Goliath Beetle

[8ball]

Does anybody here own a goliath beetle? If you do can you post some pics and tell me where you got it, and are they any trouble to take care of?

 

[Mr. Mordax]

I don't know where you live, but I'm pretty sure there's currently an exportation ban because of reduced numbers in the wild. Arthropod museums are lucky if they have a preserved specimen, and there have been reports of specimen thefts from some museums. They're very coveted in among the entomological folk.

 

[lucanidae]

I have four different dried specimens of four different species. The collection here where I go to school has draws and draws of them. None live though.

 

[ftorres]

Hello All,
I am asumming you live in the US of A, if so.
To own beetles like this, you need a permit (live specimens)

If you are looking for some of them to buy, you need to check the Inverts adds on the net. I know there are several European breeders who from time to time rear grubs to adulthood and some time they are WC from Africa.
good luck finding some.

To rear the grubs is dificult as well as getting them to puppate right.

FT

 

[Mat]

Does anybody here own a goliath beetle? If you do can you post some pics and tell me where you got it, and are they any trouble to take care of?

Adult Goliath beetles only live a few months at the most, by far the longer part of their life cycle is spent as a grub. They used to be a very sought after live beetle as they were thought to be almost impossible to breed and the only way to get a live one was to import it from Africa. Wild imports still happen on a fairly regular basis, assuming one can find a reliable dealer over there, but there has been some success at breeding them in captivity.

Goliath Breeding Manual http://www.naturalworlds.org/goliathus/manual/Goliathus_breeding_1.htm

Captive bred larvae are also available, places like Coleoptera XXL http://www.coleoptera-xxl.de offer them for sale on a fairly regualar basis and have some available now. I'm going over to a large insect fair in Hamm in Germany this weekend, some Goliath larvae are at the top of my 'wants' list. If you are in the USA you will need various permits to be allowed to import and keep these beetles.

Matt