Tenebrionid beetle diet?

AviculariaLover

Arachnoknight
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Oct 20, 2006
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The insect museum on my campus has various live insects, one of which is some sort of tenebrionid beetle according to the label on the tank, which was picked up when a student went on a trip to Arizona. I'm not sure how long they've had it, it's been at least a year.

My question is: what should we be feeding it? No one has seemed to take much time to figure out the exact species either.

This is what it looks like:


We've been giving it fish food flakes and various fresh fruits, I'm not sure what it might be eating. Somehow it is staying alive... any tips?
 

arachnocat

Arachnoangel
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Nov 27, 2005
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I think it might be Cryptoglossa verrucosa. I couldn't find any info about what they eat. Hatari invertebrates sells similar ones, they may be able to answer your question. They know alot about Arizona bugs.
 

AviculariaLover

Arachnoknight
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Oct 20, 2006
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With some searching on bugguide.net I determined it seems to be Cryptoglossa, but I'm not sure if it's that exact species, the verrucosa is a powdery blue with bumps... this one is smoother.

The link on bugguide:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/38729/bgimage

Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can get any ideas from Hatari inverts.
 

Acro

Aziz! Light!
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Mar 1, 2006
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Blue Death Feigning Beetle

First thing I thought of when I saw that picture was "Blue Death Feigning Beetle". Check out "WhatsThatBug.com" and look up "Death Feigning Beetle, Cryptoglossa verrucosa and/or Ironclad Beetle. You could even submit your picture and get their ideas. When you mess with that beetle does it "play dead"? Either way, weather that is the exact species or not, it is totally a Darkling beetle and darklings feed on all sorts of things. dead bugs (fish food will work fine as will cat food, dog food, ect.), fruit/veggies/leaves, decaying matter (leaves, rotten wood, ect.), and fungus. Try feeding them some organic mushrooms sometime. I used to keep some of these beetles and they were fun lil guys. Hope the info helps!
 

Acro

Aziz! Light!
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2006
Messages
235
Also...

Also, they can live a while. Ive had some Darkling beetles live up to 2 or 3 years if I remember correctly.
 
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