Bahamut Beetles Breeding

Dear all,

Another great breeding cycle of Mecynorhina torquata ugandensis has given me once again very large beetles; I've never changed the way I keep the larvae, yet I've added a little more decaying wood to the substrate with every now and then (only every 2 weeks) some protein additives. M. t. ugandensis do not really need these (as compared to M. polyphemus ssp. or any sp. of Goliathus), but it seems this can help along with the lower temperature (20°C on the average). This time I have been really close to the 80 mm mark again with one male just passing 79 mm, not yet 80 mm! Other males usually measured 75+ mm.

Please enjoy:

MTU male 1 (75 mm - full black):

MTU male 2 (77 mm - green/brown):

MTU male 3 (78 mm - red/green/orange):

MTU male 4 (78 mm - blue/brown):

MTU male 5 (79+ mm - green/brown):

MTU male (60 mm - full blue):

MTU female 1 (60+ mm - emerald green):

MTU female 2 (60 mm - blue/black/violet):

MTU female 3 (57 mm - blue/black):

MTU female 4 (57 mm - green/brown):

All of these will continue breeding; I am trying to expand as many breeding lines as possible (divided by color or by parental lineage to keep the bloodlines strong). More to come!

Dear all,

Finally, some of my Megasoma actaeon from Peru have started constructing their pupal cells. It took almost 3 years to complete the larval cycle, both males and females (there is no difference!). Moreover, it is incredible to see (I've had the same happening to my previous M. actaeon breeding) that most of the larvae being bred separately still happen to pupate during the same period of time.

Please enjoy the following pictures:

A 115 g larva pupated already:

136 g larva became a very nice pupa with large horns:

In the meanwhile, I've noticed that the heavier larvae have also started to build their pupal cells, including the 161 g heavy one.

More to come!

Dear all,

Once again, it’s been some time ago since I’ve posted any news on my blog, but the next topic is worth mentioning I think.

About 1,5 years ago, I got the chance/privilege to breed the infamous Goliathus goliathus. I received some larvae from my British breeder friend Ian who advised me to give it a shot.

Although I have always been very skeptic for breeding this species (it is quite hard to breed, especially since their diet consists about 80% out of protein food such as dried dog or cat food, koi pellets, dried Gammarus shrimps, etc., thus the larvae need to be fed very regularly; at least once every 3-4 days) and until that given moment I did not want to have this type of beetle in my breeding (many breeders here tried breeding Goliathus sp. and mainly got dying larvae, pupal deaths or very minor/deformed adults).

I got in total 10 early L3 larvae of which 4 males and 6 females. I kept these in 1 L. buckets filled with relatively dry/medium humidified substrate (decaying wood + leaf humus) and added each 3-4 days one dried dog pellet (Baker’s Complete Meaty Meal).

Remarkably enough, the larvae started growing relatively quickly; females reached 45-55 g while males reached 55-65 g with one exceptional male growing up to 86 g. Even if I was slightly enthusiastic for these measurements, still my skepticism remained as I knew I would have to say goodbye to these larvae as soon as they would start pupation. As I’ve heard, the pupation stage is an extremely sensitive stage for Goliathus sp., especially when it comes to humidity (must be kept very dry) or disturbance (opening the cocoon after a few weeks like for Mecynorhina sp. is an absolute no-no).

At a given point, after around 12-15 months, the larvae started wandering: I found them crawling around the top of their buckets in circles; that’s when I knew it was time to place them in the larger pupation buckets, each filled with a mixture of sandy and drier leaf humus and their older substrate; this looked more like a very slightly humid brownish “cement” mix. The larvae disappeared in their larger buckets and I waited for at least 3-4 months.

After that period, I got quite anxious to see what happened and immediately took the bucket with the largest larva of all (the 86 g one) and found to my surprise a large “Easter egg” on the bottom (the soil was very compacted near the bottom of the bucket, so I needed to carefully dig around it). The cocoon measured close to 95 mm and I placed it in a separate box with slight aeration on a thin layer of relatively dry substrate. I waited another 2-3 months.

