First Successful captive breeding and rearing of warrior beetles!

dragonfire1577

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Oct 7, 2015
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Back in April I obtained a few Pasimachus sp. In may after their temperatures increased and I increased moisture I discovered one relatively large egg in with my female who had been exposed to males earlier in the spring. I had previously heard breeding these guys was impossible so I placed the egg in a moist vial with a 50/50 sand and eco earth mix but didn't expect it to hatch until 5 days later when I found the egg empty and a 1/4 inch black larvae in the vial. The larvae grew at an astounding rate over the summer eating tons of roaches and to my surprise thriving. On September 18th I noticed him in a chamber up against the side of the enclosure in a weird arched position and on the 26th he successfully pupated. Well today he successfully emerge into an absolutely massive specimen making this the first successful captive breeding and rearing to adulthood of Pasimachus sp. in recorded history. It was a very fast process which was quite different then expected. The larvae could very often be seen patrolling and hunting on the surface quite actively like the adults and occasionally burrowing in the moist sand/eco earth mix I kept him on. I will upload images of his lifecycle shortly.
 

pannaking22

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That's awesome, congrats on the successful rearing! Glad to see that it's possible to get this genus going and it seems relatively easy at that! How often were you feeding it?
 

dragonfire1577

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That's awesome, congrats on the successful rearing! Glad to see that it's possible to get this genus going and it seems relatively easy at that! How often were you feeding it?
He got 2 smaller roaches or one larger one a week so a very similar feeding schedule to what I use for the adults. I usually crippled them for him and larger prey items would feed him a few days and he'd gorge himself.
 

dragonfire1577

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The most surprising thing for me was that he hatched so big, grew and reached pupation so fast, and that he was a pupae less than a month.
 

Hisserdude

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Awesome man, glad it enclosed successfully! :D Congrats on being the first person to successfully rear this genus! Now you just have to find a way to create a sustainable captive population...
 

BobBarley

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I don't see the pic:eek::confused:

Congrats man!!!!:astonished: One small step for Pasimachus reproduction, one giant leap for Pasimachus rearing.
 

dragonfire1577

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So breeding seems to be simply cooling in the winter and introduction in early march and the female lays around may. I kept mine very moist which may help but I'm not sure that had anything to do with it. The larvae rearing is just to keep it moist and feed crippled prey once or twice a week and pupation is in the fall.
 

ErinM31

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So breeding seems to be simply cooling in the winter and introduction in early march and the female lays around may. I kept mine very moist which may help but I'm not sure that had anything to do with it. The larvae rearing is just to keep it moist and feed crippled prey once or twice a week and pupation is in the fall.
That's awesome! Congratulations!!! :astonished:

Did you need to cool the larva to induce pupation?

You should definitely detail your experience in an article for Invertebrates Magazine! :D
 
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dragonfire1577

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So I made an attempt again earlier this year and never made a post on it. I dried the sub a bit in the winter and as my house got a little warmer I introduced them in a group and increased the moisture levels just like last time. What basically happened the first time was, in spring I realized I was keeping them too dry and they shouldn't be together so I increased moisture and separated. The egg was the happy accident that resulted. This year introducing, then increasing temps and moisture was sadly a failure. I lost most of the beetles quite quickly including the little guy I bred last year but I may make another attempt in the future as rearing the larvae was easy enough should I figure out the secret to getting the first egg.
 

dragonfire1577

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The secret for larvae rearing though seems to be moist 50/50 sand and eco-earth so It can hold burrows and eventually a pupation chamber. Just gotta figure out how to get good eggs again.
 

Hisserdude

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Apr 18, 2015
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I've got an L3 Pasimachus larvae that is making a pupal cell right now, my adult female produced two eggs early this summer, only one hatched though. I didn't do anything different in terms of humidity this year than last year, they've been kept consistently moist the whole time. I did feed them less in the winter though, and ramped up food availability in late spring/early summer, so I think that's what got my female to oviposit. Super excited for my larva to pupate, hopefully it'll turn into a nice adult! :D
 
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