The Breeding of Odontolabis burmeisteri

The Breeding/Rearing of Odontolabis burmeisteri

By Kay

1. Introduction

These pages present the breeding/rearing of Odontolabis burmeisteri. Discussion on the breeding/rearing follows natural history of the insect, which is thought useful for breeding/rearing.

Odontolabis burmeisteri is considered as the world’s ninth longest living stag beetles. 104.0 mm may be the recorded maximum length of a wild-caught male imago. That means, for beetle breeding/rearing enthusiasts, that the male of this subspecies has a potential of growing up to 104.0 mm long or even longer. The following discussion first introduces its natural history and then emphasizes its breeding/rearing methods to win good results.

2. Natural history

2.1 Description: Male 51.4-104.0 mm including mandibles; Female 42.0-48.2 mm.

2.2 Habitat: Subtropical rain forests. The species can be obtained in a humid area of an altitude of about 800 m. The imago sap flows from the following tree: Crypteronia paniculata B1.

2.3 Range: Confined to south India.

2.4 Food: Imago saps tree juice and larva feeds very rotten hardwood tree.

2.5 Life cycle: The insect life cycle is said to be largely unknown in a natural setting. Under captive rearing (26 degrees C. in summer; 18 degrees C. in winter) of one generation, however, the author has experienced the following:

1. Duration of egg: about 1 month

2. Duration of larva:
Male: about 16-17 months (L1: 1 month; L2: 2 month; and L3: 13-14 months); and
Female: 15-17 months (L1: 1 month; L2: 2 month; and L3: 12-14 months)
3. Duration of pupa: 1-1.5 month

3. Breeding/rearing

3.1 Getting started

To begin with, what you need are:

1) A pair of imagoes (or several larvae);
2) Containers for breeding/rearing;
3) Food for imagoes;
4) Breeding/rearing substrate; and
5) A decaying wood log (length: about 15 cm; diameter: about 10 cm)

1) Please obtain a pair of imagoes (or several larvae). In choosing which individuals to buy, the following criteria are useful:

a) Wild-caught individuals:
　　　　Make sure: - When were they collected?: Avoid older individuals.
　　　　　　　　　　　　- Are they healthy-looking?: Check if there is no scar, injury
　　　　　　　　　　　　　 or missing part.

b) Captive reared individuals:
Make sure: - When did they emerge?: Avoid individuals of 8 months or older.
　　　　　　　　　　　　- Are they healthy-looking?: Check if there is no scar, injury
　　　　　　　　　　　　　or missing part.

* Note that these two criteria are for imagoes. For choosing larvae, you can skip steps: - When

were they collected? and - When did they emerge?

2) Oviposition (egg laying) requires some space; e.g. a container with a capacity of at least 5-6 liters (a lid is a must to stop the beetles from escaping. The lid must have holes for ventilation.). Get one and fill it with substrate (Also, see 4. A breeding/rearing substrate).

- Put substrate into the container up to 5 cm high from the bottom, and press it hard by hand or any other means. Next, place one decaying wood log on the top. Then, another layer of substrate should be added softly up to the point where the log is completely covered. Female do not lay eggs inside the log, but the existing log may prompt the female to do so. Oviposition occurs in the hard pressed bottom layer of the substrate.

- It would be better to place several small tree branches or wood sticks on the surface of the substrate. By holding them, beetles can easily get up in case turning upside down on their back.

- Then, let a mated female alone into the container. A male is vicious and may hurt a female in a stressful environment. A hand pairing would be good for mating. Feed them regularly (for food, see 3)).

- Keep temperature at 20-23 degrees C. and moisten the substrate and log to the extent which they are slightly wet.

Figure 3.1 A breeding container with substrate

3) For maintaining imagoes, you need to feed them with a pealed banana. It is better to place its pieces or slices on a small tray instead of applying them directly on the substrate, which causes them spoiling faster or prompts an occurrence of fruit flies or ticks. A pealed apple or a peach also serves as a suitable food.

4) See 4. A breeding/rearing substrate.