2-3 months later and convinced that I would find a darkened, dead and decaying larva or pupa inside, I carefully opened the cocoon. To my big surprise, this one did not die; in fact, the adult beetle inside was well alive and practically perfectly formed. With a size of 86 mm, it is not even such a small one. The overall type is definitely Goliathus goliathus var. conspersus.

Please enjoy the pictures.

I checked 2 other buckets but apparently the larvae were still wandering in them, so for the moment I left these alone still. More news will follow.

Hello,

This year, the breeding of Mecynorhina torquata ugandensis was very satisfactory. I have had larvae that weighed up to 55-56 g right before pupation and average full L3 weights up to 46 g.

Most of the MTU adults became 70+ mm large males or 55+ mm females with even some exceptional individuals. My largest female this year ended up measuring 61 mm and a male reached 76/77 mm. Most other males ended up at 73-74 mm.

These results can be seemingly achieved by lowering the temperature range to 18-21°C instead of the classic 20-25°C (mostly recommended as typical rearing temperature of the larvae), next to the fact of always providing the larvae with optimal substrate (50% wood and 50% leaf humus). The larvae will grow slower and sometimes take up to 1,5-2 years; however, the weight each larva reaches will be significantly higher than the ones reared above 22°C

Currently, I am trying to further improve my breeding by adding some protein additives to the substrate. Apparently, dried Gammarus shrimp, dried pellets for kitten, koi carp pellets and/or dried dog pellets seem to work fine. I am using dried dog pellets (Bakers Complete Meaty Meals) and dried Gammarus shrimp. This might give a good protein boost to the larvae, but I am also convinced that a separate breeding of the L3 larvae might give an even bigger growth; this would then be the next challenge. For now, I am trying the additives (these worked very well for my M. polyphemus confluens breeding this year).

Please enjoy the pictures:

Dear all,

It's been ages since I have posted here due to the lack of time these past months.

However, I will try to proceed again with my frequent posts, especially since the breeding is still going quite well.

Featured here is one of the heaviest/most massive/bulkiest beetle species in the world: Megasoma actaeon (more specifically, from the Amazonian rainforest from Peru.

I've had the chance to start breeding these around 2 years ago as very young L1 (F1-generation, the original female was wild caught) and both males and females have already reached remarkable weights.

The trick seems to be to give these a larger portion of leaf humus (I provide them with 60% humus and 40% wood) and well mixed with the wood during all larval stages. Next to that, I also kept the larvae together (even during L3: 2 large L3 larvae per 10 L box) until these reached a weight of over 130 g.

In the meanwhile, we're a little over 2 years now and these are the weights:

This is quite promising! I hope to get nice 110+ mm adult males, at least for the heavier ones of 143 g and 161 g.

To be continued...

Dear all,

This year, I got pretty lucky with my Mecynorhina torquata ugandensis breeding. I added some more wood to the substrate each time and kept the temperature at a solid 19-21°C. This helped me obtain larger individuals than before (more leaf substrate and higher temperatures), although the larval cycle takes much longer then (around 1,5 to almost 2 years).

These are my first hatched males:

Male 1: full blue 74 mm

Male 2: red orange 67 mm

The 2 males together (what a difference in colour for only 1 species! Always nice to see!):

More hatchings:

Male 3: full blue 76 mm! My largest male so far this year:

Male 4: beautiful green with an orange/red glow (never seen it this strong) 74 mm:

Still more to come! Soon again an update!

Please enjoy some more hatching Mecynorhina torquata ugandensis (more pictures will be added in the following weeks):

Finally, a picture of a massive Dicronorrhina derbyana derbyana larva (16 g is an exceptional weight, knowing that the biggest larvae of this species tend to reach 12-14 g):

This is my first attempt to breed with the "smallest" subspecies of Dynastes hercules: the reidi ssp. I received these as early L1 around 6 months ago. I have to be honest, I don't even know whether these are from the reidi type (St-Lucia) or the baudri type (Martinique), but time will tell as soon as the adult males hatch.

I've been breeding the larvae at a constant 20-21°C with classic Dynastes sp. substrate (finely shredded decomposing oak/beech wood and leaf humus) and up untill now the larvae are growing slow but steady. Moreover, they're still very white, although I already have them for over 6 months.

