Lucanus elaphus cage

[billrogers]

I caught a female Lucanus elaphus and I am hoping she will lay eggs for me so I'm making sure I have her cage set up correctly becasue they seem to be more picky with egg laying than the other species I've kept. I put her in a five gallon bucket that has about 6 inches of rotten wood and some rotten plant matter (mostly leaves) mixed, a few inches of larger rotten wood chunks, and a inch or two of rotting leaves and wood on top of that, all cover with some dead leaves. Sound alright?

 

[Jacob Ma]

Lucky you! I tried to go hunting for at least some larvae, but none would show up. For some reason, the only large flower/stag/rhino beetles that I find are husks of them.

 

[billrogers]

Lucky you! I tried to go hunting for at least some larvae, but none would show up. For some reason, the only large flower/stag/rhino beetles that I find are husks of them.

That stinks! Lucanus elaphus are pretty common, but I also find Lucanus capreolus, which makes identifying females a pain.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Try large pieces of whole, completely rotten logs buried in the substrate. They'll chew burrows into it to lay eggs and if the pieces of wood are not sufficiently large, they won't lay since the pieces would not have enough wood for the larvae to complete development. I recommend something around 4 inches minimum in diameter and as long as could fit in the enclosure.

 

[billrogers]

Try large pieces of whole, completely rotten logs buried in the substrate. They'll chew burrows into it to lay eggs and if the pieces of wood are not sufficiently large, they won't lay since the pieces would not have enough wood for the larvae to complete development. I recommend something around 4 inches minimum in diameter and as long as could fit in the enclosure.

Unfortunately she died, I'm not sure why though. Maybe I'll be able to find another.