Recent breeding successes

Hey there,

this is the first post at the new Domain beetlebreeding.ch. Have been rather busy, as a lot of beetles started to hatch out recently. Had a lot of troubles with odd sex ratios, e.g. 10 larvae turned into ten males and nobody had females available, but well. I am still trying to figure out the perfect egg laying substrate. Was successful with a few species, failed miserably with some others.

For some reason I seem to have lost the ability to breed Eudicella. Failing miserably every time. Not sure why, but either they hatch out as only males, or they died in pupation, or refuse to lay eggs. Not sure what is wrong with them, hahaha

Stephanocrates dohertyi female

Another great success was the hatching of a female Stephanocrates dohertyi. These are fairly ok to breed into adulthood, given that you can provide them with low temperatures. I kept the cocoons rather dry and did not move them much. I hope the males hatch out soon, so the egg laying challenge can begin.

Mecynorrhina ugandensis male

Ah, and then there was the hatching of the famous blue line of Mecynorrhina ugandensis. Beautiful beetles surely and really easy to breed.These make for good beginners species. Interestingly, these have been very rare and expensive just a few years back, and now there even are breeding lines. These are rather small, even though they were fed with the occasional protein bit. Frankly speaking, I think with low temperatures, ample space, a sexy substrate and above all continuence and consistency, it is easy to achieve some fairly big-sized imagines.

Incala maculipennis male

Talking about ultra-low maintenance pet beetles. Incala maculipennis fit the bill. The only thing to look out for when breeding them is to provide more wood for the larvae. The imagines do not feed. And sadly you won’t see them much, as they are night active. Very interesting Cetonid though. Hope they find enough breeders taking an interest in them. There is a society for small, brown and colourless aquarium fish – maybe we need to make an association for small, brown and interestingly behaved beetles as well.

Mesotopus tarandus

Last but not least, I have a lonesome small male of Mesotopus tarandus, looking for a female. Let me know if you have a spare. I love that these guys can vibrate. If you get the chance to hold one in your hand, try it and experience the buzz 😉