Cheirotonus macleayi macleayi

Distribution:

China, Republic of China

Breeding hints:

Cheirotonus macleayi macleayi is from mainland China and the subspecies Cheirotonus macleayi formosanus is endemic to Taiwan.

In the wild, the larvae develop in the substrate inside of tree holes of old trees. They are not too difficult to breed, but definitely not a beginners species.

I found that it is helpful if the substrate height is rather high to stimulate the females to lay eggs. The best substrate for egg laying is a rather fine rotten wood substrate (black coloured) with some larger pieces of white rotten wood. The overall development of the larvae is quite slow and the pupation stage is quite critical and losses in this stage can be expected. I found a good, but space consuming method, is to offer the late L3 larvae a 10 ltr box filled with substrate and a big piece of white rotten wood. The larvae were often pupating inside this piece and managed to get through the pupation stage successfully. It is also advisable to slightly reduce the humidity during pupation.

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Specimen Pictures:

Cheirotonus macleayi macleayi female, China © B.Harink

Cheirotonus macleayi macleayi female, China © B.Harink

Pictures of living specimen:

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