The biggest larva currently weighs near 50 g (a male of course) which is already a positive sign (usually, when larvae of a certain species do not adapt to the substrate (e.g. flake soil vs. naturally decaying substrate), the larvae stagnate at the early L3 stage and remain at an average weight of 30-35 g for a prolonged time before finally dying, a very demotivating process).

I would already be very happy if the male larvae reach 60 g or more. I understood nice sizes can be obtained from 70+ g onwards.

Here are 2 pictures of the heaviest male larvae:

Currently I have one heavyweight female of 73 g (last month’s change even revealed her to weigh 75 g!!!) and a male of 95 g. I am confident the female should reach at least 70 mm in size as an adult beetle and I am hoping the male will continue to increase in weight (at least up to 100 g):

Here are some pictures of my own bred D. h. paschoali adults. You can see that both the male and female are being characterized by the white eyes, a very rare genetic aberration. So, normally the next generation of beetles bred out of this pair should have 100% white eyes.

It’s been quite a while again since my last writing, but here are some new results of my Mecynorhina polyphemus confluens breeding:

Most of the larvae pupated around mid-January, meaning their whole larval cycle only took 6 months approx. (I received the parental adults in July 2014). I’ve never experienced this before for beetles of this size (I am confident to say that M. p. confluens is amongst one of those species that produces large sized beetles within a very fast larval cycle)!

Amongst the larvae that I had, 3 exceptional males already hatched, measuring resp. 68-69-70 mm in length exactly (max. L3 weights 35 g, 37 g and 40 g)! I would have loved to break the 70+ mm, but I still have 1 male that just pupated (max. weight recorded 42 g!) and the horn looks very promising!

Please enjoy the pictures! Growth curves and table will be posted soon!

The monster male in larva at 41 g of weight:

The monster male of 42 g max. larval weight in pupa (expected to be over 70 mm long):

The first hatched male of 63 mm (not that big, max. larval weight 33 g):

The bigger ones:

Male of 70 mm (max. larval weight 40 g):

Another male (69 mm, max. larval weight 35 g):

A male of 68 mm (max. larval weight 37 g):

Some more pictures of the males:

The first adult Mecynorhina torquata ugandensis of this year have hatched and once again the colours are simply stunning. This is one species that always surprises! The weights have been average till now (between 35 g and 40 g); sizes up till now from 50 mm up to 68 mm for males. Please enjoy:

Here's a magnificent 148+ mm Dynastes hercules hercules male bred by my friend Mark Van Bergen (max. larval weight was 114 g):

Caresheet Dynastinae (by Tom Schouteet)

This caresheet represents a good guide for the breeding of the most general species of giant rhinoceros beetles of the subfamily Dynastinae (Dynastes hercules ssp., Megasoma sp.) even though slight changes should be taken into account for some species (Chalcosoma sp.). It is also adequate for smaller species of Dynastinae (Dynastes sp., Allomyrrhina (Trypoxylus)sp., Xylotrupes sp., Oryctes sp., …), but here the dimensions may be changed (size of the rearing boxes, amount of substrate provided…).

Stadia + duration

Egg: 1 to 2 months

L1: approx. 1 to 2 months

L2: approx. 2 months

L3: 12 to 36 months (for Dynastes hercules ssp. - Megasoma sp. resp.)

Wandering + prepupal phase: approx. 1 month

Pupa:  2 months

Imago (adult): dormant phase (diapause + maturation of the reproductive organs) (1 to 1,5 months) + active phase (4 to 12+ months)

Small species usually tend to complete the cycle more rapidly, but they also consume the substrate/food much quicker (a more regular substrate change should be conducted, every month instead of every 1,5 months for the given dimensions in the chapter “Breeding”).

Preparation

Substrate for the larvae

L1 - L2 larvae need the following composition for their substrate:

-          1/3 finely shredded soft white/brownish rotten wood (wood that is easily to be cracked by hand); in order of preference/quality: oak, beech, maple, chestnut, abele, poplar… No resinous wood nor needles (pine trees) should be applied (larval won’t die of it, but they won’t eat it either)

-          2/3 leaf humus (finely shredded rotten leaves or the humus mulch, the layer of fine material located right underneath the top layer of whole brown leaves)

L3 larvae however do feed more on the white/brownish rotten wood; that’s why the ratio here should be increased to 1 : 1 (50 % each) + preferentially have the wood layer on the bottom of each container (the L3 larvae will mainly feed on the wood).