5) Find a fallen decaying wood in your area. A hardwood tree only. Preferably, Fagus sp. or Quercus sp. Cut it into pieces of about 15 cm in length. Then, keep them under fresh water for a day. This moistens the log and kills beetle's predator organisms in it.

3.2 Rearing larvae

After a couple of months, take the female out of the container*. Then, carefully examine the substrate to see if larvae have already hatched inside. If so, transfer them singly into containers of an about 5-6 liter capacity, which is filled with substrate (see 4. A breeding/rearing substrate). When you stuff substrate into empty containers, the substrate should not be pressed hard. You need to change substrates in a three-month period.

* If you wish to obtain more eggs, let the female into another breeding container.
Repeat this process if you want.

Figure 3.2 Eggs in cups and containers for rearing larvae

When changing substrates, it is safer to stuff unused (new) substrate first and then used one. The capacity ratio of the new to the used is 2-to-1. By so doing, beetle's symbiotic bacteria, if any, would grow steadily in the substrate and enhance an ideal feeding environment for better larval growth. From the author's rearing, the duration of larvae are: Male: 16-17 months; and Female: 15-17 months.

3.3 Larva sexing

Sexing larvae of this species or Genus Odontolabis is a difficult task. Ovaries are not visible on the female larva. Difference in weight, however, is a more trustworthy sign for sexing. At mid and late L3 stages, the male often weigh more than twice as much as the female.

3.4 Maintaining pupae

After larvae turn noticeably yellowish in colour, stop changing substrates. This species and other Odontolabis make a rather solid pupal cell to such an extent that you can take the cell itself out of substrate. The best advice I give you at this point is patience: wait until their emergence from their pupal cell. After larvae make a pupal cell, it may take about 3 months to pupate. Another 3 months requires their emergence from the cell. Newly emerged imagoes need about 4 months for maturity. The life span of the imago is about one year after its emergence.

Figure 3.4.1 A pupal cell is being taken out of substrate

Figure 3.4.2 A male pupa with large mandibles

3.5 Breeding

Repeat the process: 3.1 Getting started.

4. A breeding/rearing substrate

There are some substrates available for breeding and rearing rhinoceros beetles. On this page, I will choose one of these kinds. It is relatively easy-to-get and inexpensive. Its recipe is based on my direct hearings with H. Kojima, a Japan’s leading expert on Dynastine/Lucanid beetle breeding/rearing (2004-2005), and I have tested its performance for breeding/rearing some rhinoceros, stag and flower beetles. So far, it has made an excellent performance in the beetles’ egg laying and larval growth. However, please notice that I will not take any responsibilities in event of any ill or arrested development or, in the worst case, death of your beetle larvae due to its use:

Bark compost (made of hardwood trees only, no coniferous trees)

Go to a garden center/shop nearest you and get one. Make sure that you should get the one with no chemicals (the organic one). Now it is ready to serve. You can also use this substrate for breeding and rearing flower beetles and some stag beetles (e.g. Genus Odontolabis).

5. Acknowledgement

My special thanks are indebted to the following organizations and individuals: ‘The Beetle Ring’ (http://www.naturalworlds.org/beetlering/beetle_sites.htm) by Cameron Campbell, Administrator of ‘The Natural Worlds’ (http://www.naturalworlds.org/); ‘The Kanagawa Stag Beetle Club,’ a local chapter of Japan’s largest beetle hobbyist club, ‘The Stag Beetle Fools’ (http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~k-sugano/bakamono_web/index2e.html), and its members including Hiroshi Kojima; Benjamin Harink for sharing this wonderful hobby together and allowing me to contribute this article to his great beetle website; my father who has inspired me to pursue this interest; and my mother who has been patient enough for this unusual hobby of mine.

Contact:

I can be reached at http://www.geocities.com/kaytheguru/. Please feel free to visit my beetle website.

Note: Under the laws of Japan, living Odontolabis burmeisteri are importable to Japan and can be bred/reared there as well.

PS The following picture is a male Odontolabis burmeisteri imago captive reared by the author.

Figure 5 Shown in this picture is a 92 mm male imago. Captive reared by the author.

Back to main page

Stand: 06. November 2007.

Free Hit Counter