It has been some time, since I last posted some articles here; well I was a bit busy with many pleasant and some not so pleasant things. However, by now, many cool things have happened, and I concluded the full cycle of breeding certain species. The extreme weather changes this summer, from relatively cool cycles (15-17 degree Celsius) to temperature over 40 degree Celsius have also taken their toll on some of my beetles. I did suffer especially from a high die-off rate of pupae of male Lucanidae. Females made it unscathed. I think it is Murphy’s Law again, but as long as there is at least one the makes it, all should be good.
Mental note to self: next year more beetles into the basement π
That said, I had some good success with the following:
- Prosopocoilus inquinatus from Hong Kong, loads of eggs and larvae
- Prosopocoilus bison cinctus β they are very active in laying eggs, more than I need actually
- Dorcus wickhami and Prosopocoilus torresensis flavoguttatus β almost too productive, but I will never complain about this
- Leptinopterus burmeisteri β I lost 16 males in pupae, one made it and is now mating with around 10 females. I think the next generation is save, but need to investigate the reason why things went so wrong in pupa with them.
- Rhaetulus crenatus recticornis β 5 larvae hatched into 2 males and 3 females, and those in turn continue to pop out eggs.
- Kirchnerius guangxii β The female is still laying, and the first offspring (a pair) hatched last week, I did lose two good-sized male pupae though, but there is many more larvae following close behind. While most breeder suggest differently, I will hibernate these in the fridge, to make sure, they do not spend forever to start laying eggs.
- Hexarthrius davisoni β this is one super productive species, even though I am currently having problems getting a male pupa to hatch and not die. I think it is getting better now, with more stable temperatures, but let us see.
- First eggs with the following species, which are a first for me and kept at 15-18 degree Celsius:
- Lucanus laticornis
- Lucanus busignyi
- Lucanus parryi
The genus Lucanus is always an exciting one to breed, as they have somewhat more specialized requirements, but if these can be met, normally turn out easier than most other species.
Some more things happened, but those were the highlights, I failed miserably with Hexarthrius sanuchii: three Larvae (way too few to start a captive breeding line) turned into one male and two female pupae. Guess who did not make it? The femalesβ¦. I was frustrated beyond reason, but hey, I hope there will be another try.
Let me know if you have any suggestions for the male pupa issue, or if you want to exchange.
Cheers
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