Sunburst Diving Beetles

[shoegazer]

This was what was crossing me up...some natural history info I had read on Thermonectus marmoratus said they lay in sand/mud underwater, while most other Dytiscids lay either on submerged plant stems or actually deposit the eggs into the stems.

They definitely must have a land area to pupate.

 

[beetleman]

Hey beetleman, you spraked my interest in the sunbursts again. I had them about 2 or 3 years ago and I kept them in a tank with a divider so it was about 70% water and 30% land. I couldn't find any information on how to care for or rear them so thats why I went with that setup. For all I knew, they laid their eggs on the land/mud. Can you just give me a quick description of the tank setup needed for them???? Was the bottom of the tank mud/peat or sand??? Lots of live plants right?? How about any filtration?? I would love to try breeding these guys.

my tank was setup like yours,i had gravel on the bottom,live plants etc,i didn't think they were going to breed,wasn't planning on it,just wanted to have a bunch of them in there and watch them feed,swim, but then i saw saw the big eggs pushed onto the plants,right below the waterline,they hatched and there were a bunch of tiny.......i mean tiny watertigers everywhere,the one i got out was in a small deli cup shallow water/moss,it then crawled out of the water(when it was time) and pupated in the moss,very interesting,cool beetles:worship: :clap: