Dogsbane Leaf Beetle/Beetles in general.

[Godzilla90fan]

Hey guys, looking to add a few species of beetles to my collection. Starting out small, one member of each species, to see if I can keep a single one alive for a good deal of time. I currently have a Hermit Flower Beetle (looks and acts like a dung beetle, but best match I found was hermit flower), a june bug, a click beetle, a golden tortoise beetle, and a dogsbane leaf beetle. My favorite is the dogsbane, absolutely gorgeous, and I would like to find more and get a breeding population of these beauties started. Not sure if this one is eating, that might be why its lively (looking for food). It has access to substrate, leaves, a piece of banana, insect feces (millis), and a little wood.

So far all of them are still alive after 2 weeks. The dogsbane is the liveliest of the bunch, usually found exploring. The hermit beetle spends most of his time playing dead. I can observe him from afar, but as soon as it notices me, no movement, it just lays there. I am struggling to get him to eat, so I tried banana (seems to work). I have tried raising a few grub I find outside, but they all tend to kill themselves in water (I need a seperate container for them, they share a space with my turtle for now, whom doesn't seem to mind the occasional snack), constantly keeping my population low.

So TL;DR: How to take care of, and find more, dogsbane beetles, and how to take care of grubs?

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

To begin with you should really do a little google research on the species you have so you know what to feed them. Dogbane leaf beetles eat dogbane leaves, primarily, so you’re not going to have much success trying to feed them bananas and frass. They also lay their eggs on the underside of dogbane leaves so that when the babies hatch they have a ready supply of food.

 

[Penn]

You can buy dogbane plants online. Found a small one on etsy: Link

 

[Godzilla90fan]

To begin with you should really do a little google research on the species you have so you know what to feed them. Dogbane leaf beetles eat dogbane leaves, primarily, so you’re not going to have much success trying to feed them bananas and frass. They also lay their eggs on the underside of dogbane leaves so that when the babies hatch they have a ready supply of food.

I did research them on google, but I didn't find anything on raising them in captivity. I had hoped they would eat something other than dogbane leaves, but couldn't find any alternate foods that they like. It looks like theres little bites missing from a few of my greener leaves, but I don't think its eating enough. Thank you

 

[Godzilla90fan]

You can buy dogbane plants online. Found a small one on etsy: Link

My biggest problem was finding an alternate food source, didn't think of buying a plant, thank you!

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I did research them on google, but I didn't find anything on raising them in captivity. I had hoped they would eat something other than dogbane leaves, but couldn't find any alternate foods that they like. It looks like theres little bites missing from a few of my greener leaves, but I don't think its eating enough. Thank you

You’re unlikely to find good information on captive breeding of this species. Most insects that are commonly kept as pets are able to be successfully kept as pets because they are food generalists. This gives the erroneous impression that most insects can eat a wide variety of foods. The truth is that a great many herbivorous insects require one specific plant, or a narrow range of plants, often in the same family, which creates distinct challenges for breeding in captivity. If you’re collecting herbivorous insects in the wild, it’s generally a good idea to collect some of the plant you find the critter on, because that is highly likely to be an appropriate food plant for it.

If you want to breed this species, you may need several dogbane plants in your home, especially since they will need to deposit their eggs on living dogbane leaves. It may be a challenge finding a way to set things up so that you can maintain the plant’s health while providing sufficient food for the beetles.

 

[PillipedeBreeder]

Hello @Godzilla90fan,
if you post a good picture of the beetle you have identified as probably Osmoderma sp, I can give you a more detailed and correct ID.

Best Regards,
PillipedeBreeder

 

[Godzilla90fan]

Hello @Godzilla90fan,
if you post a good picture of the beetle you have identified as probably Osmoderma sp, I can give you a more detailed and correct ID.

