Hercules beetles

[lukatsi]

I keep these beasts (Dynastes hercules hercules, to be exact) for 2 years now. I've got two pairs of L3 larvae, but only the two males have hatched... I've bought a female (from Japan!!), so now I have lots of larvae. They will hatch in about 5 months.

Young L3 larva:

L3 larva:

Female going to burrow to the substrate:

Male, about 12,5 cm:

Two males, the brown one is just hatched:

The enclosure, now without beetles (just for mushiking):

Anybody keeping beetles here?

Mark

 

[loxoscelesfear]

those are awesome. my dynastes tityus grubs just changed over to adults, it took 2 years!

 

[mushiking]

The beetles I've kept are xyloptrupes gideon (about 30) and chalcosoma atlas and 2 cockchafers.

 

[mushiking]

How common are hercules beetles in pet stores?

 

[lukatsi]

Here in Europe, you won't find them in petstores. You can buy beetles from breeders and on insect fairs, maybe from zoos. In Japan there are lots of beetle hobbyists and they have beetle shops, where you can buy everything!
There are some breeding groups that sell worldwide, if you are interested I can send you links (I'm thinking of buying some Megasoma and stag beetles).

Dynastes hercules needs about 12-18 months (males need more time) to develop, but I've read that Megasoma actaeon spends 2.5 years as a larva!

 

[MysticDragon]

Well, there is one online shop that sells lots of these bugs. It is in Germany http://www.coleoptera-xxl.de/cgi-bi...ain&wkid=59172501056378115&nocache=1222880135 If anyone will buy from this shop, please write here how it is going, cuz i want to buy some too, but i dont know if this site is verified

Btw, Lukatsi, can you post the link of the shop in Japan ?

 

[mushiking]

MysticDragon, do they ship to the Philippines?

 

[MysticDragon]

Well, i don't know. I think they don't ship to Philippines I think you could find in US more breeders, that sell these bugs

 

[Warren Bautista]

wow u guys are lucky, here in the usa beetles are somewhat of a rarity in the market. mushiking, filipino pride!

 

[mushiking]

Does anyone know the game Mushiking other than me?

 

[lukatsi]

Here are some sites that sells beetles, I don't know if any of the shops in Japan have websites:

http://www.insectweb.org/titan/ - from Taiwan
http://screw-wholesale.myweb.hinet.net/ - from Taiwan, I've heard good and bad about them, too

It is worth to look at these classifieds, you can find things quite cheap sometimes:

http://www.terraristik.com/sticklist/index.php
http://www.eurofauna.com/index.php
http://www.insectads.com/index.php

I don't have experience with any of them, but planning to buy from the first one. I keep Chalcosoma caucasus, too, the female just layed the eggs, but I haven't bothered them yet.

 

[MysticDragon]

Nice, thanks for the links. When you buy from them, please, write good and bad things about the first shop

 

[Kasha]

oh my! Is that a fringe of fuzz on the little beetle butts I see?! They just let ya hold them? Crazy beautiful!

 

[lukatsi]

Yes there are some yellow hairs on them. And they stay pretty calm when handled, only the larvae try to burrow back to the substrate.

 

[ShellsandScales]

How much USD do these typically go for I love the big horned beetles!!!

 

[lukatsi]

The larvae are relatively cheap, around 10 USD L1, 20-30 USD L3, but it depends on subspecies, too. As for the beetles, the starting price is 100 dollars, but a 15 cm long male can cost 500 bucks!

 

[mushiking]

Hey lukatsi, try doing this keep 1 hercules beetle male in a drier enviroment while the other male in a more humid enviroment. It said that the elytra of the hercules beetle will be darker when it's more humid.

 

[toolrick]

Hey there!!!

I love those beatles. I have only seen one dead in the wild near to my house here in Colombia. I wanted to keep them, but I have heard that is very difficult to raise them. How do you manage to raise those boys???

 

[lukatsi]

Hey lukatsi, try doing this keep 1 hercules beetle male in a drier enviroment while the other male in a more humid enviroment. It said that the elytra of the hercules beetle will be darker when it's more humid.

I'll try this if I'll have beetles again Now I have female prepupae, and big male larvae, so I hope in a few months I'll have adults. They also have various wing patterns, spots and scratch-like black lines. There's a blue-winged variant, too, but I've only seen it on pictures.

 

[mushiking]

When you mean blue winged is it really blue or white blue. If it's white blue then it's the blue hercules beetle(dynastes hercules lichyi according to my mushiking card). It can become 173mm i think. It's aggressive.