Eggs are to be kept in very fine and moderately humidified leaf humus substrate (never too wet in order to avoid mold).

A good trick for determining the right humidity of the substrate for eggs as well as for the larvae is to grab an amount of substrate in your hand and squeeze it tightly; if the substrate clots upon opening your hand without any water running down from it, the humidity is optimal. Moreover, fresh substrate from the wood should first be acclimatized in the breeding room before being applied to the breeding boxes.

Typical oak/beech forest, very adequate for finding leaf substrate and white/brownish rotten wood (leaf humus can be found right underneath the top layer of whole decaying brown leaves; it is only a few cm thick but you can easily scrape it together). Wood can be found as logs/big branches on the forest floor

Moderately humidified leaf humus ready for use

Finely shredded and moderately humidified white/brownish rotten oak/beech wood ready for use

Breeding containers

Most types of plastic transparent containers are adequate for breeding Dynastinae larvae. Personally, I use different types of plastic boxes/buckets from the brands of Ikea (Sämla series), Braplast 5 L. boxes and Joker 6 L. and 10 L. buckets (with cover lids of course). It is also very important to make a few air holes on the side of each container (only a few are enough; the aeration must be there, but may not decrease the humidity level).

Temperature

The optimal breeding temperature for most Dynastinae hovers around 21 - 23°C, but the range is between 18°C and 25°C for some species.

Breeding

Eggs are kept in a closed box (few air holes!) with fine and moderately humidified leafhumus substrate. The incubation of the eggs usually takes around 1,5 months, so it is best to start looking for the L1 larvae after around 2 months.

L1 – L2 larvae are kept in closed containers (few air holes!) with a mix of finely shredded white/brownish rotten wood and leaf humus (1:3 ratio). This substrate may be entirely mixed to get a homogenous substrate for the larvae to feed on (L1 - L2 larvae usually feed on a wide array of substrate components). 1 L. of substrate suffices for each larva, so it is ok to keep up to 10 L1 - L2 larvae in a box with 10 L. of substrate; hereby, the substrate needs to be changed one time each month for these two first larval instar stages (during the substrate change it is very important to keep at least 1/3 to ¼ of the original substrate in order not to disrupt the microbiological balance in which the larvae feed, i. e. never change the substrate entirely!). After around 3 months, the fat L2 larvae will construct “pseudopupal chambers” in which they will molt to the third larval instar stage L3.

Young L3 larvae (< 50 – 60 g larval weight) are best to be kept separately in at least 5 L. boxes (in order to obtain the best breeding results in terms of adult beetle size). Progressed male L3 larvae (> 60 – 70 g larval weight) are best to be transferred to even bigger containers/buckets of around 7 L. – 10 L. for maximal growth achievement. Female L3 larvae never reach more than 70 – 80 g and may reside in 5 L. boxes for their entire larval cycle (they also don’t need as much space as the male L3 larvae to pupate).

On the other hand, if one wants to continue breeding with these beetles, it is best to at least keep one female and one male L3 larva (from approx. the same age) together in one big breeding box (usually 10 L. boxes are fine for a L3 couple or 15 L. for a L3 trio).

With these given dimensions, substrate change should be done every 1,5 months, in which at least 2/3 of the old substrate is discarded (preferentially the part with the highest amount of larval fecal pellets) and new substrate is added. Again, never change the entire substrate since the microbiological balance within the substrate needs to be kept for optimal larval feeding (therefore, keep at least 1/3 to ¼ of the old substrate, preferentially the part with the lowest amount of larval fecal pellets).

Hereby I personally advise to apply the finely shredded white/brownish rotten wood layer on the bottom of each container/buckets for at least 8 to 10 cm, top it with some fresh leaf humus substrate (a little of the old larval substrate may be mixed in) for the next 5 – 10 cm and top this layer with some of the old larval substrate (from the same larva of course!). Concerning substrate depth, this should be arbitrarily at least 3 – 4 times the biggest width of the larva, but I usually take around 14 – 15 cm for L1-L2 larvae and at least 18 – 20 cm for L3 larvae.

Examples of boxes/buckets perfectly fit for beetle larvae. Please notice the substrate depth and the shredded white/brownish rotten wood part on the bottom of the boxes/buckets

After 12 up to 36 months (Dynastes hercules ssp. take around 12 (for females) to 18 (for males) months for completing their larval cycle, Megasoma sp. 24 up to 36 months for both sexes, depending on which species of Megasoma sp.) the big L3 larvae will show a darker yellowish color on their skin and this will slowly trigger them to start their wandering phase (prepupal phase) in which the larvae will be looking for an adequate location in the breeding box to construct their pupal cell. This phase can be noticed as soon as the larvae start crawling around in and out of the substrate and the substrate surface on the top of the boxes shows a very irregular shape (some larvae will even pile the substrate up to one side of the box). From that point onwards, substrate change should not be done anymore and the larva should be left alone for the whole duration of the pupal period; she will subsequently start building her pupal cell in the “rearranged substrate” (this is noticeable as some kind of “window” through the bottom of the transparent box). After finishing her pupal cell, the larva will become immobile and start the pupation phase: after 2-3 weeks it will pupate and remain as a pupa for the next 2 months in this pupal cell. After hatching as an adult beetle from the pupa, the adult beetle will still need 1 - 1,5 months more before emerging actively on the surface of the substrate (it takes a diapause/stasis period in order to have its reproductive organs matured before being able to reproduce).

Adult beetles, once active, mainly feed on banana or beetle jelly (apple chunks are also ok, but less nutritive). Female adult beetles are best fed for the first 2 – 3 weeks separately before being mated with male adult beetles (males however can already mate only a few days after “activation”).

For breeding with the adult beetles, it is recommended to have a large breeding container (at least a volume of 20 L. for one adult couple or 50 L. for a trio) filled with at least 25 cm of fine and moderately humidified leaf humus substrate (first 20 cm of very compacted/pressed substrate topped with 5 cm of loose substrate).

A good example of an adult beetle breeding box for one active fertilized female (the lid has been taken off for the photographs). Substrate depth here is 22 cm with highly compacted moderately humidified fine leaf humus substrate. Little wooden logs prevent the female from tipping over.

The female usually starts laying eggs around 1 – 2 weeks after being mated (the male may then be separated from the female in order to allow her to start digging and laying eggs in the compacted substrate, but only when one is 100% sure that mating occurred; only one mating suffices for the female to continue laying eggs for the rest of her life).

Around 2 months later, it is possible to already start carefully searching for the eggs or early L1 larvae in the substrate (usually the eggs are located in large compacted chunks of substrate). Of course, it is also possible to just wait for 3 months and then only find L1 larvae (maybe even some early L2 larvae already).

After that point, the larval cycle starts again.

A few photos of Mecynorhina torquata ugandensis adult pairs (males over 75 mm):

Some more pictures from my recent breedings and arrivals.

Megasoma actaeon actaeon from French Guyana, WF1 (Kaw Mountain), bred since January 2011 (L1 stage)

Male of 100 mm (max. L3 weight 132 g):

Female of 77 mm (very large, max. L3 weight 94 g):

Dynastes hercules morishimai, the last males from this breeding generation, 128 mm, max. L3 weight 98 g:

131 mm, max. L3 weight 97 g! Unfortunately with slightly bent tip of the thoracic horn:

121 mm, max. L3 weight 87 g:

Still, one other male larva is still L3 (almost a 2-year cycle now) and weighing again 98 g, so I am hoping for a second beautiful and massive male...

Some nice newly acquired Eudicella sp. that I am going to start breeding:

Eudicella pauperata (from RDC-Congo):

Eudicella morgani camerounensis (Cameroon):

Eudicella aethiopica (Ethiopia):

Eudicella trilineata interruptefasciata (Tanzania):

Hi to all, I'm finally back after a period of silence.

Some months ago, around summer 2014, I decided to retry some of the more "classic" species to breed. I acquired a nice adult pair of Mecynorhina polyphemus confluens (WF2, 07/2014). This pair gave me around 20 larvae of which I kept some for further breeding.

I provided these with good quality beech/oak substrate, a smaller part decomposing wood and from early L3 stage on, every two weeks, I added 2 dried dog food pellets of a brand that breeders from the UK suggested me to use: Baker's Complete Meaty Meals puppy version (I suppose these contained less preservatives).

I have never been too enthusiastic for additives (especially not for Dynastidae), but I wanted to give it a shot, especially for a cannibalistic species such as M. p. confluens. I was utterly impressed...

Only after around 4 months since the hatching of the larvae from the eggs, most of the larvae already weighed around 25-30 g (I kept them separated in 2 L. containers form early L3 stage on; L3 larvae become extremely cannibalistic, especially when there are still L1 or L2 larvae present amongst the L3 larvae in the same box). Since the end of December/beginning of January (first eggs hatched around mid-August), I currently already have pupating larvae with weights of around 25-35 g for females (one female L3 weighed 34 g!) and 30-40 g for males. 3 male larvae currently weigh 35 g, 36 g and 39 g!!!

Next to most of the female larvae pupating, already one male larva has also started pupation; on the box it says "turned to L3 10/09", meaning that after only around 4 months L3 this male larva of 32 g already started pupating. An average complete cycle was only around 5 months, while normally this species' larval cycle comprises at least 8 up to even 12 months!

Here are some pics of the 2 heaviest male larvae (still L3, hoping that they grow even bigger and the 40 g would be broken, good for possibly a 70+ mm male):

Some photos of my latest hatched adults (beautiful colour morphs), the male is 74 mm large:

Most of my D. h. morishimai larvae have now pupated and some even hatched already.

Some photos:

2 males (122 mm, 117 mm)

To be continued...

Some more pictures:

112 mm male

120 mm male

121 mm male

Gigantic 75 mm female!!!

Some photos of my latest breeding results from Dynastes hercules occidentalis:

Male 138 mm (max. L3 weight 104 g)

4 males together (138 mm, 136 mm, 128 mm, 116 mm)

To be continued...

Some more pictures:

135 mm male:

127 mm male:

Just some days ago, a very strange Dynastes hercules paschoali female emerged! She has white eyes; these remain white even after a few days! A top rarity (genetically recessive!); she measures 65 mm:

Dear all,

It's been a while since my last post, but I've reached some nice results with this breeding.

Most of the male larvae are now pupating. I already have one male pupa of 155+ mm (final larval weight only 104 g).

Here's a table and growth graph for this species:

Some pictures of the heavy larvae:

The prepupa (larval weight 104 g):

And pupa (155+ mm):

Very straight horns:

Here’s a picture of a nice fat male larva from my Megasoma actaeon actaeon breeding, originating from French Guyana (Kaw Mountain).

132 g should already give me a 100-110 mm adult male, but I am hoping it still grows more (I’d like to reach 150 g).

Fingers crossed!

A new breeding of Dynastes hercules occidentalis was started around 12/2012 - 01/2013 (F1 larvae were bred by crossing my two breeding lines).

The current results are striking! Only around 1 year after the hatching of the eggs, most of the male larvae have crossed the 100 g bar! One male L3 even weighs 107 g!!!

Maybe this time I can reach 110+ g? There are 8 male L3 larvae in breed. I will post a growing graph upon the next substrate change (around Christmas).

Most of the adults have hatched now!

Two males measuring 48 mm and 46 mm! Incredible! The females measure 44 mm and 43 mm!

A nice Dynastes tityus male hatched last week; it is 55 mm long, not too bad for breeding standards, but I am still hoping to obtain a 60+ mm male in the future. Usually, my larvae never become bigger than 20-25 g, but I need to get a 25+ g larva (30 g would be nice) to get a bigger size.

Some more news from this particularly long breeding.

The big female in pupa has hatched and measures a whopping 44 mm!!! This is already over the described 28-40 mm in many books (the grypus variant of O. nasicornis is clearly very big).

Moreover, I have found some more very big pupae of which two females (measuring again 55 mm and 56 mm) and one giant male of 64 mm pupal length. This might probably result in a 45-50 mm male, very uncommon for this species!