Harlequin Beetles!!!

[Rst_Cham]

Oh, sorry, I totally missed that post! Thanks

 

[Syreptyon]

I. Love. Bugs! Except for spiders. This thread is awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

[GoodKarma19]

How awesome are these guys?! Thanks for sharing, Cyber!

I need to get me some pet inverts.

 

[cyberlocc]

So I Misted down the Viv very good this am. And sprayed that Plexi cover so it could rain down a bit. Humidity over 9000! The glass was fogged it was so humid an hour later.

Anyway, found a buddy chilling in the humidity, so now you can see the color change.

I will have better lighting in there soon. Then I will use my wife's pixel to take better pics, my Razer Phone Camera sucks.

 

[cyberlocc]

Sorry the lack of updates guys and gals. I got sucked into reliving my MMO Glory days in Classic Wow for a few months, and it consumed most my free time. Anyway, UPDATE!

So, I regretfully announce, that I thought for awhile my colony was done for .

My 4 died maybe, 2-3 weeks after receiving them, which was a natural time. I got them near the season end, and they were showing the signs of old age, my beetle buddies were telling me.

I thought they laid no eggs . I checked, I found nothing, I kept watering and providing apple slices that went uneaten. I gave up, regretfully, I stopped watering as much. The substrate got pretty dry.

The time came, I had to remove the plants. They were starting to die off, from lack of moisture. And then I found this, in the plants roots.

I was SO ashamed, I gave up on the poor fellas, and they carried on. I am ashamed to even tell this story, however I feel the info is valid to the thread and info on this species. They are EXTREMELY Hardy! These 4 guys were doing great despite my suboptimal care.

I searched the Viv, and didn't find anything so thought only 4 had made it, whether there were the others or not. I don't know, but it seemed clear, this was all there was.

WRONG AGAIN! There is a branch in there (soon to be Old Viv) in the center, pulled it out and looked in there. And found this.

26 of these big fat boys, and let me tell you, they are big and they are fat, and they are squishy. My current only Cham, is still too small to eat these dudes as they are, but I think they will be loved by adults.

For reference the cup in the pic is about 3"x5" these guys are about 1.5-2" long, they are bigger than the beetles they become by far!

Data is scarce on their lifespan and instar times, of which I am of little help sadly. These guys are probably 5-6 months old as of now, and are late 2nd instar and early 3rd. As of this writing, they have not begun to pupate, but I will update when I start to find pupae.

I also have a new Viv in the works for them. Which is a little more fitting to their needs, the Viv they are in has ALOT of vertical space, which they don't much use, that I will be using for sticks.

Their new Viv, started.

I have just finished foaming in the cork, and carving it. I need to ecoearth the walls and then place the 2 large rounds, in the soil plant it ect. More pics when done!

So stay tuned for more updates.

 

[Tony_S]

thanks for the update. They look like bait I used to fish trout with several years ago.

 

[Redman]

Love this, thanks for keeping us posted!

 

[snitz427]

I have terrible memory but I recall reading an article on here a few months ago about the stomach contents of wild chameleons, and beetles had a large portion (along with grasshoppers, roaches, etc). I don't know much about beetles, but its very interesting! I'd love to learn more about them and if they make for a tasty cham treat!

 

[cyberlocc]

I have terrible memory but I recall reading an article on here a few months ago about the stomach contents of wild chameleons, and beetles had a large portion (along with grasshoppers, roaches, etc). I don't know much about beetles, but its very interesting! I'd love to learn more about them and if they make for a tasty cham treat!

I have read that beetles have a bitter taste and so not all animals will take to them. I guess like humans though, some like bitter tastes. I love mustard, my wife hates it.

The grubs however, that's where the real feeder is. They are mostly water, and are plump squishy little things. Like mini hornworms that are easier to breed.

I am interested to see how and if Chams will eat the beetles. I think Sandra said hers did eat them as treats, pachondas, which we can't get in the states, this is their close cousin though.

 

[snitz427]

I have read that beetles have a bitter taste and so not all animals will take to them. I guess like humans though, some like bitter tastes. I love mustard, my wife hates it.

The grubs however, that's where the real feeder is. They are mostly water, and are plump squishy little things. Like mini hornworms that are easier to breed.

I am interested to see how and if Chams will eat the beetles. I think Sandra said hers did eat them as treats, pachondas, which we can't get in the states, this is their close cousin though.

very interesting!!

 

[cyberlocc]

UPDATE:

They have finally started to "cocoon" (I'm not sure if it's called that with beetles??

I broke 2 of the dirt balls they seal themselves in . On accident, one completely feel off, one cracked. Idk if those two will make it, but hope so. I asked on a beetle group, how to help them.

I have about 12, likely will move to a different container for now, to keep a better eye. I was getting ready to move them into their new Vivarium soon, so was prepping for that, and decided to check on them, and infuse some new leaf litter. When I found the shells .

Anyways moving them to a small bin, where I can keep a close eye easily and keep it on my desk.

The 2 that got broke open.

Now we wait.

I covered the broken 2 up with dirt, not sure if that will work. We will see.

Half the Larvae have not cocooned yet, so they are in a different container with more soil depth.

 

[Redman]

Congrats on the progress! I hope to get some of these down the road, so I am watching your progress closely. Thanks for sharing!

 

[cyberlocc]

Congrats on the progress! I hope to get some of these down the road, so I am watching your progress closely. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, I was worried for a bit. James, Larvae have already emerged, so I was like WTH lol.

However, he started with Larvae, and we are not sure what Stage, could have already been L2 or L3, in my case I started with Beetles, that were at the end of their days, so they laid a few eggs, and then I had to wait for those to hatch ect.

I'm going to do some experimenting with food sources as well. As the thought of Beetles as feeders has been coming up lately.

Last time I used a Banana Brown Sugar mix, and they like that well enough. This time, I want to try, a more natural approach.

First Blend Idea:
Bee Pollen, (I'm not sure how much, a lot lol? My last mix and the commercial ones do use Honey.) they are flower beetles, so they are pollinators.
Orange Juice. (just a tad, for some more vitamins, but more so for a preservative)
Agar Agar.

Thats it, going to give it a shot, as well as the last mix, and see which the eat more of, as a test. Then adjust the new blend, until they like it. To get something better for gut loading that they will consume.

 

[Redman]

I have been considering some bee pollen alternatives. They seem pretty interesting and a good value. Not sure if it's going to work out, but worth a look.

This company has some interesting products.

 

[skoram]

Sorry the lack of updates guys and gals. I got sucked into reliving my MMO Glory days in Classic Wow for a few months, and it consumed most my free time. Anyway, UPDATE!

So, I regretfully announce, that I thought for awhile my colony was done for .

My 4 died maybe, 2-3 weeks after receiving them, which was a natural time. I got them near the season end, and they were showing the signs of old age, my beetle buddies were telling me.

I thought they laid no eggs . I checked, I found nothing, I kept watering and providing apple slices that went uneaten. I gave up, regretfully, I stopped watering as much. The substrate got pretty dry.

The time came, I had to remove the plants. They were starting to die off, from lack of moisture. And then I found this, in the plants roots.

View attachment 255455

I was SO ashamed, I gave up on the poor fellas, and they carried on. I am ashamed to even tell this story, however I feel the info is valid to the thread and info on this species. They are EXTREMELY Hardy! These 4 guys were doing great despite my suboptimal care.

I searched the Viv, and didn't find anything so thought only 4 had made it, whether there were the others or not. I don't know, but it seemed clear, this was all there was.

WRONG AGAIN! There is a branch in there (soon to be Old Viv) in the center, pulled it out and looked in there. And found this.
View attachment 255456

26 of these big fat boys, and let me tell you, they are big and they are fat, and they are squishy. My current only Cham, is still too small to eat these dudes as they are, but I think they will be loved by adults.

For reference the cup in the pic is about 3"x5" these guys are about 1.5-2" long, they are bigger than the beetles they become by far!

Data is scarce on their lifespan and instar times, of which I am of little help sadly. These guys are probably 5-6 months old as of now, and are late 2nd instar and early 3rd. As of this writing, they have not begun to pupate, but I will update when I start to find pupae.

I also have a new Viv in the works for them. Which is a little more fitting to their needs, the Viv they are in has ALOT of vertical space, which they don't much use, that I will be using for sticks.

Their new Viv, started.
View attachment 255457
I have just finished foaming in the cork, and carving it. I need to ecoearth the walls and then place the 2 large rounds, in the soil plant it ect. More pics when done!

So stay tuned for more updates.

Your beetle/larvae enclosure is much more well-designed and beautiful than most peoples' chameleon enclosures LMAO!

It's also bigger and better looking than my C. linotum enclosure

 

[cyberlocc]

Your beetle/larvae enclosure is much more well-designed and beautiful than most peoples' chameleon enclosures LMAO!

It's also bigger and better looking than my C. linotum enclosure

Ya it was a little big for them. That's why I am working in the new one. The one they were in is a 18x18x18, but they really don't use the height, or care I should say.

So they are moving into a 18x18x12. Not as tall, but it should be fine.

 

[skoram]

Ya it was a little big for them. That's why I am working in the new one. The one they were in is a 18x18x18, but they really don't use the height, or care I should say.

So they are moving into a 18x18x12. Not as tall, but it should be fine.

Still larger and better looking than my 12x12x18 linotum enclosure. If I had something that nice I'd put pygmies in it and move the beetles to a plastic tub

 

[cyberlocc]

Still larger and better looking than my 12x12x18 linotum enclosure. If I had something that nice I'd put pygmies in it and move the beetles to a plastic tub

I might one day, thought about it. They don't really need that much space, but I want a large colony, it's hard to know how many can be in X amount of space, as there is not a lot of info out there on their care.

 

[skoram]

I might one day, thought about it. They don't really need that much space, but I want a large colony, it's hard to know how many can be in X amount of space, as there is not a lot of info out there on their care.

That's a good point. Given the organic substrate in the enclosure, do you plan to put any CuC in there? Springtails at least to deal with potential mold issues?

 

[cyberlocc]

That's a good point. Given the organic substrate in the enclosure, do you plan to put any CuC in there? Springtails at least to deal with potential mold issues?

I have thought about adding springs, and I may, they have a moldy branch in their old Viv.

However they are CUC as far as soil goes. The larvae eat decaying rotten hardwood and leaf litter. They will eat fruits and molds as well, if given it.

Some folks have used springs, but they said it can be kind of opposite of beneficial as the springs eat the Larvaes food.

They are very good at churning the soil too. Been thinking about throwing a few of the large as CUC in my Bioactive. However I don't want them to get out of control, and I would need to mix in alot of leaf litter into my substrate.