Sun beetle pupa

[voxaz]

This is my first time raising beetles from grubs, I haven't been able to find much info concerning the pupa stage. 6 of them are currently in that stage, at least 2 of them are looking to be nearly ready, and at least one of them is pretty much done. They're all in dirt cocoons (some are half open because of they way they were made). I've seen a couple videos showing the stages and most of the beetles are either not in cocoons at this stage, or the person handling them breaks it open. Do I need to do this or should I wait until the beetle comes out on its own?

 

[mantisfan101]

No no no no no no x1000! A pupating beetle is at the most vulnerable time of its life. Especially for cetoniidae, the they absolutely need the pupae to properly develop. I believe sun beetles are a little more forgiving with errors but I’m only used to NA beetles. Try to disturb them as little as possible and leave them be. Handling the pupae will do much more harm than good. If they’re half open that’s ok since you’ll be able to see what’s inside but leave them be. Like i always say there is literally nothing more painful than having your grub which you so tenderly cared for pupate only to let your greed take over and dig it up, either smashing the pupae or crushing the elytra as it emerges from its cocoon. Trust me on this one, it’s not pleasant at all. Patience is key, and it also makes the long wait much worth it. Also, if you really enjoy keeping beetles and plan on breeding them in the future I would highly recommend Orin’s big book on breeding beetles. It’s quite pricey but is an absolute Godsend and vital to anyone who plans on keeping these long term.

 

[voxaz]

Oh I hope you didn't think I meant actually breaking the pupa, I meant like this:

The beetle is visible inside the dirt cocoon, there's no pupa casing around it that I can see, and it keeps moving in there every now and again
I would never do this with the fully formed cocoons since I have no idea what stage they're at

 

[mantisfan101]

Whoops my bad, I suppose that that’d be fine and you could do it but you’d have to be sure that the beetles actually emerged. Nonetheless I’m pretty sure that it’ll be fine since the beetles had fully emerged. Sorry for the misclarification!