Best Regards,
PillipedeBreeder

Thank you! I really like this little guy. He isnt visually impressive, but has character. He plays dead if he sees me, very convincingly. It takes water, air, or sitting still for a LONG time to get him to move. But when I manage to see him when he doesn't see me, he tends to dig into the banana offered.
Edit: I found him on feces, if it helps

 

[Godzilla90fan]

You’re unlikely to find good information on captive breeding of this species. Most insects that are commonly kept as pets are able to be successfully kept as pets because they are food generalists. This gives the erroneous impression that most insects can eat a wide variety of foods. The truth is that a great many herbivorous insects require one specific plant, or a narrow range of plants, often in the same family, which creates distinct challenges for breeding in captivity. If you’re collecting herbivorous insects in the wild, it’s generally a good idea to collect some of the plant you find the critter on, because that is highly likely to be an appropriate food plant for it.

If you want to breed this species, you may need several dogbane plants in your home, especially since they will need to deposit their eggs on living dogbane leaves. It may be a challenge finding a way to set things up so that you can maintain the plant’s health while providing sufficient food for the beetles.

Thanks for the advice. I researched dogbane plants, found about 10 in a nearby field. I put 3 leaves in with my 2 dog dogbane beetles and they devoured them within a few hours. You saved this little experiment
And great advice! I knew larger animals can be extremely picky (like pandas), but didn't know beetles would be like that. Many thanks again

 

[Postmalone35]

Yes. Try to keep a wild source of dog bane leaves.

 

[PillipedeBreeder]

Hello,
just like I thought. That’s definitely no Osmoderma , nor any other flower beetle.
It’s for sure a dung beetle/ eart-boring dung beetle (Scarabaeinae/Geotrupidae). Unfortunately I don‘t remember seeing a taxa with that kind of interesting morphology and can’t ID it without further research.

Best Regards,
PillipedeBreeder

 

[Godzilla90fan]

Hello,
just like I thought. That’s definitely no Osmoderma , nor any other flower beetle.
It’s for sure a dung beetle/ eart-boring dung beetle (Scarabaeinae/Geotrupidae). Unfortunately I don‘t remember seeing a taxa with that kind of interesting morphology and can’t ID it without further research.

Best Regards,
PillipedeBreeder

I'd assumed he was a dung beetle at first, but couldn't find a native species to NC in a ID list I use. Still pretty cool, he eats dung but seems to prefer fruit. Is playing dead a common trait of dung beetles? I know click beetles play dead.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Thank you! I really like this little guy. He isnt visually impressive, but has character. He plays dead if he sees me, very convincingly. It takes water, air, or sitting still for a LONG time to get him to move. But when I manage to see him when he doesn't see me, he tends to dig into the banana offered.
Edit: I found him on feces, if it helps

Definitely not a dogbane leaf beetle! Try to get some clear photos showing the full dorsal and ventral sides.

 

[Godzilla90fan]

Definitely not a dogbane leaf beetle! Try to get some clear photos showing the full dorsal and ventral sides.

I know the pictured beetles aren't dogbanes, thats a seperate species I found and posted for ID. The others I have are definitely dogbanes, both by appearances and them halfway starving themselves until I added dogbane leaves

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

I know the pictured beetles aren't dogbanes, thats a seperate species I found and posted for ID. The others I have are definitely dogbanes, both by appearances and them halfway starving themselves until I added dogbane leaves

D'oh, I missed that these ones were the ones you thought were Osmoderma. Sorry

 

[Godzilla90fan]

D'oh, I missed that these ones were the ones you thought were Osmoderma. Sorry

It's okay the dogsbanes are so gorgeous it's hard to mistake them in a guide

 

[Sfitchi2000]

Thank you! I really like this little guy. He isnt visually impressive, but has character. He plays dead if he sees me, very convincingly. It takes water, air, or sitting still for a LONG time to get him to move. But when I manage to see him when he doesn't see me, he tends to dig into the banana offered.
Edit: I found him on feces, if it helps

Your dung beetle looks like Deltochilum gibbosum. Cool species!