Prionotheca Coronata/ Radiant sun beetle/ Urchin beetle keeping tips?

[HobbyistLukasz]

Hello there everybody ,

I've received 5 Prionotheca Coronata today , these fantastic bulky little beasts seem quite uncommon over here in the ol' UK and seemingly everywhere else. Information online is incredibly sparse so I'm just wondering if anyone has any more in depth keeping information?

At current the few UK sites I have found to have stocked them before suggest 24c-28c day temps , down to around 20c for nights on a dry sand substrate.
I have set mine up similar to colony of BFDB I've been keeping , small heat mat on the side of tank with thermostat at around 28c to give a heat gradient , sand substrate mixed with some coir and soil for 2/3rd the floor space and then 1/3rd of the enclosure with higher percentage sand/soil/coir and shredded leaf litter and rotten woodchips that occasionally would get a light misting. My BFDB have been doing great like this so I feel confident they should be alright too but if there's anything more tailored to these I would prefer to sort that out as soon as I can .

Most sites recommend standard Darkling beetle diet of fruits , veggies , greens , dry dog foods or dried insects . Is there any other known specific dietary needs for these guys?

In Orin McMonigle's "The Complete Guide to Rearing Darkling Beetles" he states specifically on these that 'females lay readily' and that "larvae were observed hanging out in driest areas of the substrate" . Does anyone know where there might be any more information on rearing? I have looked for hours and there seems to be very little else. I know these might be difficult to rear but as I have a mixed group I'll be giving it a go as best an amateur hobbyist can.

anyways thanks for reading and for any advise anyone can offer!


Photo of one of the ones I have received for your viewing pleasure !

 

[ColeopteraC]

Hello there everybody ,

I've received 5 Prionotheca Coronata today , these fantastic bulky little beasts seem quite uncommon over here in the ol' UK and seemingly everywhere else. Information online is incredibly sparse so I'm just wondering if anyone has any more in depth keeping information?

At current the few UK sites I have found to have stocked them before suggest 24c-28c day temps , down to around 20c for nights on a dry sand substrate.
I have set mine up similar to colony of BFDB I've been keeping , small heat mat on the side of tank with thermostat at around 28c to give a heat gradient , sand substrate mixed with some coir and soil for 2/3rd the floor space and then 1/3rd of the enclosure with higher percentage sand/soil/coir and shredded leaf litter and rotten woodchips that occasionally would get a light misting. My BFDB have been doing great like this so I feel confident they should be alright too but if there's anything more tailored to these I would prefer to sort that out as soon as I can .

Most sites recommend standard Darkling beetle diet of fruits , veggies , greens , dry dog foods or dried insects . Is there any other known specific dietary needs for these guys?

In Orin McMonigle's "The Complete Guide to Rearing Darkling Beetles" he states specifically on these that 'females lay readily' and that "larvae were observed hanging out in driest areas of the substrate" . Does anyone know where there might be any more information on rearing? I have looked for hours and there seems to be very little else. I know these might be difficult to rear but as I have a mixed group I'll be giving it a go as best an amateur hobbyist can.

anyways thanks for reading and for any advise anyone can offer!


Photo of one of the ones I have received for your viewing pleasure !

View attachment 372753

Hmmm,

It seems that the care (and breeding conditions) align with that of DFB’s so I’d look into breeding tips on those for info. There are a few threads on this sub-section I believe.

It may also be worth attempting to contact Orin about this, I’m sure he has a public email address.

 

[pannaking22]

He's here on AB, let me tag him real quick @Elytra and Antenna

 

[HobbyistLukasz]

Hmmm,

It seems that the care (and breeding conditions) align with that of DFB’s so I’d look into breeding tips on those for info. There are a few threads on this sub-section I believe.

It may also be worth attempting to contact Orin about this, I’m sure he has a public email address.

Yeah thats what it seems like to me so I'm hopeful to see some larvae in a few months as I have some BFDB ones in grow out cups doing okay and going to attempt the heat induced pupation Dean rider has shown to work for those.
As I have a basic incubator setup If I get prionotheca larvae I intend to leave some at grow temps and try the same heat levels as the BFDB larvae when they're looking large and see what goes down

Thats if these lot don't die of old age before then, never know with the wild caughts how they're doing really .

He's here on AB, let me tag him real quick @Elytra and Antenna

Cheers for that ! Sorry new to the forum , working out all the functions still

 

[pannaking22]

Cheers for that ! Sorry new to the forum , working out all the functions still

No worries, welcome to the forum! And it's hard to know who all is around here until you've hung out for a while

 

[Arthroverts]

I know @Hisserdude and @BepopCola have done a lot of research on this species, perhaps they can answer some of your questions as well?

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Hisserdude]

They are quite similar to Cryptoglossa and Asbolus in terms of care, larvae are cannibalistic like in those two genera and should be isolated as soon as they're spotted. They like warm temps and larger larvae can suffer from mismolts if kept below 75F°, however they don't require a sudden spike in temps to pupate, they just like it consistently warm throughout their life cycle. Larvae like a vertical humidity gradient and if kept completely bone dry will dessicate. You're gonna want to mainly use sand as their substrate, if the substrate is too chunky they probably won't do well.

 

[HobbyistLukasz]

They are quite similar to Cryptoglossa and Asbolus in terms of care, larvae are cannibalistic like in those two genera and should be isolated as soon as they're spotted. They like warm temps and larger larvae can suffer from mismolts if kept below 75F°, however they don't require a sudden spike in temps to pupate, they just like it consistently warm throughout their life cycle. Larvae like a vertical humidity gradient and if kept completely bone dry will dessicate. You're gonna want to mainly use sand as their substrate, if the substrate is too chunky they probably won't do well.

Amazing info , thank you so much ! Similiar to how I'm keeping the Blue larvae atm with a humidity gradient .
Glad the larvae can just be kept warm rather than the Asbolus pupation method needed, means a bit less of a headache about it Exciting stuff !
I think I will sieve out the current substrate to make it finer and add a bit more sand to be sure for the main enclosure

I'll update if I have any successes.
The beetles have been active and boy can they move when disturbed !

 

[BepopCola]

Not 100% sure if required, but a moderate misting in a section of the enclosure induced egg-laying in mine. I also observed lots of water drinking from a water-dish inbetween egg-laying cycles.

 

[Palearctic Buthidae]

Tell me, did you manage to breed this species? Some of these beetles were brought to me and I would really like to breed them. If anyone knows, could you describe the conditions of keeping and breeding in more detail?

…and tell me please how to determine the gender?