dead but its just playing dead , and it wakes up at night and some beetles arent that active. I also got a small beetle last time that does this.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Anonymity82]

Thanks guys. I don't have a good picture :/. My decent camera broke and only have one that I can't take macro pictures... I got them from Peter (bugsincyberspace) and he said he had these living with his colony of death feigning beetles if I remember correctly. I've had them for about 4 months already. Probably natural I guess then. Poor thing is still dying!

I wonder if I should change substrates but tbh, now knowing that they don't live very long I'm guessing it's just old age. Thanks again!

Best pictures I have.

View attachment 124421 View attachment 124420

 

[kellakk]

The beetles in the second pic look like Eleodes sp. The first one is really unclear, sorry.

 

[Smokehound714]

Small round one is a dune beetle, looks to be Eusattus sp, and requires dryness and fine sand.

The Eleodes on the upper-right in the last photo is Eleodes armatus, which is identified by the numerous spurs (others only have one pair on the first pair of legs) and is a desert species that prefers bone-dry conditions and, like the dune beetle, sand, though it doesnt have to be fine for armatus. Keep both of these guys away from humidity, except during egg laying. The problem with eleodes is many look extremely similar, and as a result, many get improper care.

For example, E. acuticaudus is a coastal species, and likes humidity and sand, but E. dentipes prefers rotting wood, etc.

 

[Anonymity82]

Okay, thanks! Wow! Everyone else (except the black death feigning but I've only seen them do that a couple of times) avoids the water when I dump a little in. It dries out in a couple of days and never takes up more than 10% of the enclosure. I usually keep them in bone dry conditions except for that small amount. I'll do that less now too.

I'll look into to getting some sand for everyone. Thanks again!

 

[kellakk]

There's no need for sand. While they are found on sand in the wild, it tends to complicate care, especially for breeding. But if you like the look and these are for display, you can go ahead.