Japanese beetle ID

[Malkavian]

Friend of mine is over in Japan the past week, they caught this specimen, and yes it's sitting on the guy's ear in this photo

No clue what species it might be, since beetles are so popular over there I was wondering if it might be a release/escapee or what.

 

[Randolph XX()]

Allomyrina dithotomus
the most common beetle from Japan, Taiwan, and southern parts China

 

[Malkavian]

Are they common as a pet species? My friend is looking to aquire some since they saw that once specimen in the wild

 

[Randolph XX()]

yes
they are the most common species since hobbyist has kept beetles as pets
big ones can reach 90 mm, just need to fedd the larvae nutritious substrate(get the costumize rhinosarus beetle substrate will save u much more time to mix for this typical species) and keep the disturbence to minimum

 

[galeogirl]

Wow, that's a great-looking beetle. Are they a species that can be imported to the U.S.?

 

[NiGHTS]

The common name is Kabuto beetle, or Kabutomushi. The design of some of the samurai helmets (with the pointed decorations on the front) were actually inspired by this beetle. I'm not sure if you need a permit to keep them in the USA or not. However, there is one guy selling larvae right now on the petbugs classifieds. Check out http://www.petbugs.com/classifieds/usa-classifieds.html and look at the posts from Aug 2nd, from a guy named Blue_Eyes. I've never dealt with him before, but he seems to be one of the few people who consistently offers this type of beetle for sale.

 

[Randolph XX()]

Samurai helmets are inspired by Stag Beetles, Probably, Dorcus sp.

 

[xBurntBytheSunx]

i've been interested in rhino beetles for a while but they are so expensive i can't justify buying any. it would be nice if we could import so cheaply

 

[scavenger]

This beetle looks familiar to me..... Hmmm......

 

[MattM]

rhino beetles rock! I loved them ever since I was a kid, reading my dad's animal enceclopedia. Really awesome looking beetles! Same goes for the stag beetles.

btw, can both species be kept together in one tank? Don't think so, but it's just a question.